Dis-Connection

 

When the plague came, the order was to stay away from each other. Isolation, solitude, quarantine were all terms used to shelter in place. Don’t go to the office. All the entertainment and refreshment venues are shut down. All you have is television and whoever is in your abode.

Yet, it seems, our species desire to press flesh with a mass of others, scream and holler, get blitzed and record it on our websites as fond memories. Don’t forget to buy your merchandise.

We gather in churches, we gather in music festivals, we gather in theatres, we gather in marathons, we gather in sports arenas, we gather at dances, we gather… We just seem to like to be around one another.

Then Pam Demick came around and we were all told to put on a mouth diaper and stay at home, so we did. We obey orders when there are charts of the dead who don’t.

While now it seems somewhat confusing about can we or can we not, the best way to be healthy is to stay away from each other.

Now years ago, before the time of trickle down economics or the Internet, there was a girl. She had a long story and I had time to listen.

Like many couples, we had to find about each other, but unlike other couples we did not procreate. Other couples find solace in groups who also struggle with being in the family way, so we just stayed to ourselves.

Not to say we didn’t attend a few parties or occasions or participate in events, but for the most time we spent together with our emotional handcuffs. After years, others drifted away or died or lost connection and we concentrated on each other more than the rest of the world. Every weekend, every night, and a few holidays were just the two.

Then one day, one left.

Was it time to reconnect with names that are almost forgotten? Having lost addresses and phone numbers, someone invented this wire that went from the computer to the world.

Some connections were renewed and some were soon lost. Some last today and others are lost in space of memories.

So many will never be seen again face-to-face. An email or message is faster than snail mail, but only if the other person replies.

Many years have passed before this isolation mandate. I’ve become used to it. A quick chat with a neighbor or a store clerk about the weather or some such without dwelling into personal drama is just fine. No advice. No opinions. No judgment. Doesn’t matter.

In the end, you are on your own.

You might have a partner or a support group? Maybe your extended family helps out? There are lots of organizations to offer assistance for a price, but when the doctor says, “You’ve got 6-months” then you are on your own.

Other people may be affected by what happens to you, but in time, it happens to you and not them. Generations will not recognize the faces or remember the stories.

At the end of the day, we can protest our values are not being recognized by everyone else or invest in hopes of winning the lottery, not for who is providing the wealth or how the workers are treated, but to prove our esteem by our consumption or we can pleasure ourselves with community spirit or tree hugging and then go home (whether it be a mansion or a tent on the street) and we are alone with ourselves.

By dis-connection, one can find peace in one’s own decisions and actions. There is no one else to blame or give excuses. You are alone.

Should this lesson be taught to everyone rather than go to school, get a good job, have a family, get a house with a white picket fence, buy a fancy car and attend all the parties and you will be a success in the American Way?

Should the lesson say you are going to be hungry? You are going to struggle. You will try and find an answer. You will fail. You will die.

Not being around a crowd of people is a pleasure for me. Avoiding groups is more rewarding than listening (or reading) nonsense. A brief chat is fun to catch up but I have nothing to tell.

Being dis-connected is a survival technique. Some can handle it. Some cannot. Some can be alone with your thoughts. Some need assistance.

If, and when, this pandemic is over and people can gather together safely without worry of breathing on each other with a possible chance of killing them, would I desire to attend reconnect with masses of people?

You are on your own.