The speed of everyday life can make the strings that connect us invisible to the naked eye. When life grinds to a halt those same strings might as well be thickly knotted ropes.
Recently, we have seen these connections first in ways that frighten us. A virus can spread across continents, oceans, and states, while making the rest of the world stand still. The economic reverberations ring out from Wall Street but come crashing down on every storefront on Main Street.
The chords of individualism and self-reliance ring hollow in today’s context. No one is an island.
Yet just as these connections can bring fear. They also can bring hope.
Isolated Italians inspire us with music that flows out from windows and into living rooms not just across their streets but across the globe.
People rally to support their small businesses by gobbling up gift certificates – putting cash in owners pockets now for services to be rendered when sanity returns.
Friends reach out to friends to check in with greater frequency and deeper meaning.
Young children hangout with friends on google and giggles echo throughout houses and neighborhoods.
Neighbors look out for neighbors as communities grow stronger even as distance separates us.
Loved ones reach out to each other in ways so profoundly touching even when physical touch is not possible.
Our connection to nature seems renewed as parents enjoy bike rides or walks with their children with seemingly greater frequency than ever before.
Even the connection to our planet becomes more real and healthier, as evidenced by how clear the Venice waterways and Chinese skies have become without our industrious ways.
And so on and so on and so on.
When normal times return – and they will – our lives will undoubtedly speed up once again. The race to consume and experience what was missed will be on. The rope that connects us now could once again appear as a string.
Or maybe not. Sometimes you see something in such a profound way as to never see them in the same way ever again. I hope this is true of our connections to one another now. May we never forget what we’re seeing today.
If you’re looking to go down a rabbit hole of goodness, then check out this growing stream of people connecting to one another in beautiful ways -courtesy of the the Obama Foundation. At the end, you’re invited to share your own experience of hope and connection.
Be well and stay connected.