As a psychologist, analyst and author, Vermonter Polly Young-Eisendrath has decades of experience counseling people on how to surf the waves of uncertainty and upheaval during unprecedented times. A longtime proponent of mindfulness, Young-Eisendrath has trained herself and others to bring such curiosity and matter-of-fact acceptance to any situation — even the seemingly unembraceable Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying political, social and economic strife.

Living in the time of COVID-19 gives all of us a strong and clear taste of uncertainty. Our welfare is on the line and we are trapped at home with our questions, our vulnerabilities, and the vulnerabilities of others. Even in the midst of doing all we can to help others and giving our best effort to solve the problems in front of us, what can we learn from this ever-present uncertainty?

“Best friend” is a term that seems to have been invented in the twentieth century, perhaps even in the second half of that century. My parents never used the term “best friend,” but my friends and I did.

Love, by its nature, requires two ingredients: knowing your beloved well and accepting your beloved deeply. By “knowing,” I mean a knowledge of the other’s being as it is. That knowledge may not be completely accurate, or even very accurate, but it must be “good enough” for the other person to trust the image reflected back, to feel accepted and at ease.