like a faint heartbeat

At first, it was like the faint heartbeat of a fetus, barely noticeable. Then it turned into a ferociously hungry dragon, then it became a sky-high wave that drowned the whole world. A zombie virus, one-thousandth the width of an eyelash, has run a riot, a pandemic that to this day has affected almost 400,000 people worldwide, and killed almost 17,000, broke stock markets, ended human socializing, and brought our daily lives to a halt.

I’ve stopped listening to the news, it’s all bad, it is all horrifying; is this how we will all die? Possibly.

Whenever I write a text to a friend I start by “how are you holding up during all this madness?” To some friends I’ve recently spoken to, I write “if you need someone to talk to about something other than the virus, I’m here for you”.

I made the mistake of googling, when will the pandemic end? The result I got was it might take another eighteen months. Google is a dick.

It’s almost unfathomable how utterly weak and vulnerable we are as a species. And what started as funny memes and gifs is now a terrible reality. How will we reflect on this in several years’ time? I don’t know. But what COVID-19 taught us all, is that it’s not the Atomic or the Hydrogen bombs we should be fearful of, but a barely living virus one-thousandth the width of an eyelash. 

A part of me is kind of like ‘maybe this how humanity ends and we give back this planet we’ve destroyed to the animals.’ We’ve fucked up so much, and for so long.

A Very Late Post for International Women's Day

I’ve been so busy working on my book I didn’t get a chance to post anything on International Women’s Day! And now I’m torn between posting something for women’s day and posting something about the virus that’s brought life as we know it to a screeching halt! But I’ll do Women’s day first.

The past year has been huge for women, American women in particular; the women’s soccer team won the World Cup. Six women ran for president in the democratic race; and although they all dropped out, the sheer number of female candidates from various backgrounds and ethnicity, and the massive support they received is a great sign that women are breaking ceilings, blazing paths, and moving forward. Sadly our next president is going to be just another stupid old white man, but the one after that (I’m hopeful) shall be a woman. The fact that dirty Weinstein is behind bars, has experienced a lot of violence in prison, and caught the CoronaVirus (due to which he’ll hopefully suffer and die) is a massive win for the Me To movement. American biochemist Jennifer Doudna co-founded CRISPER, a scientific method to edit and modify genes; this scientific revolution will rid humanity from all genetic diseases. And sixteen years old Greta Thunberg (not American but is a badass worth mentioning here) is leading the fight against climate change. All in all women are stronger and more passionate than ever, and the best is yet to come.