Strange times, eh?
Coronavirus has us sheltered in our homes, behind doors, feeling off-kilter.
I don't know about you, but this extrovert (hand up) is quickly realizing how important it is to be present with my fellow humans. Not waving from a window, or from inside the car. Or seeing my family and friends on Zoom or Facetime or Google Hangouts. Present as in sitting near enough to see eyes light up as we talk about happy things. Giving a hug. Or even a tug on an elbow. Wait. I mean bumping elbows. Wait. We can't even do that unless we have 6' long arms. This is hard on me.
Behind our door(s) at my house there are 2 of us. One of whom (again, hand up) is experiencing an awful unease that she's never ever felt before; the other is right at home as long as he has a good book, music, and the beautiful view out our big living room windows.
I still work (it's fun work and keeps my brain engaged!); fortunately my 'desk' work can be done in my home office. But a large part of my work centers around meeting people personally. Over coffee. On a lunch hour. Sometimes happy hour. Listening (lots of listening) to what's going on in their life and finding out more about how I can help them. Metaphorically, they've opened their door to me and we're standing on the porch chatting. I can feel their body language - not just see it. I watch their smile lines appear and disappear. I'm keenly aware of the slight sag of a shoulder that says, "I wish..."
What's so odd to me is that I never really understood how critically important that all is to me, until now.
Now that all our doors are closed.
I'm sitting here at my desk watching my neighbor Sharon bring in her recycling can. I wave; she waves. She goes in and shuts her door. And my shoulder shrugs as I think, "I wish ..."
When this is all over, and I've kept my door closed and stayed well, and not jeopardized anyone else's health either, I'm going to be a very happy camper that our doors are all open again.
Photos: Italy 2019
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