G for Gratitude
Frankly, waking up to the news every morning has turned my despair up a notch. Not only is there an increasing number of families who have lost loved ones, but the news of bigotry and corruption has made me feel like the fight for social justice is unattainable. As parents, Ben and I feel that we need to inject hope into our home so that the boys will have the emotional and mental strength to continue to fight for equality and be allies. I’d be lying if I say that there aren’t days when we feel the need to unplug and recuperate.
It’s hard not to feel useless when so many people around us have it worse. It’s hard to know how to give back when we are also unsure about our current financial situation. Gratitude is something we’re trying to actively practice. Half the time, we think our kids are spoiled and are completely unaware of their privilege. The other half, we’re just thankful they don’t seem to have sociopathic tendencies.
Mateo and Marvi gloriously failing at making masks. ABC(orona) ©Lowy+Lacar, 2020
We’ve been trying to find ways to ground ourselves. We have this tradition at dinner time; the kids call it High Point, Low Point, Thankful For. It’s pretty self-explanatory. We all share the highest point, the lowest point, and name one thing we’re thankful for. These days we’ve skipped “low point” and we focus on the best parts of our day and what we’re thankful for. This family tradition has been a good way to get the kids to talk to us about their day; otherwise, we get a shrug and a grunt-like “good.” It’s also an exercise in practicing gratitude.
My friend Rosem Morton, who photographer and a nurse had this to say about gratitude:
I think working on the frontlines has allowed me to give space to a lot of gratitude. I am thankful for the small moments of peace and the spaces for recovery. I am grateful for the people who go out of their way to check on me and my colleagues. Most importantly, I am grateful to make a difference in whatever way I can.
I think the act of helping doesn't always need to mean a grand big gesture. We all treasure connection at this time of isolation. So, I think the simple act of checking in on your friends and families working on the frontlines makes all the difference difference.
For this post on Gratitude, I wanted to focus on Filipino medical workers. This is a personal subject for me especially now that xenophobia, bigotry, and hate crimes are on the rise. While Filipinos only account for 1% of the US population, 4% of nurses practicing in the country are Filipinos. It’s a long-running joke in the Filipino community that if you’re Filipino, you only have 3 or 4 career options, nursing is one of them. The truth is that the US actively recruited Filipino nurses after WW2 when there was a shortage of nurses in the country. The second wave followed after a 1965 immigration law that opened recruitment to nurses abroad with a promise of a green card. Now, there are 2nd and 3rd generation Filipino Americans who have taken the baton to serve in the field. This also means that there’s a growing number of Filipino healthcare workers in crisis mode during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this breaks my heart even more because these are my friends and family. My sister is a doctor, my closest cousins, nephews, elementary school classmates — many are in the field. For this post, I’d like to introduce you to SOME of my childhood friends and family who are nurses and doctors currently in the front lines.
There’s so much hate towards people of color nowadays when all we’re doing is just trying to exist with the same dignity and respect. This is a beautiful and gut-wrenching video from Wieden Kennedy about how one word can destroy someone’s life forever. Please take the time to watch it.
"Call it Covid-19" is a response to the rising discrimination against Asians around the world as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
— Wieden+Kennedy (@WiedenKennedy) May 23, 2020
This piece was created by Asiancy, one of W+K Portland's affinity groups.#CallitCovid19 pic.twitter.com/CESdyZ1fcb
Giving
We tried to make masks with the hopes of donating them to front line workers; however, we quickly discovered how terrible our sewing skills were. Instead we’ve decided to devote our time and resources to the following charities and individuals:
There are lots of people hurting right now and we’ve chosen to
United Way of New York City - The organization helps the hardest hit New Yorkers with food, housing and benefits. Learn more about what they do and how you can help HERE.
Families in our school community who lost loved-ones from COVID-19:
North Jersey Pride - They’re dedicated to supporting LGBTQ youth and families in our area. Learn more about their mission and what you can do to help HERE.
