GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, WHO CAN TELL?

Edited by Worth, this absorbing collection of stories, essays, song lyrics, and poetry shares lessons learned during the Covid-19 lockdown.

While working in a counseling center during the pandemic, Worth, a psychologist, noticed an unexpected change in his patients’ mental health—many were getting better. The title of this book is inspired by a Buddhist parable that cautions against overreacting to seemingly positive or negative events; outcomes are never certain. While most consider Covid to be a wholly negative event, Worth chooses to withhold judgment and find wisdom and hope in the pandemic accounts collected here. Arranged according to categories of people, the collection includes the stories of physicians, clergy, artists, restaurateurs, and others from both the U.S. and India. Teacher Morgan Gulley, for example, describes the challenges and successes of making instruction “as normal as possible.” Summer Aguiar, a student, discusses isolation and how she “learned to be okay with being alone.” At the book’s close, Worth reflects on the ways life’s struggles can be regarded as useful and opportunities to evolve. This collection, extraordinary in its scope, approaches the pandemic in an engaging, unconventional way. The writing, especially, stands out. The poet Smita Agarwal deftly captures the eerie dawning of the pandemic: “A new way of life … / All around, humans with sandpaper-breath / Topple like skittles, as flies to wanton boys.” Meanwhile, Andy Fraenkel, a teacher of the Vaishnava/Krishna tradition, explains with philosophical clarity that we have within ourselves the power to overcome our anxieties: “We have the choice whether to focus on the negative or on the positive, to focus on that which is destructive or that which is healing and nourishing.” Worth’s epilogue succeeds in drawing definite conclusions from the myriad experiences and emotions captured here. One telling lesson: “We are relationship creatures,” and we would benefit from further “appreciating and cultivating relational connections.” This is an important collection that not only records a range of pandemic experiences, but demonstrates how we can learn from this and other events.

A novel, thought-provoking angle on the recent world health crisis.