Social Distancing? or Social Connecting?

There's a seemingly apocalyptic world pandemic going on right now.

The catchphrase of the day is "Social distancing." Everyone is saying it.

But are they doing it?

No, no they are not.

In fact from what I am experiencing, within my 4-walls of quarantine after an out-of-country trip, pretty much the exact opposite is happening. There is a social knitting together happening all over the world.

And it's good.

The world over, people have in a sense, been flattened to a level playing field. It doesn't matter how much money you have, the colour of your skin, your employment status, your gender, your age, your religion, your..... what have you...   We, as members of the human race, are in this together. Just as God intended from the beginning of time.

 In our Physical Distancing, we are experiencing a Social Connecting.

And I just know when it's all over (and it will eventually be over) life is going to look different. We are going to look at life different.

So, I will no longer refer to it as "Social Distancing," but rather, "Physical Distancing."  I've heard a number of people starting to use this term, including the Provincial Government officials during their daily press conference updates.

Yes, we need to do our due diligence and keep our physical distance from other humans. But let's keep our social connecting going.

That being said, most of us use social media to strengthen our human connections during this pandemic: Facebook. Instagram. FaceTime. WhatsApp. Zoom (Wish I woulda bought shares in the company last  month, instead of watching my current investments free-falling 😊  )

But we do need to be mindful of those who don't or can't socially meld in this way.  Not everyone is isolated with 3 other household members. It's a really scary time for the elderly - especially those whose spouses are living in care homes and they can no longer interact. Or those who are in fact living in care homes - there are some scary stats out there.

So my challenge to you today is to make it a priority each day to contact someone in your circle who might be a little more isolated than the rest of us. Use your vintage skills and pick up the phone and give someone you don't usually contact a call. It takes 3 minutes of your quarantined time. You'll feel better and you just might be the highlight of someone's day, week, month...