The dawn of the second year in restriction, or as Stephen Jenkinson says,
“In Occupied Territory”
Have your close friendships with people in the same city or town as you turned into long distance relationships?
Curious question at this time, as we navigate the uncertainty going into our second year of this global pandemic, which to me maybe should be called a plague.
If it was called a plague there might have been quicker responses, action and we might not be in our current state.
Maybe nothing would have been any different, just as maybe it’s a conspiracy theory or maybe it’s not.
There are so many different sides to the current situation that to even speak of it gets one put in the line of fire.
What I see happening is relationships are being tested to the limits, some are digging their feet in the ground refusing to work with what is available and others are jumping on the new way of communication keeping connections alive.
I saw this with the introduction to home computers, and with Cell Phones, then when online became everything, some still don’t send or receive etransfer. I remember a friend of mine refusing to get a computer or even video games for their children, fearing it would interfere with their learning. I even remember one who refused to get a touch tone phone as they wanted their children to know how to use a dial up phone. Now that is digging their feet into the ground.
I have had many friends move away and say they would keep in touch who get really busy in their new home, new community and this seems to be put on the back burner.
I have had some where distance and time don’t matter, we take what we can get. Their lives are different and so is mine, yet we never skip a beat. Easily transitioning into old conversations.
Covid forced isolation and neighbour's into what seems like long distant relationships. We all have our comfort zones what seems to be turning close community relationships to be online, or similar to long distance relationships have been challenging for a lot of people.
We are faced with hoping it will end and finding out that it hasn’t.
Hoping that the vaccine will bring back a measure of normalcy, whatever that is, it defiantly will never be again as news of the vaccine not changing anything.
Where do we go from here is a personal choice, and what the options are is not really definable, as they are different for everyone, as we live in this moment.
I know that the relationships I have made in the past 6 years of my life really matter to me, and I hope it’s the same for them. The relationships that are longer will never be waivered by restrictions as the test of time, the work we have done to keep them is evident in all we do.
My questions are:
How are you managing with the changing circumstances?
What do you need to make this transition that no one wanted work in your lives?
What can you do?
What are you willing to do?
If seeing your relationships as long distance will help, then I am glad of it.
My recent blog; "Me, Myself & I" has some suggestions in the final words on how to connect in this new way.
No matter the length of our "Occupied Territory" I hope embracing new comes easier for all.
Love and light to all.
Mj
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