What do we do when we can’t do anything?

Le Hong Lam is a famous journalist and film critic in Vietnam. Author of film research books ‘Watching words and reading pictures’, ‘Playing with structure’, ‘Birds in the wind’, ‘The dilemma of human situation’, ‘101 good Vietnamese films most recently’ and most recently ‘The Lover without a Portrait’, he has been and continues to contribute a lot of value to the development of Vietnamese cinema.
Le Hong Lam told me that, just write him with a simple title: Journalist. Journalism, it is the first predestined love for cinema to take Le Hong Lam far on the path he personally chose. For the series What do HCMC artists do during the quarantine period? that Newspaper Health of life implemented from May 31, 2021 up to now, Le Hong Lam shared:

I am at home almost 24/7. Writing, teaching online, reading, watching movies, cooking, exercising and sleeping. And most importantly, always keep yourself as calm as possible. Being used to the lifestyle of a freelancer and mostly working from home, social distancing doesn’t affect me too much mentally, but physically it certainly does. Work is delayed, project contracts are delayed or canceled. However, the pandemic has also taught us all a great lesson that, just having a roof to live in, enough food to eat, healthy yourself and loved ones, is already a great blessing. As in the article “Slave of possessions” drawn from “Nietzsche’s words to young people” by Shiratori Haruhiko, a famous Japanese author specializing in philosophy, religion, and literature, I sympathize with this passage. , not just for the time being: “Human life requires money, a comfortable place to live, and a lot of food to ensure health. Thanks to those things, people can live independently and freely. However, if that level of ownership is surpassed, a person will completely change, potentially becoming a slave of the desire to possess. In order to possess, people spend time, bind themselves in social relationships so that there is no time to rest, are controlled by the organization and, finally, are bound by the state. Human life is a time given not to ceaselessly compete for possessions.” Journalist Le Hong Lam The war between humans and this deadly virus will only end when the world produces and distributes vaccines to billions of people in record time. How long the record short time is, we don’t know. In Vietnam, with a population of 97 million people, to achieve herd immunity, we need about 60 million people to be vaccinated, which means we need about 120 million doses of vaccine if each person needs two doses to be immune. Translate. How many people and vaccines have been given so far, we all know for sure. Even if there is enough money for the vaccine fund, there will certainly be a long way to go before the vaccine is distributed to Vietnam to meet demand. And this epidemic crisis, which will certainly continue, forces us to adapt and have a long-term attitude to live with the epidemic. Le Hong Lam’s favorite corner Look no further, look to Malaysia to see. This country of about 25 million people has a per capita income many times higher than ours, is on the brink of a pandemic when nearly 10,000 people are positive for the virus every day. They certainly don’t lack money for vaccines. But in this vaccine race where “nationalism” takes the throne, it is unlikely that there is money to have a vaccine. Vietnam, remains one of the best COVID-controlled countries in the world. However, this 4th wave of epidemics is really threatening us with the number of cases of disease in the community spreading rapidly. And I don’t know, even if this 4th wave is suppressed, how many next “waves” will fall on us, before Vietnam has enough vaccines to achieve herd immunity. So while you wait for a vaccine, learn to deal with it as safely and calmly as possible. In the “How to cope” episode of the “Coronavirus Explained” series, health experts say that the epidemic has left hundreds of millions of people around the world in a state of fear, stress and depression. And these negative mental states will continue for a long time even after the pandemic is over, they warn. Fear, during an epidemic, has an important advantage in helping us survive and comply with the rules of community isolation. But in the long run, it causes consequences that affect the nervous system and brain, causing long-term mental and physical effects. In a recent article, I cited information from an article on CNN about the “suicide epidemic” in Japan during the COVID epidemic. Accordingly, the number of people who have died from COVID in a year since the outbreak, is less than the number of people who commit suicide in Japan in a month. Of course, Japan is inherently a country with a high suicide rate. But the negative effects of the COVID pandemic have led to a sudden increase in the number of people committing suicide, due to stress, depression and fear. Therefore, some psychologists believe that we should control our emotions to restore balance to the brain. Balancing emotions, practicing meditation, breathing deeply and limiting reading news that cause fear, confusion and nervous tension are the best ways to help us avoid anxiety or stress. As a psychologist put it: “As the world becomes increasingly unpredictable, we must create a predictable world for ourselves. Even the little things are self-helpful, like maintaining a schedule, which gives us a sense of purpose and helps us not see things too hazy.” The common people interviewed in this episode each have their own way of dealing with the epidemic. Increasing physical and mental activity, at home, is also an effective way to help us achieve the necessary balances. Right now, if we are safe at home and have enough food to eat and our spirits are stable, we are luckier than the thousands and thousands of people out there who are struggling with the epidemic or worrying about their health. safety or food for their families. Therefore, let’s cheer and express gratitude and gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers on the front lines who are working under the crazy heat of summer (especially in the North of Vietnam). and the Central region) in the meantime. Please encourage and share, do not discriminate against the positive person or the F1, F2, F3 who are involved. And please donate a little material, in your ability to charities or the Government’s COVID-19 vaccine-prevention FUND. In the episode above, a psychologist says, “The power of giving is not only positive, it is actually good for us. Together through this pandemic, we can make the world more welcoming.” The ending of this episode says: “During the 2003 SARS epidemic, Hong Kong was the city that suffered the most. And when conducting a survey of the population after the epidemic ended, the results showed that Hong Kong people care about the feelings of their loved ones more than before. They also care more about their mental health than before.” This is the time when we should “get together” mentally, while observing social distancing! And the last paragraph, taken from an article called What do we do when we can’t do anything? posted on facebook for quite some time and am recruiting for a draft of a magazine I am planning to print later this year: “In the face of big problems like natural disasters that fall from the sky, we realize how small human life is. And because he was small, he didn’t try to resist or panic. Anyone anywhere just sitting there, at ease, watching the sun rise every morning and sunset every afternoon is happy already. Happiness is always inside of us, rarely outside of us. Ozu said the same thing.”