I'm going to interrupt our regularly scheduled Mother-Daughter Medley Mondays (on Tuesdays) for a different 'share'. Today in light of everything that’s going on right now no, not the virus, but the fear that can accompany it. I can speak to fear on a very personal level - of a virus I contracted 3 decades ago.

In 1990 I tested positive for HIV (as those of you who've watched my show know). Every morning I awoke frightened, terrified and yet numb. My point in bringing this up is not to steal focus from our current crisis, but to tell you that once you have taken the known necessary steps to protect yourself and others from the Coronavirus, the best thing you can do is to stay calm. Do not let fear grab a hold of you. Stress is a killer. Practice acts of kindness. Benevolence. When you see strangers, smile directly at them. They will feel it... we do not know what lies ahead but I promise you that fear and dread will not alter the outcome and that stress can actually affect your immune system. For many of you, this is not an issue and that is wonderful.

If you choose to chime in on this thread, I’d like to ask you to just say 'I will not be afraid'. And then tell me what city and state or country you live in. Imagine a giant world map on the wall. When I read what city each of you is from, imagine me taking a push pin and sticking it into the map where you live and connecting all these towns with a very long red string.

This is the theme song from The Lion King 2 that I recorded for the film and its message is more powerful now than ever. I do not mean for a second to trivialize the situation with a song, I just mean to help in a very small way with positive imagery. So when you listen to it, picture a very long red string and a whole bunch of push pins. And remember, We. Are. One.