Is this the best I can do?

Last week it really started getting to me: The disconnect between the intense pain and fear that I'm seeing and reading about, and my own home-bound reality that is frankly pretty comfortable right now.

Comfortable, that is, except for a growing frustration that I have nothing to offer that will make a difference to this pandemic.

I don't have any N95 masks. Don't have any training in medicine or public health. Don't have a factory that can produce hand sanitizer. Don't have a big bank account to fund things that need to be funded, or even support the local businesses that I wish I could support.

Is the best I can do to stay home, turn off the news, hunker down with my little family, and just try to stay kind and sane while the storm hopefully passes us by?

No, I don't think so. In fact, I think that is a recipe for misery.

I can't pretend I'm not connected to what's happening "out there." I can't pretend not to care. But I also need to figure out what my contribution is. 

One thing a lot of people have been suggesting lately is to make phone calls. Not just to friends and family, but to other people, too, who could use someone (or someone new) to talk to.

This is an idea I've appreciated in theory, but so far done very little of. Picking up the phone and calling -- even if it's someone I know and like! -- has always been scary for me. I worry about burdening people, interrupting them, calling at an inappropriate time....

I think this is a perfect opportunity to get over myself and practice what I preach.

If medical professionals can work double shifts under scary conditions to share their gifts, the least I can do is pick up the phone and humbly offer mine. So that is what I'm going to do this week. At least three calls a day, ideally more.

I'll let you know next week what comes of it.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear from you. What needs are you seeing? Where might your own gifts fit in? What have you been proud of these past few weeks? Share below!