Where is our Abraham Maslow in the coronavirus crisis?

If her Indigo bookstores weren’t ordered closed, Heather Reisman and her staff could point you to the correct shelf for studying up on the late American psychologist and his theories on what is most essential to humankind.

But there you go. When it comes to defining what’s “essential” in the 21st century, one person’s need is another’s frill. And so far, Reisman is on the losing end of the argument.

With governments across Canada ordering all but essential businesses closed in hopes of slowing COVID-19’s deadly spread, debate has flared about what “essential” means.

Is it limited to matters ensuring mere bodily survival? Or, for those of more holistic outlook, should goods and services required for the well-being of mind, spirit and soul qualify?

It was Maslow who in 1943 devised the famous Hierarchy of Needs of human existence.

At the base of his pyramid were the “physiological needs” of food, water, shelter. Above that came “safety needs,” then the “social needs” of affection and connection. As the pinnacle was approached there came “esteem needs” of reputation and recognition and, at the peak, the creative activities that result in “self-actualization.”

As a rule of thumb, likely to the dismay of those who deal in symbolic analysis, the higher up the pyramid, the less likely the pursuit is to be considered essential.

In times of trial, trades schools will happily note, the less esoteric one’s pursuit, the more essential the work.

Reisman, chief executive officer of Indigo, protested this week that her goods should be deemed essential, too.

“In time of stress, reading is a mindful activity,” she said. “It is actually stress-reducing.” And if exercise is as well, should sporting goods outlets be essential?

To seniors shut in without the usual TV diversions of games-shows and sports, are hobby items such as puzzles and knitting materials must-haves?

So far, authorities are properly treating services near the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy as essential – food, shelter, health.

The federal government defined essential workers as “critical to preserving life, health and basic societal functioning.”

In Manitoba, there is a nod to the necessity of maintenance, with services deemed essential if they prevent “destruction or serious deterioration of machinery, equipment or premises.”

It’s become clear, however, that our sense of well-being depends on a range of things — both concrete and abstract — and that the notion of necessities differs according to region, community, culture and individual sensibilities.

As economics professor Bill Conerly noted on Forbes.com, the definition of essential also changes according to how long an emergency lasts.

Safety, fire and police, public utilities in the immediate hours. Food production and delivery services and pharmacies in the first days, along with the financial system to keep it all running. Then, repair shops and perhaps purveyors of distractions as time drags on.

If humanity has made anything clear in its response to the COVID-19 emergency, it’s how essential a place music holds across all cultures.

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Images abound of people playing instruments from balconies in Italy and Spain, Torontonians singing from their porches. In Rotterdam, musicians from the local symphony orchestra performed in glorious unison from their separate places of isolation.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, bless them, bail bondsmen made the list of essentials. And almost everywhere, including on Ontario’s 74-point list, so did newspapers and information providers.

In San Francisco, more blessings still, newspapers. And if it took a crisis for journalists — scorned from the highest offices in recent years as enemies of the people — to be deemed essential workers, well, silver linings are the essential backgrounds of most clouds.