I could talk about the virus, I could talk about BoJo and the direction that we are headed in with the economy but in reality, I’ve had enough of hearing it. We all have.
We miss our families.
Our friends.
Our offices.
Everything we took for granted are now the things we miss the most. What does human connection mean to us?
Over the past 12 months mental health issues have been on the rise. Those that suffered before have struggled more and those that didn’t suffer now have problems rising to the surface for various reasons… truth be told, we are all feeling it. Same storm, different boats.
So this segue’s nicely to what I want to talk about, what is my passion?
It always has been and always will be people. I love nothing more than catching my colleagues’ eyes when one of us says something funny and then trying to stifle that laughter and keeping up that professional façade… even though we are like family. I enjoy creating relationships with complete strangers and then watching those relationships grow (I am in the right job.) I thrive off daily human connection and I think for me, one of the most eye-opening things is realising the things that used to annoy me daily are actually the things that I crave.
Remember finishing at 5PM in winter and you’d have to drive home from work? We’d all sigh and roll our eyes at the prospect of commuting… now? What I’d give to be packing up my things from my desk and heading to my car across a freezing cold car park… at least then I would have had my daily dose of human connection.
I think following this, I will practice gratitude much more. Be grateful that I have the option to travel to an office, that I work with a bunch of (mad) wonderful people, that I have family dotted across the UK that I can visit, talk to and be with. Now I’ve tasted isolation… I never want to taste it again.
The level of awareness I now have from experiencing isolation makes me want to change this for other people. We now know what it means to be isolated and none of us have enjoyed it… so that old lady up the road whose husband died and who you don’t see having any visitors, have you thought about popping up (when we can) to see if there’s anything you can do to help? Or if not that, why not go up and be her company? Be her daily dose of human connection.
There are THOUSANDS of mutual aid groups that have popped up across the UK in light of the pandemic, why not see if you can join one and make a difference to someone’s life?
Be. Kind. Always.
Katie Taylor – Groop
