I ’m Awash In Pandemic-Fueled Gratitude and Taking a Solitary Cross-Country Road Trip

Well hello! A version of this article also appeared in the It’s Not Just You newsletter. Sign up here to receive a new edition every Sunday for free. And write to me at Susanna@Time.com A Solitary Road Trip and Some Hope For Grace Next week I’m going to pack up my little snoring dog and drive from Brooklyn to Los Angeles all by my vaccinated self. It’s somewhat insane, especially if you know how slowly I drive. But like lots of things we’ve been waiting months to do, the idea of seeing any vista beyond my neighborhood is ridiculously thrilling. I’m awash in pandemic-fueled gratitude. There are a dozen routes that will bring me to national parks and into gorgeous parts of America that I don’t know well, or at all. But as the vigils and protests and grief-soaked press conferences cycle through the news day after day, I realize that it’s almost impossible to chart a cross-country trip without passing through states where there’s been a mass shooting incident or a traumatizing police-involved death just in the last few months. Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado, Missouri, California, Texas, Illinois, and it goes on. We can’t agree on much as a nation. But if you look at a map, you can see how this thread of violence connects us. We are bound by these tragedies. And there are just too many wounded cities, neighborhoods, workplaces, and families to drive around. That painful geography leaves us with some choices: We can pret...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized It's Not Just You Source Type: news