All Quiet on the Western Front

Credit: The New Yorker

In the western suburbs of Boston, just outside of I-495, the roads are remarkably empty, town hall is eerily quiet, and the phone might ring once or twice a week as residents focus on other, more pressing matters of life. Here in Harvard, public life has necessarily ground to a screeching halt and public meetings, if they are held at all, have relocated to the Zoom room.

Juliette Kayyem writes in The Atlantic that "...a strange purgatory awaits us," as we slowly begin to emerge from this more acute stage of the crisis. We will find (or be presented with) new ways of participating in almost every element of public life such as shopping, eating out, going to work or school, and of course traveling. To those of us who tend to be more civic minded and responsible, the adjustment will be incorporated into our new routine without much protest. For those who tend to value personal freedoms above collective responsibility, reactions may range from mild annoyance to unmitigated rage. Trying to balance public policy and satisfy the full spectrum of these perspectives will be daunting and require strong and self-assured leaders and maybe interesting coalitions.

How will civic life change in other ways? At the local level, where I operate, I can envision a host of ways in which our antecedent life will be changing locally, particularly in the public policy realm. First, volunteerism and public participation may either rise or fall based on whether local government migrates back to physical presence meetings or holds some or all meetings virtually going forward. Reluctance to attend physical meetings in confined spaces, even with 6 foot social distancing and required face masks, could be significant. Hearing a sniffle or cough might empty a room quicker than a bomb threat. Can you imagine taking temperatures at the door for every in person public meeting? Don't rule that out, at least in the beginning.

As I pick my "pen" back up and continue writing this shelved piece begun in April, now in August we find some answers to these early questions but public meetings have still not returned and many of us are quite adept at the Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or other remote platforms that allow us to substitute our mundane home backgrounds with the Taj Mahal or Fenway Park. Municipal financial personnel continue to try to keep us all afloat while waiting seemingly in vain for some sort of federal help to compensate local and state government for shouldering the heavy burden of the costs of Covid and the domino effect of economic shrinkage. A list of the adaptations and safety-related actions include cleaning supplies or services, plexiglass barriers, signage and floor stickers, hand sanitizer, and most important for continued productivity, the new technologies--both hardware and software, to allow cities and towns to function by taking online applications and payments, holding public meetings, and so much more.

The Harvard Planning Board, with a brief interruption in meetings, has been hard at work on applications and other work such as bylaw amendments and long-range planning. Business as usual for the Board exemplifies the positive thinking that our members, new and established, have for the future, regardless of the ever present State of Emergency. The hope is that the vision and goals long established in local master plans will still be relevant going forward. Most of all, I am hoping to see everyone in person, safely, in good health, and ready for the challenges of climate change, public health, economy, racism, and more.

Ideas For Functioning During Our New Reality

"New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!"

~ Arthur C. Clarke

"I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas."

~ Albert Einstein

*Updated 4-16-20*

I connect to the Einstein quote above, particularly as it relates to not having any special talent. I have always had some measure of pride at being an "idea person" and also possess the cliched characteristic of not having implemented many. But hopefully some of these ideas that I have shared might have inspired others to carry them out. I'll never know. Regardless, in this post I call upon my interest and ability to generate ideas for how we might provide some benefit to ourselves and others during this coronavirus emergency. One or more might have some small impact on our world or a tiny corner of it.  I also include other ideas received from other platforms and give a general shout out to those who have provided the idea but refrain from giving specific credit out of protecting privacy. Finally, I acknowledge that many of these ideas may be recycled or "no brainers" but thought they would be useful to pass along regardless.

Reinvention -  I don't make light of how difficult it would be for a business or other entity to reinvent themselves during this crisis, but for some, it may be the best chance you have for survival. Clearly the more you have invested in specific machinery or other capital items or intellectual property, the more difficult it will be. But if you are creative and nimble, you might be able to identify a current market need and be able to change course and address it.

Patronize Local Businesses - Those local businesses that remain open, particularly small businesses, are in dire need of patrons on a regular basis. To the extent that you can, please shop these local businesses for your needs. You might even try to get to know the proprietor and their employees so that as we emerge from this period, you have made a connection that you otherwise might not have.

Take Out Meals - While this is a subset of patronizing local businesses, in particular I recommend ordering take out or delivery meals at least three times a week if you can swing it.  These local businesses, many mom and pop, have had a large percentage of their business shut down until we can congregate in public again. Take out and delivery is all they have left and regularly doing business with them could make a huge difference in their ability to survive at present.

Reach Out - While this may seem obvious, many of us have a small circle of people that we regularly have kept in touch with while we shelter in place. Likely a few family members and close friends I would guess is the extent of it. Consider widening your circle and reach out to less frequently contacted family members such as aunts, uncles, cousins; other friends that we haven't spoken to in a while; and even people from work or our professional community. You never know, you might be delighted at what impact you are having, on them as well as yourself.

Balance - This is one that I have trouble with but it's pretty important to maintain positive physical and mental health. Working from home or just being there if you've been furloughed, can get us caught up in routines that may not be the healthiest. Some of us may be watching many hours of Hulu or Netflix, consuming too much news on TV or the internet, taking too many trips to the refrigerator, or sleeping in. Others may be finding that we're working longer hours than we might otherwise work because of the shift to remote meetings or as a way to make time pass more quickly. I suggest that a good balance of activities shared between work, entertainment, physical activity, social activity, and mindfulness, is the best way to go. This includes not sitting for too long without getting up to stretch and/or walk around. If you have a stand up desk, by all means use it.

Walks - Another obvious task and unquestionably a key way to get exercise, sunshine, and a host of other benefits. However, think about how you can do more with your walks. You can explore new areas throughout your community, being mindful of safety, of course. I also thought that it would be a unique opportunity to clean up sidewalks and walking trails by taking a garbage bag and wearing a pair of surgical gloves and picking up any trash that you come across. This can also be done more formally by contacting a local land trust, parks commission, or other trails group and ask if you can join more formal cleanup efforts.

Crowd Funding - Think of something in the local community that needs assistance now. This could be PPE, assistance for local businesses, help for a local shelter of any kind, meals delivery or something for seniors or others who don't have anyone at this time, or something else that you hear about or perceive needs something right now. You can support an existing campaign or start your own at GoFundMe, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Crowdfunder, or another that you find.

Victory Garden - I'm sure you've seen a few news items about people getting out in the garden and even a few for growing vegetables for personal use. And yes it's a good idea if you have the land to do so (or grow them in containers on your porch). While victory gardening was a means to enhance self-sufficiency and leave farm grown food for the war effort, it has a longer term impact if sustained related to local resilience and sustainability going forward. There is a great satisfaction at assembling a salad that was grown completely in your garden. Add a few chickens in the back yard too while you're at it.

Contributing to This - Come up with one idea of your own, add it here as a comment, then forward this link to 1-2 other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). See how much we can add to this original piece.

Porch Parties - I really like the idea of neighborhood porch (or front/back yard) parties where everyone stays in their yard or on their porch and has meals and drinks "together".  So much the better if you can all agree on the soundtrack. I bet for many of you, you don't even know your next door neighbor. I can't think of a better way to get to know your surrounding community. In addition, neighborhoods that keep lively and visible are less likely to be targets of burglary, etc.

De-Cluttering and Giving - Taking the typical spring cleaning and ramping it up. Consider everything that you have and no longer need and gather it up and donate it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, Householdgoods.org, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or something else. Collect your surplus clothing, dishes and cookware, books, toys, and anything else that could be re-used. I assure you, there will be a need for most anything in the months to come. Of course, if you have the capacity, please give generously to the charitable cause of your choice. Also consider volunteering for any cause or opportunity that is safe and of interest. Try VolunteerMatch.org for ideas. Also look at Idealist.org. More specifically, go to web sites of food banks, Alone.ie, ICouldBe.org, CrisisTextLine.org, RedCross.org, and any other that you can think of.

Inspire - If you can communicate in writing, speaking, or art/performance, consider getting out there and contributing something. It could be entertaining, educational, thought provoking, or some other subject. Of course if this suggestion is coming from me, I'd add that it should be respectful and sincere. No need for any more hate speech, spamming, or fraud. Do a YouTube channel, blog, Podcast, or anything else that you've always wanted to but never dared. And you are welcome to mention me for the inspiration!

Other Idea Lists - Here is one from The Washington Post. I haven't read them all so cannot attest to the wisdom or efficacy of any of them but I provided it for your reading pleasure.

That's all for now. I'll leave it at this list to give others the opportunity to contribute their own and I'll add to this later if something profound comes to me....it hasn't yet.