CallingCOVID.com

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There are several possible answers to that question.

But each such answer has to express a relation to a basic overarching premise that you will find here at CallingCovid.com.

And that premise is :  that it is possble to influence or have an effect on, an entity or situation located at a distance from where one finds oneself physically in our world.

Next try to answer for yourself :  What is your fiirst reaction to that premise?

We'll try to put that idea into a perspective using several exemples to approach that 'why' question.

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The tools presented here, such as representing our world with a globe spinning around in a video, proposing a daily "appointment time" to join with others, suggests that those responsible for this blog, and its visitors, especially returning visitors, may believe that there is something to that premise. A degree of uncertainty for sure. But perhaps something to it.

If one could interview the visitors here, like asking questions of an audience after a presentation or lecture, one would likely hear a plurality of reasons for participating in the Challenge. A plurality of reactions to that premise expressed above, of action or effectiveness of an intention to influence a situation found at a distance.

You might have arrived here through the equivalent of entering the lecture hall just to come in out of the rain. Or your visit may already be more on target. You may have come to explore and discover potentially useful reactions to the premise stated above. So the reason(s) for your visit might include one of those listed below.

And to maintain focus also requires couching these answers to 'why do this?', in the setting of COVID-19. While certainly laudable, the objective of applying the premise to increasing levels of Peace in our world, is not what we’re about on this day, on this site. Another site does exist with just that objective.

So what is the « something to that premise » that would make one participate, even once or more than once, for 20 minutes in the Challenge ? Why will you participate?

Answers from the audience, if there are enough of them, might eventually begin to group themselves into certain categories. Let’s begin by identifying some of these, and as though spoken in the first person. They are numbered here for easy reference, and not by any personal preference. They might motivate you to think of your own personal reason(s).

1. « I do this because I have no doubt that the intention to heal COVID-19 in those actively ill with it, is enough to make it happen. This will happen even at a distance from where I am physically located. I’m quite sure of that. So I’m in.»

1.1. Comment : Those in this group are convinced that their thoughts, but even more, an intention arising in their very being, can do some required work at a distance. They do not devote much energy to discovering the answer(s) to how or why this can accomplish whatever it does. They arrive with much assurance and do not seek nor risk to reduce their strength in this, with questionning and doubt.

2. « I do this because it's a form of prayer. I believe strongly in the effectiveness of prayer. Prayer is and has been an essential part of my whole life. I believe that participating in prayer with others as done here gives added effectiveness. Healing those with COVID-19 at a distance is not a problem because that is how prayer can work. So I’m in. »

2.1. Comment : Those in this group are not plagued by questions like : « but to whom shall we pray ? » If one poses this or similar questions, one is simply not in this group.

3. « I do this because it helps me commit to 20 minutes a day of quiet meditation. The cause is laudable. But whether it can work at a distance or not is not why I decided to do this. For me its rejuvenating. It has the required tools : an object to focus on, a guided meditation, and a 20 minute timer. It has a start time. That let’s me tell others that I have something I must do. Twenty quiet minutes for myself, to recharge my batteries and get centered emotionally is an invitation that I accept with pleasure. I’ll be committed to this. So I’m in. »

3.1. Comment : even without an intention expressed above to heal or have any effect at a distance from oneself, providing on our site for the needs of those exploring or engaging in meditation is offered with pleasure and encouragement for that practice. We have referred elsewhere to the Challenge as an « exo-meditation. » It starts centered in oneself, and moves out into our world, hence, « -exo ». But an « endo-meditation » with the intention of moving deeply within oneself in mindfulness is equally accepted here.

4. « I do this because I’m a scientific type. On this site, feedback is offered. So there are data to help me decide if the Challenge is working or not. There exists a body of information in the field of physics that suggests that what is going on here is an expression of principles of quantum mechanics. Our atoms and their orbiting particles can in fact extend far beyond commonly accepted boundaries. This Challenge is like turnng on a light switch and letting the electrons move towards an effect. Even if that motion of particles is invisible to our eyes and other senses, the results should be measurable. I’m eager to see the results. So I’m in. »

4.1. Comment : Neurophysics and mind-driven machines is an exciting field. When its accomplishments extend to helping those with spinal cord injuries to walk again, it falls even closer to our goals here for COVID-19. Anyone who admits to a deep understanding of quantum mechanics is certainly a special person. And if different from most, still quite welcome. Any distinction between the scientific and the spiritual is of course artificial, not helpful, and unnecessary for our purposes here.

5. « I have COVID-19. I know and care for others who have it also. And in spite of suggestions that this would simply not be a big deal, like a cold or a flu, it has been a big deal. And it has lasted longer than ‹ promised ›. I know personally what it means to be in the Actively ILL group. So the intention of healing this, both for myself and others, is an assurance that hope still exists. So I’m in. »

5.1. Comment : Few if any of the reasons suggested here for participating in the Challenge could be more important than this one. Illness makes one feel powerless and robs one of one’s freedom. Those with COVID-19 have learned that effect is emotional as well as physical. Participating each day in the Challenge, when strong enough to do so, may in fact become a source of additional strength and allay many anxieties as well.

6. « I don’t have COVID-19 or hope I don’t. I think I’ll probably get it. That thought and all the numbers and explanations have me well on the way to getting crazy. I get tearful at times, and don’t even know why. The effects of this anxiety and fear are now unmistakeable in my daily routine. So if I can calm myself down for 20 minutes each day, watching a globe turn and listening to a calming voice, I think that will be very helpful for me. At least I hope so. So I’m in. »

6.1. Comment : Yes. It is a straightforward reason for devoting 20 minutes each day to the Challenge. And some may also experience a few tears of release during the Challenge as you have already experienced. Calming all the noise inside one’s head. Letting one’s blood pressure and pulse rate drop just a bit. Even without a set intention to do the same for others at a distance, taking a break from the numbers and one's confinement is also part of the Challenge. No telling where that might lead.

7. « I’m a retired healthcare professional. Most days the urge to join others on the ‹ front lines › of COVID-19 is felt. Yet the risks involved keep me away. But this distance that I maintain between myself and ‹ it ›, is not without a sense of regret or perhaps even a little guilt. ‹ I should be there ›, I tell myself often. Participating each day in the Challenge gives me just that : a sense of participating. I have experienced enough special moments during my career caring for others, that I can affirm its more than just about pills and tests. I will offer my 20 minutes for those who are now on the "front lines" and have taken my place. I will continue to care for others through this Challenge. So I’m in. »

7.1. Comment : this is a motivation in support of our premise of possible action at a distance, that many who are in the caring professions, will relate to with little difficulty.

8. « In the end all that matters in a life is how well we have loved. Compassion is the driving force in this Challenge. Compassion is doing for another, what that person can no longer do alone. And yes, it is a form of love. It is a strong enough force, that it transcends all boundaries between peoples. It is not pity, and more effective than empathy. It will not be limited by distances measured in kilometers or miles. It will not be frightened away by an infectious disease. The intention to share through compassion can only be successful and effective for COVID-19. So I’m in. »

8.1. Comment : No additional comment is needed, and could add nothing.

9. « There is at present no vaccine. The treatments for COVID-19 are essentially for symptoms and not to cure this illness. There is no cure at present but time and hoping for the best if infected. The total number of cases in the world is still increasing. Total deaths from this disease increase each day. Avoiding its transmission has gotten on my nerves because I hate being confined. Many now ignore all prudent behavior. Simply stated, I’ll try anything to make this all go away. Twenty minutes is not very long. So I’ll sit each day and look at a spinning globe, and wish everyone the best while hoping for a vaccine very soon. So I’m in. »

9.1. Comment : This seems a very human reason for participating. There may not be a bad or undefendable reason for participating each day in the Challenge. For those who quickly move away while saying : « This just won’t work. Sitting 20 minutes and thinking you’re doing something else, somewhere else, is simply crazy. And I’m out. » Well those who reach this conclusion and course of action are still in our world. So we wish them Peace and good health.

9.1.1. But we must admit a slight preference for those who concluded by saying :

« So I’m in. »

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Perhaps you were able to find, among those offered above, your reason for participating in the Challenge. Perhaps a mix of several presented.

One can probably conceive of other reasons for participating in this premise of action at a distance.

Do not hesitate to share your reason with us here. And don’t forget to add : « So I’m in. »

See you at 12 :00PM noon GMT, for 20 minutes spent together. No mask required.

And as mentioned elsewhere, if that time is inconvenient, 12 jours later you can join in our 2nd shift of Challenge Warriors. 

If you have yet to read the Challenge, click here.

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CallingCOVID.com

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As a reminder here, the first "targets" of our Challenge are those who are still Actively iLL with COVID-19. 

But there are others who have dedicated their lives to caring for others. They are the ones on the "front lines" throughout our world as you read this. No matter when you are reading this. They are there. They are each day caring for those who are sick with COVID-19. 

They do this tirelessly, though tired, and with true courage. A courage that they perhaps never evan knew they had. They work each day after devoting a large part of their mental energy to overcoming their personal fears about getting the infectious disease of those they are caring for. But they go in to work nevertheless.

You already know that the vast majority of those who have contracted COVID-19 will not be very sick. A large number will be asymptomatic or not feeling sick at all, though contagious for a time.

At the risk of adding here to a readers anxiety, some get quite sick, a small percentage are critical and a smaller percentage (4% of cases), do not survive. We have all heard the numbers for months now. One reason for coming to this site for some, is to get away from all those numbers. I won't disturb them further. 

But we must include in the Challenge each day, our intentions for those at the COVID-19 patients' bedsides. They are not all in hospitals. We have in our mind's eye those images of doctors and nurses and others, dressed in PPE. They all look the same now. Gone are the white labcoats and stethoscopes around the neck. But some providing this required care at home. Especially in poorer countries. Doing the best they can. They too should be part of our premise that caring at a distance for those who care, should be included in our twenty minutes.

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Here are some words from the front lines.

Some are physicians, like Anna Deforest. Here, she shares her day with you.

Some are Medical Students, pressed into duty before all has been learned, but with just enough to somehow still be of use. Or so they hope. But they are there now with the others. They are running to the Labs and Radiology Departments around the world for results of tests. They are running for fresh masks and warm coffee. They are dressing wounds, because there are always wounds to dress. They are on the "front lines." A bit like photos of groups of young soldiers of the past, rounded up especially at the ends of wars when the men were all gone. Looking so much like children in those pictures because they were.

Some are physicians in training. Called Residents in the USA, 'Assistants' or 'Junior Doctors' in some other countries. But they are there, on the "front lines." They are Physicians because they have graduated from Medical School. As Residents they are in training, and still learning. Not too long ago they selected a discipline that they felt they loved, and were giving their all to prove that decision to have been the right one for them. Perhaps in Internal Medicine, or Neurology, Pediatrics or Ophthalmology, perhaps General Surgery. But now, they have all become COVID-19 Doctors. That is their new Specialty: COVID-19. And under the continuous pressure to learn and do, while "first, do(ing) no harm," they are faced with an illness without a cure. This is not appencitis, nor delivering a set of sceaming twins to tearful, ecstatic parents. Instant gratification for the new doctor.

Now, getting to a good result so they can applaude a patient going home, seems to take many days. Nothing instant about it. Except in those moments when its suddenly all to late. This is COVID-19.

Here, as Anna did above, Allison Sarah Vise will share her day wih you.

A first quite normal reaction is of course that from where you are, you can do nothing to help either Anna or Allison. So reading their artcles, a bit like reading a personal private diary, just leaves you uncomfortable. Maybe even angry at some cause of all this COVID-19 disaster. Angry and frustrated with whomever or whatever you feel you have identified as the culprit.

But you prefer not to read any more like these because, what can you possibly do to help? 

And then, there is the Challenge. With all of its uncertainties.

But already shared by those like you, and in increasing numbers.

And during that time, 20 minutes, you are quite free to send Anna and Allison, and all those whom they represent, all that you can place in your clear intention, to give them the strength they currently need. You can even share with them what their articles made you find in yourself. Be there with others to renew their and the world's sense of hope. To find anew perhaps, a sense of trust in those sharing our planet as it spins through space with us all aboard. 

That image alone should make it clear that we are all in this together. And that will be as true no matter how the next elections, in any country, turn out.

Join with others each day, at 12:00 noon GMT, and meet the Challenge.

Don't be late.

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Here is what I wrote to Adeline's parents and family.

To those who loved and cared for Adeline. I am a retired General Surgeon and ICU Director. I too was once a Resident in training (1980-'86, in DC). So everything about Adeline's illness and unfortunate outcome touches my heart. Tears it apart. And when I see your family picture I think of mine, and how training and caring for the sick wasn't always easy. You have learned that too I'm sure, as Adeline certainly did. Your details about the science of her care remind how wonderful science can be. But it's not enough by itself. We need to tip the scales of healing so people can move beyond the limits of science to accept that the intention to heal, in and of itself, ... that compassionate intention, is 60% (my estimate from 30 years in the field) of getting someone healed. I have put down my scalpel, but not that intention in all of its manifestations. Some in Houston where I understand you are, and all over the world, have already joined with us each day for 20 minutes at 12noon GMT with the intention of healing this illness in our world. Sound weird, "woo! woo!" and simply dumb, and a waste of 20 minutes? Most today would say that. Years ago as an ICU Director, and buried in my surgical research, I might have said that. But I always placed that compassionate intention in my healing. Every time. And as I'm sure Adeline was learning to do. Enough said. Enough of a pitch. My heart and the love it can share, even at a distance, is with you all in this impossible time. Adeline is still loved. Adeline will not be forgotten. https://www.callingcovid.com/

So join with others each day, at 12:00 noon GMT, and meet the Challenge.

Don't be late.

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