March 24th Distant Socializing

Distant Socializing
On Saturday, I was listening to people from New York and San Francisco about how they were coping with sheltering in place. I heard a father use a term that resonated with me. “Distant Socializing “ or to be precise, Reaching out by the virtual methods of communication that we have . Go through your contacts and send a message to check on people that you haven’t seen or heard from for some time.
Emailing longer notes to family members that you have not seen since the holidays… ten years ago. Write a catch up note on your family and ask about their’s. You may be surprised what you may find out.
For neighbors that are living alone, a phone call to check and give them an excuse to chat . They won’t feel isolated , and neither will you.
Finally, use the postal service to write a letter or two to those friends and family members that don’t use internet. We could all use the practice with letter writing.
Finally give yourself a break from the news and the number count. At least for some time each day . Do an activity that you have put off and work on it a little every day.
Meditation , prayer or being still and practicing deep breathing will help to calm and vanish the chaos of this life change.

Distant Socializing

I start my day, wondering what to do?
I have cleaned the house and it is only noon.
I open my address book to letter K and continue .
I call, message or write to all the K’s
I may or may not hear from these people.
But I an practicing distant socializing.
I feel better after this is done.
Now time to enjoy a Girl Scout Cookie!