Iowa Specialty Hospital

Notes from Steve

April 6, 2020

I was doing this ride yesterday on my peloton, and the instructor was talking about (this was recorded on Sunday morning) the concept of hope. Peloton is located in Manhattan and if you’ve seen anything on the news about New York, you know that it is the epicenter of the pandemic in America. Emotions are really high out there and this was conveyed through this broadcast. Ally talked about hope with stamina … hope with endurance … hope with energy. Lots of tears (by me) and mental energy and refocus. She talked to the group about the light at the end of the tunnel; it might not be able to be completely seen right now, but we know it’s there and we know we will be better together, because we went through this — together. 

 

Laughter is huge and necessary in getting through tough times. Whether it’s remembering great times with family and friends or appreciating and laughing at ourselves, levity is so important. As we change (sometimes daily) our communication platforms - there’s probably a fairly good chance we won’t completely know or understand how the new “tool” works. Maybe we won’t appreciate that our camera as well as our voice is being broadcast. Someone was telling me today about a meeting they had where a woman participant was walking around topless because she didn’t understand both video and audio were on. This is a real thing. It’s only a matter of time before something like this happens to me. (Gives new meaning to being the “butt” of the joke.)

 

Does anyone remember the movie Stir Crazy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor? These two guys were sent to jail by mistake - they weren’t guilty. In the movie, the guards puts Skip (Gene) in a small, dark box for a few days of solitary confinement expecting to find him a crazy mess when they bring him out. Instead he asks for one more day: "Please, I was just beginning to get into myself!” As of Thursday this week, I’m out of quarantine - two weeks at home and I kind of feel like Skip. Aside from the constant feed I find myself in - I’m exercising and doing a lot of conference calls, learning new ways of communication, and just appreciating this reality. Wherever we find ourselves, try and understand, appreciate and do the most with this time. We will learn, grow and be different on the other side. For sure.

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