Connection in Crisis
This week has been surreal. The feelings I noticed myself experiencing on Thursday were some that I haven’t felt in this same way in almost 20 years - the last time was September 11, 2001. The circumstances are completely different and I am in no way comparing COVID-19 and the devastation of 9/11 to one another. But as the list of closures and cancellations continued to overshadow my newsfeed and email, one by one, more and more surprising, I started to feel the need to circle the wagons around my little family - to gather us together where I could hunker down with them and know that we were all safe together. For me, relationships, whether with my family or my work colleagues, are of the utmost importance.
Like you, I’m being introduced to new terms (well new to me, at least) of social distancing and flattening the curve as they have been circulating. My social media feeds are full of articles about working remotely, how to shift from face-to-face learning to virtual, what virtual tools to use, etc. Because of my work as a professional coach, learning facilitator and consultant, I am well versed with these skills and tools. I can even provide guidance for those who aren’t as familiar or comfortable with a virtual working or learning environment.
The question that has been on my mind over the last few days is how do we foster and maintain the connections and relationships with our clients, colleagues, co-workers and friends that we are used to in our face-to-face daily life? As humans, we are designed for connection and belonging. During the days and weeks following 9/11, we were able to foster that connection by coming together to support, grieve, and care for one another. Many of us will be working differently, worshipping differently, and educating our children differently in the coming weeks. As we stare into the face of a socially distanced environment for the foreseeable future, how do we continue to nurture our connections and support one another, as well as the most vulnerable in our society? I don’t have all the answers, but I want to keep it in the forefront of my mind. As I think about my neighbors, so many come to mind that need support and connection:
The new neighbor that just moved in down the street
The elderly who no longer drive
Those who need help selecting and purchasing groceries
Underserved families and children who already don’t know from day to day when and /or where they will have their next meal
The single mom who will now have to work remotely and potentially help with school for her children
The hourly worker who won’t get paid and still needs to feed his family
The medical professional who comes home to family after being potentially exposed to life-threatening illness
What skills, gifts, or talents can we each share to meet the needs of those who need us the most now, along with our ability to connect? Can you imagine what would happen if we could spread our support for one another and our ability to foster relationships as quickly as this virus has spread?
I’ll close with this poem that my friend Reverend Emily Hull McGee, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC shared with her church recently:
"Pandemic" by Lynn Unger
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath --
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another's hands.
(Surely that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love --
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
