Keeping Our Humanity Despite the Distance

During this time of high stress and uncertainty, we all want to go to our families, pull them closer and make sure they feel loved; it’s in our nature after all. But what do you do when the government has said that the best way to keep your loved ones safe is through distance? 

When all of this began and social distancing was recommended to keep our communities safe, I followed suit. I crossed the street or went on the road when passing strangers out for walks. I made sure to stop seeing friends and limiting my trips out of the house. But this was so strange; every time I crossed the street to avoid someone I had this pang of guilt. Did I offend them? Did I hurt their feelings? I found myself looking at my feet when I avoided people with a six-foot radius, I went on my phone or I would find any possible way to avoid eye contact and pretend as though I didn’t pass anyone at all. I saw others doing this as well; we were all slowly losing touch with our sense of community. The hashtags may say #togetherathome but there was no sense of togetherness as we kept our distance. 

One night while out walking the dog with my Mom, I noticed that she was making sure to say ‘hello’ to anyone and everyone we passed as we kept our distance. At first, I was slightly embarrassed, there seemed to be a consensus that we would all just ignore each other until we could once again be together as a community, but my Mom had a different idea. She told me that we were losing touch with our humanity by ignoring one another, that by saying ‘hello’ to passersby we were acknowledging that we are in this together. Day after day my mother would not only acknowledge people we passed, but she would strike up a conversation, checking in and ending every conversation with ‘stay safe’ or ‘take care.’ I noticed that there was no need to look down and ignore others when crossing the street anymore, instead, we could acknowledge one another with a smile; allowing positivity back into our new world. I noticed that in doing this we could all laugh at ourselves as we tried to navigate around one another when the sidewalks were already occupied. There was even a moment when my mom and I were walking and she started a conversation with a whole street between her and another dog-walker out for a stroll. The more we spoke to the man walking his dogs the clearer it became that he was likely lonely as he talked about his dogs. His whole face lit up through conversation and my mom was able to brighten his day, you never know who lives by themselves and might need a little human conversation. Even though these brief exchanges with strangers usually consist of small talk they bring us back to the conversations we had with barista’s and acquaintances, they allow us to have a moment to show our humanity and return to a previous reality. 

During these difficult times, we have to think about what we are putting out into the world and we must continue to choose kindness. When you put positivity into the world you have the opportunity to brighten someone’s day and in these moments when we feel we have no control over … anything really, we do have control over how we treat others. It is so simple to offer a stranger a comforting smile or a friendly ‘good morning’ as a reminder of our humanity. When all this is over we don’t want to think back on the way we ignored one another as we lost all of these elements that make us human, we want to remember how we held onto our humanity through small smiles and acts of kindness. We are all craving togetherness right now, but we must hold out as long as it takes, for the safety of our neighbors, our loved ones, and everyone else in between.  Remember to stay safe and smile at your neighbors before you cross the street.

• Coronavirus
• opinion