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I would like to start by saying, Black Lives Matter; defund the police. So, I will.
Black Lives Matter—all of them. Defund the police.
Today's art is about COVID-19. I'm having to go outside more often now. The number of people not wearing masks is alarming. It feels like a betrayal—not of me, personally, but of humanity. I would love to be able to take it personally and let it only be personal. That level of anger is easy to manage and quell.
I know there are people who legitimately cannot wear masks. This isn't about them. This is about people who can and choose not to wear them.
It's like they're climate change deniers; but, instead of halfway passively creating holes in the ozone layer, they're breathing acid rain at my face. And your face. And at each other. There it is. I'm perturbed enough that I've stopped caring about sentence structure.
I know they are not aiming their acid rain at me. I know they are simply breathing and eating and exiting elevators. I am not a specific target. And yet.
And yet.
And yet, I am part of the amorphous blob of humanity breathing near them that is affected by their choices. I'm staying in as much as I can. My health is my responsibility. But, maskless people, come on! The wellbeing of the people around you depends on you, too!
I keep deleting lines and lines of text about evidence and articles and science. If that stuff worked, it would be working already. Mostly, I'm just venting and hoping blindly that even one maskless person will be changed by this. It's unlikely. It's unlikely enough that California, with its reputation for being progressive and whatnot, now has a mandatory mask order in place for the whole state because too many people weren't being responsible, conscientious, or compassionate enough on their own.
Again, I'm refraining from links to articles and evidence today. The power of the internet is at your beck and call if you're reading this, feel free to beck it and call it with any questions you many have.
Ugh. So. The last few days of slightly increased time outside of home wore me down and stressed me out. If you're reading all this and wondering why I'm so bothered by people shooting acid rain out of their mouths in invisible streams of plague death enrobed spittle, it's because I have medical issues that put me at higher risk for the worse expressions of COVID-19. It's also because I spent a lot of time clawing myself back up to even this level of health, and the idea of having to do it all over one more freaking time because other people are selfish (and it isn't even about me) is maddening. It's a piece of cloth. It goes over just part of your face. It potentially saves lives and lessens suffering.
There is nothing I can do to change this situation. I cannot make it easier or safer for me to go outside because I have to rely on other people to make it safer for me. I have to rely on every single other person out there to choose to make it safer for me. Over the last 91 days, many people in this country made it very clear that they don't care if their neighbors live or suffer or die.
So, I am your Faerie Goddess-Auntie of Masks. I am asking you to wear your mask because I want to live. The oubliette of clinical depression is real and harrowing. It's nipping at my heels, and I will have none of it! That's why I drew myself today. That's why the focus today is not on Black lives mattering, where it should be. Just wear a mask. It doesn't even have to be cute. It can just be a rectangle of fabric tied around your head. Easy. Done.
Thank you for coming to my TEDrant. I feel better now.
Screw it. Here are some links to masks I designed.
I love this dress. It's surprisingly comfortable. Black Lives Matter. Defund the police.