Through my eyes

As the world continues to shut down around me, I feel a tremendous fear. Cancellations are flying in; each email that reaches my mailbox is yet another event that has been terminated. Functions annulled. Launches abandoned. Advertising put on hold until further notice.

I'm feeling helpless; there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Nothing I can say or do will change the situation I'm in. This fear is real and I feel hopeless. Where to from here Not far, that's for sure - nowhere is safe and nothing is secure anymore.

But its not my own well being that I am concerned about, I fear not for my demise; I worry about my parents, they are most susceptible to this outbreak. I fear for my sons, the oldest one who lives in Cape Town. He was asked not to come to work after showing common flu symptoms on Friday, and sent him to the doctor. While my youngest who is just kilometres from the Italian border in the South of France, is seeing his whole world shutting down, he is still working but getting around is difficult and his future is uncertain.

I worry about my staff. What will happen to them How will they get through this What happens to the chain of suppliers that have been so essential to my existence Everything is shutting down around me; it's gutting the essential part of my life. Yet one thing that feels absolutely certain in this time of uncertainty: everyday life is changing just that one bit more, and there is that uncertainty, will life ever be the same again

While I'm always the last to panic, this is what staying calm feels like. While most of us will try and push to keep our lives and businesses going, I am also aware that by not stepping aside, I am endangering others.

There is so little we know about this outbreak, the facts are blurred by panic and fear. One thing is constant for me; I do not want to endanger another living being, I want to do everything to comply with whatever measures are in place, but I have serious doubts about whether our government has any idea how to slow the spread of this virus. I suspect it quietly reached these shores long before anyone noticed.

I am quite sure that many of the current panic measures do far more harm than good. They create the idea that we are in the midst of a terrifying plague that will kill us all, when the truth, although disturbing, is far less frightening. Their worst effect is to savage the economy by scaring people away from normal activities.

In some ways the present crisis has brought out the worst in us. We think of ourselves and our families first and foremost. This is perhaps best evidenced in the panic buying of goods. But the only way we are going to get through this is by thinking and acting collectively as human beings.

We need to begin to see and understand ourselves not as members of families, not as belonging to some group or nation, but as members of the human race. We will not overcome the virus or save the planet unless we develop a collective consciousness as a species.

We need to understand what it is to be human and what it is to live a good life. We need to change the interactions we have with each other. In Italian cities, people have begun to sing together from their balconies. They are connecting from a distance.

In this time of total uncertainty and unprecedented ambiguity, we need constant reminders that unless we think of ourselves as a frail species, unless we start to act collectively, there is no salvation.

This could be the last printed edition of The Bugle for some time. We will watch the situation on the ground as it unfolds. We stand together with all of you, united, steadfast and shaken with fear. We will not give up without a fight. Stay Safe!