For years now, my Facebook profile picture has been a closeup of a T-shirt I bought in 2016. 

 The white letters against a black background spell a single word: 

Resist

 These days that word has become more than a political mantra.

 In these weird, surreal and frightening times:

 May our miraculous immune systems resist this virus.

 May we resist the pull of panic.

 May we resist the tendency to focus on the future, rather than the present moment. 

That last one is especially helpful for me. Today I found myself wandering up and down the grocery store aisles, wondering what to buy, when the shelves would be restocked, whether things would ever go back to “normal.”

Many of my fellow shoppers looked worried, even pained, and I realized my face must be showing those feelings, too.

I decided to resist. I made eye contact with people as we passed each other. I smiled. Most of them smiled back, and we shared stories and small jokes about life as we know it now. The pull of panic receded.

Turns out human contact (albeit at a distance) is good medicine.