Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, God took my fear about getting sick entirely away. But more recently, I've suffered anxiety over the threat of mask mandates, amongst all the other horrors raging across the country. Last Tuesday, I had a terrible feeling that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was going to mandate masks in public, for everyone across the state. His usual press conference was postponed till the following day. By the time I got home on Wednesday and had access to the news, he had already made his emperor's mask decree. Not only was I not surprised, but I realized that my anxiety was gone. This should not have surprised me either, because I had been praying about it for some time. However, we have to allow God to work in our lives, and likely I had been holding on to the illusion of control.
I knew exactly what I had to do. His majesty had graciously given health exemptions to the mask wearing, but as usual, he had provided no guidance on how to ensure being allowed into stores and other service providers. Would I need a doctor's note? My research told me that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses could not discriminate against those who are not able to wear masks due to health conditions. They would have to provide some sort of accomodation if they were going to refuse business to those without masks, such as curbside pick-up.
Before the governor's mandate went into effect last Thursday at 6:00 p.m., I had already visited local businesses in person, and called ahead to my chiropractor's office to make sure I could come in without a mask. One store told me that it was up to the health department to enforce the mandate. Another told me that to protect employees from potentially angry, violent customers, they weren't going to question anyone about it! I've been in contact with three church pastors. So far, my family and I are going to have no trouble entering any of the public places that we usually frequent. I got curbside prescription pick-up today from my pharmacy.
Advocating for oneself is extremely empowering. I didn't have to argue with anyone. In fact, I have received nothing but support for the protection of my health. My teenage daughter is not going to wear a mask either. She has health exemptions too, so I have advocated for her. My husband hasn't encountered any resistance, and he didn't even talk to anyone first.
Here's how I look at it. I happen to be a person who can claim physical health exemptions from mask wearing. The governor also gave mental health exemptions, and in either case, one should not be required to divulge the nature of one's disabilities. As far as I'm concerned, if you believe that wearing a mask is a threat to your physical, mental/emotional, or spiritual health, you should not have any qualms about claiming an exemption. I'm not telling anyone that they should or should not wear a mask. I simply believe that our freedoms are being egregiously stripped away across the country, under false pretenses. People need to be courageous and make their own choices.
The one place that we shop that I can foresee having an issue with is Wal-Mart, especially since they mandated masks at all their stores before DeWine's pronouncement. So, I made one last trip there, and will not be returning until they lift their mask requirements. This means being more self-sufficient in regard to food, so I will be making weekly trips to the farmers market and cooking more from scratch. I'll wean my family away from the frozen and canned, packaged foods. Bake my own bread. Rely less on stores in general. In any case, we can get by just fine without Wal-Mart!
My guess is that we'll see even more illness of all kinds in the fall, as a direct result of all the stress and "safety" measures being repeatedly recommended and forced over COVID-19. It behooves us all to get as healthy as possible and to form like-minded communities for support. There is no time for delay. Be proactive now. Make community connections now. Reach out and talk to people, because a lot of folks are not vocal and feel timid about standing up for their beliefs and advocating for their health and rights. It's time to get out from behind our screens and fully embrace life!
I wrote back in late April about moving on from the coronavirus; but the media and government officials have made that nearly impossible. Once we have advocated for ourselves and our families and are doing what we can to create fulfilling, free, normal, and even extraordinary lives, I believe that we can begin to move on. My feeling now is that I don't want to continue giving energy to the chaos, so I'll be calling less attention to it. I won't be mentioning the coronavirus or the mandates much anymore. In this way, I believe, if enough people detach themselves from the negativity, the wind will naturally die out of the COVID sails. What I will be sharing instead are the things I am refocusing my energy on, for the sake of my own health and that of my family, in the hope that it will be an encouragement to others. Your reality in great measure depends upon where you put your focus. Godspeed, Rita Michele
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