It’s been a while since I posted. Like all of you out there, the turmoil and upheaval of the past two years have made it difficult to find solid footing and frankly, the desire to share direct thoughts and feelings about the real world. The pandemic brought us face-to-face with suffering, loss of life, grief, and isolation followed by fear, anger, and violence. We have been in a constant state of despair as we come out of the pandemic with a new wave of devastation with the war in Ukraine, gun violence in the United States, and the continued polarization of our social fabric. It is more than a challenge these days a feel as if I am doing more than simply treading water. Yet, something always manages to light those proverbial candles in the dark.
In addition to all the “bad” I listed above, the “good” has a way of slowly revealing itself as long as we are patient and open. During the early stages of the pandemic, I witnessed the resilience of others – people who were rising to the occasion by continuing to move forward, helping those who were suffering and in need; people trying to uplift each other in seemingly small but lasting ways. I watched some online groups evolve from newsfeed distractions into support networks. A common interest, isolation, and anxiety brought strangers together to share their experiences that connected and inspired one another.
It can feel impossible to stay positive or feel optimistic when things go so dark in a jarring instant – an act of senseless violence by one person or by a nation. A sense of despair and hopelessness or worse yet, indifferent fatalism can descend on the best of us. But I have seen random moments of such kindness, courage, and bravery. Rather than an opinion, a tweet, or an op-ed, I look up and see human beings, a nod, a shared eye-roll, and we are connected in-the-moment, going on with our daily routines, struggles, squabbles, joys, and sorrows. These moments are my Prussian Blue – a beautiful artist’s color pigment that turns out to be an antidote for heavy metal poisoning. They are moments of hope that allow me to process out the toxicity of the real world.
So in that vein, I wanted to do a series of posts that share the things that continue to give me hope. Some of it is “analog” and some “digital” but the best of it is the people that I have connected with during the past two years. My hope is not just to share my “testimony” of how I tread water more efficiently, but to highlight the testimonies of all the people that inspired me and gave me hope, spreading it like a good virus and a strong coating of beautiful Prussian Blue.
These radioactive materials move through the intestines and pass out of the body. Getting these materials out of the body help limit the amount of time they expose the body to radiation.
Prussian blue reduces the biological half-life of cesium from about 110 days to about 30 days. The biological half-life is the amount of time it takes for the radioactive material to leave the body, which decreases its harm.
Prussian blue reduces the biological half-life of thallium from about 8 days to about 3 days.
