Beauty and the Beast-The Corona Version, Rapunzel in the Kingdom of Corona & Other Fairy Tale Commentary On Surviving This Pandemic

So how are you all?

We will catch you up on our new year, new surgery, and new challenges (typing = headaches!!) another time but for now our focus, is just like yours: surviving this pandemic, and that's a complex thing.

There were pleas from authorities to not joke about Covid-19 on April Fool's Day two days ago, because there are too many people afraid, or sick, or fighting for their lives while others are risking their own lives (and their families) daily by being on the front lines to help combat this pandemic, and we agree.

We do think, however, that humor can help alleviate stress and this video walks the line between funny parody and sobering truth - hopefully it's a good combo for you. Just going to leave this here for you all to... enjoy? Cringe at? Sober-up over? Heh.. oh boy.

"I've yet to see a reckless fool quite like her,"

"Without a mask or gloves she goes?..." 

Why is this so difficult for folks to adjust to??

For the first time everyone around the world - all at once -  is having to think about everything they do, in every aspect of their lives (from the most basic "how do I get food?" to the more complex "how do I educate my kids?") and that's an overwhelming adjustment to make, especially as it's not something someone else can do for us. We're each having to do it, individually, for the most part, but that doesn't mean we're as alone as we may feel.

The Fairy Tale Profs at The Carterhaugh School of Folkore and the Fantastic, have - inspired by the iconic "maiden in a tower fairy tale" story - put together a list of resources, or, as they delightfully title it "Rapunzel's Toolkit, or How To Nuture Magic and Sanity in Your Own Tower".

It's varied, extensive and wonderfully tailored for fairy tale and folklore folks to be inspired by during our confinement. You can find that awesome list HERE or by clicking on the image below.

While we have you here - and thinking of people locked in places they don't want to be - we wanted to remind folks that we could all use a little more kindness and gentleness in dealing with our current "cellmates". Everyone is having some sort of issue with the restrictions. Perhaps most obviously, extroverts quickly got cabin fever in a just a couple of days and are finding each additional 24 hours more difficult (and depressing), but introverts too are struggling with having no place to escape their co-confined families for some sanity-reviving alone-time and are feeling suffocated. More importantly than either of these groups, though, are two others that desperately need our awareness, support and care:

1) those quarantined with people they don't get on with (relationship fallout is already happening across the globe)
2) women & children in abusive and violent homes (domestic violence is on the rise the world over)

We thought this might be a good image for a sober reminder:

And there are other "at risk for additional violence" groups too: the homeless, the elderly in nursing homes, displaced youth, those in "halfway houses", the incarcerated...

Compassion and kindness isn't just about all the various "Rapunzels" that we are, getting through this more humanely, and creatively, but it may, in fact, save lives in a different - but very important way - too.

Yeah - this subject gets heavy REAL fast!

By the way, anyone else begin picturing a whole lot of Rapunzel-type towers sprouting up through a kingdom, trying to figure out how to keep daily life and functions running while we're talking about this? Just us? :D That would make for an interesting and twisty, fairy tale challenge...

(Feel free to write that fairy tale and we'll publish it here!)

Let's finish with a little extra giggle bonus, because we can't help but feel that despite the incredible gravity of this situation, a roll of toilet paper will be the ultimate symbol for this era in world history...

PS: A PSA (because we cannot get complacent about this!)

  --WASH YOUR HANDS -- (at least 20 seconds - you should know how by now!)                           -- STAY AT HOME --  (ie. in a single place - no visiting people who don't sleep in the same place you do! Shop once a week OR LESS for necessities only.)

-- KEEP AT LEAST 6ft BETWEEN YOU AND OTHERS WHEN OUT --

(the length of a turkey vulture's wingspan!) 

A Personal Note from the OUABlog Fairy Tale News Room

Question: Is Once Upon A Blog still open for business then?

Answer: Yeeesss. Sort of. It's a qualified yes. We wish to be but computer work has become a very real physical challenge and posts are likely to be random, short and erratic. We wish we could do more right now but healing has to be our priority. We hope you understand and forgive the inconsistency. We were working with doctors on this before the world-wide emergency hit, so progress in this department is taking a backseat until our docs are available again. Keep up your "habit of Wonder", practice creative living, focus on healing (like Mother Nature is doing, despite all this!) and you'll see us in your orbit again very soon.

Gypsy & the Fairy Tale News Team