The Great Stay-In: Looking Out for Each Other
A note from the editor
We’re all wondering what’s going to happen in our community as we take measures such as social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. We are worried about our families, neighbors, small businesses, service industry workers, and healthcare professionals. I’ve struggled like many of you to stay informed, but look away from the constant stream of updates as I try to make sense of what this all means for us. However, I feel a deep commitment to the idea that the mission of Our Jackson Home, to celebrate the people and the stories of the city we love, is more important than it’s ever been. Even as we create physical distance, we are in need of ways to come together. So we have dedicated this time, as uncertain as it may be, to sharing the resources and perspectives of our local writers, artists, photographers, business owners and leaders.
Courtney Searcy, Program Director & Editor-in Chief
BY BETHANY LUTZ | GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
The Great Stay In of 2020 has begun and I have so many mixed up feelings. It feels good to be doing my civic duty by observing social distancing. It’s small but it’s something, you know?
I’m glad to be home with my family, making soup and playing games. Sometimes I can almost forget this isn’t just a normal spring break but something different altogether. The pause in the busy routine of daily life has been oddly welcome around here so far but I can hardly enjoy it for longer than a few minutes at a time.
You see, I keep my windows uncovered during the day and I can see my neighbors out there, going about their business. I keep them open because I need to see my neighbors. I want to remember that I am connected to them, and I need to see them to stay soft to their humanity and to mine. Keeping my windows open helps me remember that we all belong to each other.
“Keeping my windows open helps me remember that we all belong to each other. ”
I went out to the store the other night to grab a few groceries and as I was putting them away, I was thinking of my neighbors and wondering if they were doing the same. I thought about the ones who have to earn next week’s grocery money before they can buy next week’s milk. Stockpiling is not an option for so very many of us. We can forget that if we keep our windows closed, I think.
I talked to someone at RIFA today about the work they do to make sure everyone in our town gets to eat. She told me that they are in need of poptarts, microwave popcorn, ramen and other nonperishable foods and especially cash donations to keep everyone fed during these uncertain days. She told me about the Bus Stop Cafe, a brightly colored school bus that delivers square meals to hungry kids when school isn’t in session. If we all give a little, we can make sure no one misses a meal. Can you imagine a world like that, where not one child within our reach ever missed a meal? A world where no mama has to choose between feeding herself or her child?
After my phone call to RIFA, I went into my own kitchen and starting chopping a sweet potato. Alone, in the quiet kitchen, worries about tomorrow and the day after crept in. What if? What then? What about...
I worry about a lot of things, it’s just my nature. I’ve always been awake when everyone else is asleep, imagining the worst and planning for every contingency. It hasn’t added a minute to my life, I assure you.
As I chopped an onion and added it to the hot pan, I started worrying about my neighbors who are hourly employees. Would they be able to keep their lights on if they’re unable to work?
Sometimes my worrying looks like sitting and stewing for hours and days. Other times it looks like action. I decided yesterday was a day for stewing and today is for doing the next right thing in love.
“Wouldn’t it be beautiful to look out of our open windows a few months from now to see every little house lit up, not one in the dark? ”
As my sweet potatoes and onions sizzled on the stove, I called Jackson Energy Authority and asked what will happen when folks are unable to pay their light bills during this crisis we seem to be barreling toward. I was relieved to hear that JEA has suspended disconnections until further notice, however, bills will continue to accrue. There will be no forgiveness. When the crisis passes, disconnections will resume and some of our neighbors will have hundreds of dollars worth of bills they can’t pay. What if every one of us visited JEA’s website and shared a little so our neighbors will never be in the dark, even if their hours are cut or their jobs disappear during this time? Wouldn’t it be beautiful to look out of our open windows a few months from now to see every little house lit up, not one in the dark?
I cracked a few eggs and whisked them into the hash that was coming together better than I had hoped. I added a little more salt and pepper and then I turned my music back on. I breathed deep a few times, in 2-3-4, out 2-3-4, releasing some of the tension that had been building without my knowledge or permission.
Friends, so many things are uncertain right now and it’s ok to be scared. Everything seems to be sliding around all over the place and it’s hard to always know who to listen to or what to do next. I think it may help us to name some of the things that aren’t changing and first on my list is my commitment to keeping the windows open around here. No matter what comes next, we are in this together. We make it through this, together. No matter what happens, my life and future are all tied up with yours and we will get through this if we commit to looking after each other and keep doing the next right thing in love. My next right step is checking on a friend across town, right after I eat this delicious meal. What’s yours?
Bethany Spragins Lutz is a Jackson native, writing about faith, feminism, justice, and motherhood from her home in midtown. Find her at bethanyspraginslutz.com and on Instagram @bethanyspraginslutz.