Social Distancing + Living with Uncertainty

I know a thing or two about Social Distancing + Living with Uncertainty.

From the day Søren was diagnosed with a rare and fatal Primary Immune System Disorder, we were advised to isolate and quarantine ourselves to keep Søren alive. We’ve spent the last three years vigorously avoiding infection, years socially distancing ourselves, five months in a sealed transplant unit (5200), and countless days calculating risks anytime we went to the grocery store, the post office, or interacted with other humans in anyway. (Our closets are still filled with masks, gloves, hospital-grade sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer- if you need some.) Living through long periods of quarantine and fear, led me to surrender to that which I can’t control. And I realized: I’m not really in control of much. Risk is everywhere, and life often feels random and unfair. Once I reckoned with this, I could see the silver lining. I could see the gifts of forced stillness and the gifts of accepting that life is unpredictable and filled with uncertainty.

And so I learned to take things one day, one moment, one breathe at a time. Living into the present moment, which is really all we ever have.

Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham, North Carolina