Last week I burnt myself in the most ridiculous accident. I was cooking sausages and by some trick of fate I managed to ‘kerplunk’ half of one into a small pool of fat, splashing it up onto my forearm.
It hurt.
It made adjusting that afternoon rather difficult.
I may have sworn, I can’t really remember.
My first reaction was to tend to it, put it under cold running water. My second reaction was to try to understand why.
Unsurprisingly, it became quite the talking point at work that afternoon. That tends to happen when you wander about adjusting people with a cold pack strapped to your forearm. As I retold the story of my disastrous sausage cooking, we laughed (mainly at me and also because there’s something about sausages that seems extra funny.) People shared their wisdom about how to help a burn heal, and we pondered about the meaning behind it all.
Later I was chatting with a beautiful soul who looks at the world in a really spiritual way. I regaled my story and when I got to the part where I was bewildered as to the meaning behind it she simply said: “burns are a symbol of repressed anger, your forearm symbolises boundaries and restrictions.”
I laughed out loud, it was easy to see where that explanation fit. Reactions to the Covid virus have changed my life greatly. My family is spread all over Australia and the UK. Border closures and travel restrictions have meant that it’s been almost a year since I have been able to hug my 85-year-old Dad. It’s been almost two years since he has hugged my sons.
We’re due for a family catch up for Christmas this year but with practically each Australian State represented and my sister in London, it doesn’t look likely. When we decided to move to Queensland over a decade ago, we didn’t factor in the possibility that a virus would stop us from travelling interstate to catch up with family and friends.
But it has.
It took us completely by surprise.
And honestly, it hurts.
I am well aware that the impact of Covid in Queensland has been relatively mild so far. There are certainly many people in the state, country and world that are doing it much tougher than me. Yet we are all living in increasingly odd times. They are honestly the weirdest I have experienced in my life so far. Without a doubt, the bit that stings the most is the division I see being created and encouraged.
I got approximately 35 different home cures for a forearm burn in the space of two days. If that response was to a burn, then I think it’s pretty reasonable to have many responses to a novel virus. Whilst I didn’t agree with all the home cures suggested, I certainly didn’t poo-poo them (well not out loud anyway) Instead I chose to see the care and concern in the suggestions.
When faced with the Covid crisis and all the reactions and restrictions, we also have a choice; an opportunity. We can focus on that which divides us, or we can focus on connecting with our common values. There is so much fear burning holes in our community. Let’s be the running water, or the Aloe vera (or whatever you like to put on a burn to help it heal).
My forearm is healing well. My clever body is already revealing some nice new skin as it sheds the old. It turns out the burn made an oddly beautiful pattern. If it does scar, I’ve decided that it will not remind me of a particularly clumsy cooking escapade. Nor will it remind me of the pain of a burn or even repressed anger. I’ll take this weird and wonderful opportunity to remember the many approaches to healing a burn and the wisdom and care within each of them.
Josephine
