We live in irritating times. Our irritated response to them is natural — or at least understandable. It’s getting worse, says Shunsuke Ando, director of the Japan Association of Anger Management. A booklet he recently published on the subject is titled “How to Control Your Heart and Not Get Irritated.” It exudes calm. Calm, of course, is the remedy, if you have it in you.
Increasingly, we don’t. That, too, is understandable. There is no living calmly with a viral pandemic that has killed more than million worldwide, shredded the global economy, polluted our politics, devastated our social life and shows no sign of ebbing. Some say its depredations have just begun.
Larger consequences aside, COVID-19 keeps us housebound, mocking our balked urge to be out there doing something. It strains families with enforced togetherness. The much-publicized “corona divorce” is more apt to signify sullen antipathy than literal divorce, but its implication is clear: Even people who love each other can stand only so much of each other.