Social Intimacy in the Age of Social Distancing
By: Sherif Kozman
Tags: Team Building, Social Distance, Wellbeing, Covid 19, Wellness

As we go through summer time, a season previously known to be all about fun, family vacations and enjoying simple pleasures such as going to the beach or spending the evening with friends and family, we are introduced to a new set of guidelines and measures on what to do and how to deal with one another. We get taught new terms and mandates that are meant to keep us and our loved ones safe.

Social distancing, mask mandates , gathering limitations, outdoor vs. indoor dining, changes that were required to keep us safe but it came at a price! All of the intimacy we took for granted and as a birthright was immediately either restricted or banned, even worse they are required to keep us safe!

As my and your routines start changing , “New Norms” for both family and work lives start to become today’s reality, one cant help experiencing new episodes of fatigue or loneliness even though you might be surrounded with family 24/7. We are social creatures by design. Intimacy, physical interaction and freedom of choosing what to do and when to do it is imprinted in our DNA and drives most of our behaviours and reactions towards others and situations.

In this limited mostly virtual experience, we lose fragments of experiences every time and our response towards things change accordingly causing a possible chain reaction we are unaware of.

Slack work chat streams lack the feeling aspect of a discussion, while online calls might miss other parts either because they are time boxed while the rest of the day is being affected by a different home setup or the inability to get the full experience of a physical interaction through meetings or a work day. Same goes for family where you get to be around day and night without the ability to break physically into a different environment.

Outings and gatherings feel differently as they get overshadowed by restricting the number of people or whom you have to choose to interact with to limit the possibility of getting sick. Even the casual morning talks with a complete stranger in starbucks or standing in a long line of early workers buying coffee is different.

Fact is, COVID-19 isn’t just a respiratory virus that the world is trying to beat with a vaccine but its mental and psychological damage might be as worse over time as the world we knew it has already changed.

It’s our responsibility collectively to find ways to fight the mental effect curve the same way we are all coming together as a race to bring the infection curve down for the sake of ourselves and our children.

As I struggle myself some days with the new reality and changes, I came to realize that while things may not be changing anytime soon, one must think of the current state as an opportunity and not a curse. Opportunities always have possible rewards, thus positive feelings and better mental state.

I started exploring new activities that i didn’t have time for before such as early morning walks which i used to catch up on audiobooks and podcasts that i have missed in the past while taking on a healthier lifestyle in the process which i never did in the past.

I started syncing some activities with my son’s schedule such as setting up common reading times where i get to catch up on my books and he gets to do the same for his school reading material, creating newer pleasures which we couldn’t have before.

Accepting the fact that in working and living at the same place we are not supposed to completely split both worlds and some things are acceptable takes part of the toll away. It’s ok if you attend a team stand up in PJs or if your child decides it’s super important to come in during a call to ask about a math problem! Embrace those worlds crossing as opposed to distancing or, worse, colliding.

Bottom line, one must rethink his belief of what “normal” is and recalibrate accordingly and always explore new ways of how we can regain some of the experiences we lost but in new ways.

#StaySafe #StayHealthy #StaySane #WearAMask #FightCovidFatigue