On Being a Warrior

The fool on the hill believes that when we take one for the country and risk illness or death, we’re being a warrior. I know a little something about being a warrior so I thought I would weigh in.

I survived an unsafe childhood establishing my warrior status early on in life. I’ve spent forty-one years married to the same man, a warrior’s feat for certain. I earned my Black Belt in Kenpo in our dojo, my husband as my instructor, training daily for 3 1/2 years refining my technique and strengthening my warrior spirit.

After thirteen years of severe rheumatoid arthritis, I achieved remission from concentrated cannabis medicines that I formulated from cannabis my husband grew for me. After that, I wrote my first book about my experience surviving a disease I felt certain would be fatal. And now I host a Tarot and Rune video series that I could never have imagined I would do, but that’s what happens when the warrior within takes hold.

Solutions require effort and a willingness to do whatever is necessary, and in the case of the pandemic, to keep people alive and well. There should be no other option for a president of a country, yet in his case, death is apparently an acceptable choice as long as the money continues to flow.

The failed leader spent too much time in denial and now the situation is so dire that all he can do is guilt the citizenry into becoming his own short-sighted version of a warrior, lost in the chaos of a clueless madman, devoted to his cause.

When the hydroxychloroquine fell through he grasped at straws, blaming everyone but himself, turning his attention to disinfectant and demeaning journalists for speaking out.

And now, he expects the country to be the warrior he sadly is not. I’m happy to comply with his request, although in my case, I can only express my warrior spirit by wearing a mask and gloves for the foreseeable future whenever I leave my property. I will protect others along with myself because I know that it’s all I have at this juncture until a vaccine or other therapeutics become available.

It’s not a burden but a privilege to take on this task, the warrior that I am, and I will carry that privilege on my shoulders until the virus is defeated. And unlike the impeached president, I will not fail, nor will I expect anyone else to assume my responsibility. Because that’s what a warrior does. We carry on against all odds.

However, my own warrior-ness pales in comparison to what we see every single day as nurses and doctors and other first responders, our true warriors, take their place on the front lines of this pandemic with integrity, resolve, and dare I say, a profound love for humanity. They risk everything so that the rest of us survive, as they are deprived of PPE and disrespected by a failed impeached president who asks everything and gives nothing.

Emulating the warrior spirit of these medical professionals who are giving everything so that we can live is the least we can all do. Stay home, stay protected, and stay out of their ERs and ICUs. Again…it’s the least we can do for the warriors who risk everything for us.

Blessed Be the warriors: the nurses, the doctors, hospital workers, and all emergency first responders. May we rise to their example and assist them in this cause.