Yes to all of this, in so many ways, and I have experienced the same divides as you. Vaccine division as well as timber community division.
I think that, when it's all said and done (which I reckon isn't far off), we will see that the most lasting harm from the whole pandemic and how it was handled is not long covid, nor is it vaccine injuries, but is the creation of a new trauma within a society that is so poor at handling traumas.
In fact, this is our time to do what we can to heal trauma. To reconcile, as you say. Every generation is given a chance to look at its trauma, to look at the polarisation created, and heal it. Some do it well, and then that healing can heal society. Some less well, and so the original wound reverberates down the ages.
For me, these wounds heal with generosity of spirit. I don't think we are there yet. I want to say that when I bring up the vaccine thing in conversation, people are understanding and want to heal the divide. That's not really true. Most times the vaccine conversation doesn't even start, and if it does come up, we collectively dance around it. I contribute on this score, as I'm weary of the slights cast my way for choosing not to take the vaccine. But maybe this is where my courage needs to enter, to sherpa a conversation into this seemingly treacherous terrain.
Who knows? What I do know is that we, collectively, need to get better at finding a middle way that's crafted in honour, respect and generosity rather than power, contempt and compromise. Imagine the world we could create if we grew upon each other's uniqueness rather than cut each other down to size?
I appreciate this. And it seems to tick a lot of boxes for me, as someone who is unvaccinated, involved in forestry in the PNW, and who has lowkey been meditating on the question of animism, for want of a better word, for years now.
Regarding level 1, I suppose indeed "acknowledgment" is what I'm looking for. A kind of closure, before this recedes from consciousness in a state not fully resolved, but still rankling below the surface.
Practically, what still concerns me are the vax mandates that are kinda mitigated at this point, but still technically present. For instance, at my work, unvaccinated people can, as of quite recently, return to the office along with the vaccinated people, who were invited back some time ago, but we are still technically set apart and distinguished on this score. My employment is still under the terms of a special "accommodation," which people who provided proof of vaccination do not require, and some additional restrictions are still placed upon me as part of this.
As the question of mandates recedes from consciousness, my fear is that this situation is forgotten about and never entirely resolved, with the mandate still remaining on the books.
Yes to all of this, in so many ways, and I have experienced the same divides as you. Vaccine division as well as timber community division.
I think that, when it's all said and done (which I reckon isn't far off), we will see that the most lasting harm from the whole pandemic and how it was handled is not long covid, nor is it vaccine injuries, but is the creation of a new trauma within a society that is so poor at handling traumas.
In fact, this is our time to do what we can to heal trauma. To reconcile, as you say. Every generation is given a chance to look at its trauma, to look at the polarisation created, and heal it. Some do it well, and then that healing can heal society. Some less well, and so the original wound reverberates down the ages.
For me, these wounds heal with generosity of spirit. I don't think we are there yet. I want to say that when I bring up the vaccine thing in conversation, people are understanding and want to heal the divide. That's not really true. Most times the vaccine conversation doesn't even start, and if it does come up, we collectively dance around it. I contribute on this score, as I'm weary of the slights cast my way for choosing not to take the vaccine. But maybe this is where my courage needs to enter, to sherpa a conversation into this seemingly treacherous terrain.
Who knows? What I do know is that we, collectively, need to get better at finding a middle way that's crafted in honour, respect and generosity rather than power, contempt and compromise. Imagine the world we could create if we grew upon each other's uniqueness rather than cut each other down to size?
I appreciate this. And it seems to tick a lot of boxes for me, as someone who is unvaccinated, involved in forestry in the PNW, and who has lowkey been meditating on the question of animism, for want of a better word, for years now.
Regarding level 1, I suppose indeed "acknowledgment" is what I'm looking for. A kind of closure, before this recedes from consciousness in a state not fully resolved, but still rankling below the surface.
Practically, what still concerns me are the vax mandates that are kinda mitigated at this point, but still technically present. For instance, at my work, unvaccinated people can, as of quite recently, return to the office along with the vaccinated people, who were invited back some time ago, but we are still technically set apart and distinguished on this score. My employment is still under the terms of a special "accommodation," which people who provided proof of vaccination do not require, and some additional restrictions are still placed upon me as part of this.
As the question of mandates recedes from consciousness, my fear is that this situation is forgotten about and never entirely resolved, with the mandate still remaining on the books.