This post is inspired by my lovely friend 
in my notepad when it became clear that my response was becoming its own post.
Basically he and his wife just had covid, and I did as well, so we were of course inquiring after one another's progress as friends do:
I'm good! Just a very slight lingering congestion.
He mentioned that he'd noticed unvaccinated people seemed to be spiking higher fevers which in turn seemed to be burning the virus out more quickly.
Your theory on the unvaccinated is interesting... My daughter-22- ended up with it a few days ago, all the same symptoms as me except she spiked a fever of 104.2, then it broke and she sweated it out overnight and was fine the next day. When I say fine, all symptoms were gone. 24 hour covid.. bizarre.
At this point I began to ramble a bit, and realized by the end that perhaps my thoughts could benefit others. Maybe even be a bridge across the ever widening gap in this country. As Eric and I would appear to be on "opposite sides of the fence" by current standards, yet still maintain a good relationship, respecting one another's viewpoints.
So here goes:
I admit to usually feeling a little apprehensive discussing the vaccines since they've been so incredibly controversial and polarizing. You may be one of the few exceptions to this outside my family as I know you won't judge.
So basically: Hubby(51) and I(45), my son(19) and daughter(22), my eldest stepson(32), my mom(73), her twin(73) and husband(81) and one cousin(46) chose not to get the shots. My eldest stepson's wife(32), my other stepson(29)and his husband(30), 6 of my 7 other cousins (36-54) their spouses("") and one aunt(69) have gotten them all. My brother(37) his wife(35) and one cousin(49) got the first round and stopped.
I mention this because I've been monitoring all of us from the beginning... and we honestly haven't seen a big difference in any of our reactions to the virus. We're a very close family which fortunately remained in tact despite some of our political, religious and medical views being radically different, so I've been able to keep track without upsetting anyone. No one feels judged for their decisions. (Well...my one aunt might judge some of us- who ironically is named Karen-but it's a very mild judgment XD)
And as far as I know (other than my sister in law having a digestive issue that I'm reasonably sure is unrelated lol) there also haven't been any new ailments.
I know it's a small test group, but I have several other friends in similar situations with their families who tell me the same thing so far. Which is basically comforting, considering all of the information from both sides of the fence that make either covid or the vaccines seem terrifying.
It bothers me that it has become such a taboo, because the only people who seem to be talking about it are the loud, obnoxious pro vax and anti vax, who appear to want to prove themselves right with confirmation bias, and in many cases even seem happy when someone dies on the other side of the fence as their "proof" of being right.
Meanwhile if we could all just be open with each other, we might be able to dispell a lot of fears. If I have one conspiracy theory it is definitely that the overseers perpetuate all of this toxic division. So much exaggeration coming from all directions at once. And no honest journalism from any sector, just biased sensationalism. Buzz words and phrases like fake news, misinformation, conspiracy theorist- and yes these things exist, but they're across the board, not specific to one party.
So many people are standing behind lines and pointing fingers at the other side, behaving as if the issues are all black and white with no nuance, and their side is "right" with no caveats. Each backing their preferred experts who in most cases also have no grey area.
And just to clarify the reason I didn't get the shots- I do almost everything holistic when it comes to medicine and have done so since the kids were very little, so it just isn't something I would do. Basically as simple as that.
Not to say there isn't a circumstance where I would look to modern western medicine, but only after I exhausted all natural remedies first. Or in the case of something like my son's spiral fracture where a surgeon and a round of antibiotics was needed- but most of the healing process was also natural. He even chose not to take the pain meds(despite hubs and I suggesting the exception) opting for CBD extract and meditation instead.
Then we used collagen and protein shakes along with a topical ancient bone mending ointment called comfrey... the surgeon was so amazed at how fast Ethan healed that at follow up appointments he would parade him and his xrays around to his colleagues.
It was an excellent blend of new and old, common and alternative practices and remedies. (And a gifted surgeon we were lucky to have, he was recruited to a more prestigious hospital less than a year later.)
I would love to hear your feelings about everything. I think conversations between thoughtful, intelligent people with different points of view are vital if we ever want to return to a place of unity. Hopefully I'm able to show that not every person with misgivings toward modern medicine- pharmaceuticals specifically- are ignorant fanatics. We have a whole host of valid, well researched reasons for our cautiousness.
Just as I know there are people who believe strongly in modern day advancements who are also well educated on the subject. I personally would like to see more of that blend I mentioned and less demonizing from both sides, which is so counter productive to our growth and evolution as a species.
If it's only Eric and I conversing in the comments, I'm fine with that. But I would absolutely welcome anyone else with an opinion on the matter.
We are on a Blockchain that could potentially last forever, perhaps our grands and greats of the future will stumble on posts like this one and learn more about who we all truly were. As history and the news will surely paint a less defined picture.