[Ethnocomm] Fwd: Seven Essential Messages for the Time of the Coronavirus (13/4/2020)

[Nadezhda Sotirova]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Donal Carbaugh <carbaugh at comm.umass.edu>
Date: Tue, Apr 14, 2020 at 8:42 AM
Subject: Seven Essential Messages for the Time of the Coronavirus
(13/4/2020)
To: nsotirov at morris.umn.edu <nsotirov at morris.umn.edu>


Hi Nade,



...

I received the following in a nice email from Anna Wierzbicka.

The messages are constructed in the minimal English of NSM and are
intended, as a result, to be easily accessible to people in any language.

...



Be well.



Donal



***********************

Dear Donal,



I hope you and yours are well.

…

I have written (in consultation with Cliff [Goddard]) the text below.



I’d love for these messages to reach some people in the US, too.

…

With heartfelt best wishes,

Anna



*SEVEN ESSENTIAL MESSAGES FOR THE TIME OF THE CORONAVIRUS (14/4/2020)*





*Essential message 1*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

            This time is not like other times.

            Very bad things are happening to many people now.

            Very bad things are happening to many people’s bodies because
of the coronavirus,

                   many people are dying because of this.

            More people can die if I do some things now as I have always
done. I don’t want this.

            Because of this it will be good if I can be at home all the
time.

            If I *have* to be not at home for some time, I will think like
this all the time:

                I don’t want to be near other people; I don’t want to be so
near someone that I can touch them.

                I don’t want to be so near someone that I can breathe some
of the same air.



*Essential message 2*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

              This time is not like other times.

              Very bad things are happening to many people now.

              Many people feel something very very bad.

              I can do some good things for some of these people; I want to
do something good for them.

              I want to know what I can do; I want to think about it today;
I want to do something today.



*Essential message 3*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

       This time is not like other times.

       During this time many people can’t be with other people as before.

       They can’t speak to other people like before; they feel something
very bad because of this.

        I know some of these people. I want these people to know that  I am
thinking about them.

        I want them to know that I want bad things not to happen to them.

        I want to do something because of this.

       Perhaps I can write to them, perhaps I can ring them, something like
this.

       I want to do something today.



*Essential message 4*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

     This time is not like other times.

     Very bad things can happen to me during this time, not like at other
times.

     At the same time, I can do some very good things during this time, not
like at other times.

     I can read good books, I can listen to good music, I can write
something every day about this day.

     I can do many things “good for the soul”, not like at other times.

     If I  pray, I can pray more; if I don’t pray, I can do something like
it.

     I want to do these things. I want to do these things today.



*Essential message 5*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

       This time is not like other times.

       I don’t want to think about it like this:

               “ Very bad things are happening now, nothing good can happen
because of this”.

        I want to think like this:

                I can do some very good things during this time, not like
at other times.

                If I do these things, after this bad time I can be not as I
was before:

                        I can know some people better, I can love some
people more.

                I want this.



*Essential message 6*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

       This time is not like other times.

       I can’t live during this time as I lived before.

       At the same time, I can think about many things more,  not as before.

        I can think more about things like this:

              Why do I live on earth? What do I live for? How can I live if
I want to live well?

              If I know that I will die soon, what do I want to do before I
die?

       If I think about these things more now, after this bad time I can
live not as I lived before.

       I can then live in another way, I can live better.

       I want this.



*Essential message 7*

It is good for all of us if we think like this every day now:

        This time is not like other times.

         We can’t live during this time as we lived before.

         At the same time, we can think about some things more now, not as
before.

        We can think about things like this:

              “We all live with other people, none of us is like an island.

              How can we live well with other people?”

        If we think about these things more now,  after this bad time we
can live with other people

              not like before;  we can live better.

       We want this.


-- 
Nadezhda Sotirova, Ph.D. (she/her)
Assistant Professor
Communication, Media, & Rhetoric CMR
<https://academics.morris.umn.edu/communication-media-and-rhetoric>
Humanities and Fine Arts 17
University of Minnesota Morris
Division of Humanities
600 East Fourth St.
Morris, Minnesota 56267
Email: nsotirov at morris.umn.edu
Phone: (320) 589-6270
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