Reaching Out while Social Distancing
A popular piece of advice at this time is to reconnect with friends and family. Reconnecting may not be a hassle for some, but other people may have reservations. My most ‘troubling’ question has been: am I supposed to contact every single friend I have ever had or wanted to have (aquintances)? (I’m pretty friendly so that would be a long list).
I have thought alot about the seeming rule that we should be reaching out at this time. I agree with the importance of reconnecting with others but I have had thoughts that complicate this. I recycled this piece because it summarizes how I feel (I also have not felt a flare to write, but this should do).
“My friend, a friend, the friend. I don’t know if it’s my fault. If it is, then I want to know what it was I did. I know we all have our own path to take, so even though they deviate right now I know somewhere/sometime in the future our paths will meet again. I hope all I want to say now will not have dried up in my throat by then, rendering us a blabbering couplet, of ‘how are you? and how have you been?’ I hope the time to grow and further understand life and one another will not have been taken away by distance. Now I look around me and wonder if everything is to be like this, it is bitter sweet. The space you once filled has been occupied by other activities and friends. Or is it still there… a void waiting to be filled? Sometime, someday, somehow will we be able to pick up were we left off? Will we remember were we left off. Can we be friends again? Wait… do I know if I want to be friends again” March 29, 2013
How then can we maximize the time and reach out? How can we avoid the guilt of not reaching out since that’s the expectation? I have a few suggestions that I hope to implement myself.
- Create a list of people you wish to check on
- Start small and contact your immediate circle first
- Respond when you are reached out to
- Text or call when you think of someone out of the blue
- Put up a general message on a social media platform
Thank you for reading this piece. I struggled to get this done, but I did! hurray!
