Yesterday I committed to washing my hands upon arriving to a new place, more as a spiritual exercise in the task of discovering how to perform unconcerned action. In the morning I couldn't make it yoga, so I went to the gym instead. I begun my workout when I noticed they had put up posters indicating precautions to take because of the virus: say hello by waving, don't come if you're feeling sick, wash your hands...
I was supposed to wash my hands on arrival! "Well, it's useless now, if I carried the virus in my hands I would have already spread it." I thought. I continued my workout, but soon I felt bothered by my own lazy attitude, and I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. It's only been a day, but I can already tell the habit will set in.
When I came back home I scrubbed my hands throughly, not because of concern, but the fact that I had to wash my hands deliberately and not on autopilot made me notice the filth under my fingernails. I've been working the garden and if you don't do your washing consciously, filth remains stuck. "How in the world Juanito manages to take care of two parks and at least one kilometer of tree lined sidewalks, all while wearing a tucked in white dress shirt and a sombrero". He's always impeccable, surely he made a deal with the devil.
As I was writing I received a message from my cousin. She asks where is my aunt, who is visiting from Canada and staying at my home. --Oh, they went to visit Tere. "Who did she go with?", my cousin asked. She is extremely fond of my aunt, and my mother has had contact with someone who works in a place where someone who is asymptomatic turned out to have the virus, so she doesn't want my aunt to see my mother. I feel it's an overreaction, but she looks for the best interest of her four children. However, controlling other people is not within your reach.
You can isolate yourself, if you are well trained you can isolate your household, but how will you isolate that which is beyond your reach? You can plead and beg and get angry, but that will only incentivize that people avoid telling you that they've seen other people. A car just arrived. It must be my aunt. I will leave it at this for today.