At this time of uncertainty and social distancing its easy to feel anxious, lonely, isolated and emotional.

The key to building collective resilience is human connection.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from everything that has happened thus far, it’s that human connection is a crucial part of our lives.

A while back, everyone around the world was caged in. We were all told to close our stores, lock our doors, sit at home and and be socially distant from anyone outside of our immediate family.

We were told to leave our jobs and stock up our houses- just in case.

We were told to have no human connection with anyone outside of our homes. No family, no friends, no teachers, no colleagues.

All we had were our phones.

We were told to attentively watch the news to follow the next steps.

Impatiently waiting, living in the unknown. Dread filling our hearts.

We were told to homeschool our children and to work from home.

We were told to limit our grocery shopping and to disinfect our groceries with the utmost attention to detail.

We were told that our world was no longer safe.

We were terrified.

And as the days came and went, with them so did our patience.

Our frustration grew, we became unsteady, our hearts uneasy.

We no longer knew what was coming next- it seemed as if it was one thing after the other.

A world lockdown is something we haven’t experienced before and here we were desperately trying to make sense of it all.

And so all we had, was knowing we were all in this together. Apart, but together.

Our human connection was a crucial part of this pandemic and was essential for our mental health.

If we couldn’t connect physically, at least we were together as humans. Undergoing similar struggles. Sure some more or less than others, but struggling nonetheless.

And somewhere in the midst of all our pain, somewhere in the chaos, I started seeing flickers of hope.

I saw windows decorated with hearts and crafts.
I saw people offering to get groceries for the elderly.
I saw families reach out to distant relatives.
I saw that we are capable of so much love, but I also saw that it took a pandemic for all the love to surface. And I wish it wasn’t that way.

I wish our lives weren’t all so fast paced that we naturally overlook what really matters.

I wish we made each other priorities before tragedy hits.

I wish kindness was our language regardless of the situation of the world, because if there’s one this this world pandemic has taught me, it’s that kindness is a rare commodity, but when observed regularly, oh what a difference it can make.

In this season of change, in this season of lonely isolation; choose kindness.