Just when you think there’s no way out…
Spoiler alert …
There is.
Hello!
Welcome to my blog. I hope you all are staying safe during these crazy times!
I plan to send out at least one blog per month. But usually no more than two times per month. Many of these posts will focus on topics that are covered in my books. I will share my knowledge and experiences with the topics I write about in my novels (including history, psychology, relationships, cultural differences, empowerment, etc.).
I obtained my Doctorate of Psychology in Criminology and Justice and a Master of Science in Religious Studies. This, in combination with spending extended periods of time living overseas and traveling to 3rd world countries, will add lots of interesting content to my blog posts.
I will also update you on any writing progress. You’ll be the first to see new book covers and the first to know about new releases and deals. Sometimes I will discuss recent books that I’m excited about.
This timely post will provide you with a taste of what you can expect each month….
Humans have always had to battle plagues. Many of the worst plagues on record, were a major topic in my first 2 books, in which vampires were the cause of mass death across Medieval Europe. Let’s put vampires aside for a minute.
“What? No vampires!”
I know but even without vampires this will not be boring, I promise. Ok some facts…
· In some regions, two-thirds of Europe’s population was wiped out during the Black Death. Talk about Apocalypse.
· It was caused by contagious diseases that came about due to over population and VERY unsanitary living conditions, like open sewers, which ran down the city streets. Yes, it started in rodents (living around people) that spread to fleas, which spread to humans. But the root cause was unsanitary living conditions. Or if you prefer … vampires :-).
What Came Out of This?
Well, many died. Of course, elderly and children were more likely to be impacted. That’s the bad news.
“There’s actually good news?” you ask.
Yes, there is. We learned. In fact, we learned a lot. One of the biggest improvements that came out of this was the installation of underground plumbing in all major cities. Yahoo! No more smelly feces floating down the open gutters of London’s streets. (I can’t even imagine the stench.)
We stopped throwing our dish water out the kitchen window, which created a continues wet area for disease to fester and spread (again the problem was solved by making indoor plumbing common place).
An increase in cleanliness was a major improvement that came out of these terrible plagues.
While today’s COVID-19 outbreak has some differences (and similarities, discussed below), I’m hopeful that we will come out of this better in the long run, as we did with the plagues of Europe.
Fast Forward to Today…
Caroline Kee reported these numbers in 2017…
“The plague — the "Black Death" that wiped out 60% of Europe's population in the 14th century — still exists. According to the CDC, there are still about 1,000–2,500 cases of the plague each year around the world, including in the US.
Madagascar actually has a "plague season" every year, but the country experienced one of its largest and most deadly plague outbreaks in 2017 — which included 2,417 cases and 209 deaths.”
[Caroline notes: “The numbers listed reflect the most recent data available from the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and country Ministries of Health. The true total number of cases and deaths for each disease in 2017 may be higher.”]
Fortunately, we can treat this once extremely deadly disease with antibiotics (which of course do not work on viruses like COVID-19). Caroline reported that cases of Black Death are still deadly if left untreated.
So this is another positive — modern medicine has advanced and we will hopefully find a way to vesicant ourselves against deadly viruses as well.
Many other countries in recent years have had outbreaks of deadly diseases, such as Mexico City. It’s not a coincidence that this is one of the largest cities in the world. And the deadly sicknesses are not limited to Plagues. There are numerous others, Cholera, Ebola, Diphtheria, etc.
Now, Let’s Go to Modern Day China
There are some themes here such as over population and horrible living conditions. In the case of China the air quality is so poor that people with respiratory problems are advised to stay indoors at all times. Even before COVID-19, people wearing masks were a common sight on the streets of Chinese cities, because many people didn’t want to breathe the black air.
America has exported its filthy polluting industries to China. As we all know, they now make many of our products and the vast amounts of mass-production pollution is now in China’s atmosphere. One of the differences of COVID-19 to the Black Death is the shear nature of our global society. Contagious diseases can spread so much faster in this day and age.
The way we are living now is not sustainable. Mother Nature is sending us a painful reminder of this now. Americans still want their bottled water and all the other 100’s of products we think we can’t live without.
But guess what, we CAN survive without individually bottled water as well as many other things we hold so dear.
Living in 3rd world countries taught me many things. One of which is that I can live (very well actually) without my special facial cleaner and many other products I feared I couldn’t survive without.
This is not to say that the deaths caused by COVID-19 are okay. All deaths in times of plagues are tragic. Entire family lines were wiped out in Medieval Europe. There isn’t much that most of us can do to stop such outbreaks. Unless you’re a bioengineer who can create a vaccine for COVID-19. In which case, I hope you’re working around the clock.
So What CAN We Do?
We can be smart and learn from this. It may seem bleak — like here’s no way out BUT there is. Humans have survived Apocalyptic-like plagues before and we will again. We will be stronger and we will learn to live better, more sustainable lives.
Diseases have always been a major issue of concern throughout history and will continue to be of concern unless we make some much needed lifestyle changes. Diseases will continue to grow smarter. Mother Nature will continue to restore balance as long as such measures are needed. Hence the theme of my novels. So let’s help Her and humankind out by being more environmentally conscious.
It may seem cruel that Mother Nature kills us off by using such methods. Yet, science has shown this to be true. Examples are found all over, such as plagues that appear when prairie dog populations get out of hand. Times when humans have hunted all the predators in a region, the pray, such as deer, become overpopulated and they starve and/or die of diseases. We see this in nature and with animals all the time. Need I remind you that we too are animals.
“What Does This Mean For Us?”
That’s a great question, I’m glad you asked. With modern technology and good sanitation (and healthy immune systems) most of us will survive the COVID-19 pandemic. My hope is that we will learn and grow and make some major changes towards more sustainable living and slowing population growth.
I want to end on a hopeful note. Humans are strong and resilient and smart. We have survived many devastating out breaks and we well do the same today.
"Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire."
— Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code)
Remember to focus on what we want and love rather than what we fear. This is one of the best ways to not only make it through these tough times but to THIVE.
It is ironic that I wrote about the Apocalypse of 2020 in my 3rd book, Of Gods and Goddesses. However, this will NOT be an Apocalypse! We will come out of this stronger and the world will be a better place. There is always a way out and the end product will be a different world but that world will not be a bad place. Change is a wonderful thing, like it was after the Black Death.
There is a lot to think about here. Let me know your thoughts?
What do you think the world will look like 1 year from now, 10 years from now?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Stay safe!
P.S. I hope you’re enjoying my latest book, A Woman’s World, which you can get for free for signing up to my Newsletter (on this website's homepage). There will be more on my inspiration for this book in future posts.
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Reference
Caroline Kee. (2017). https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinekee/disease-outbreaks-of-2017