It's All Relative. Except When It Isn't.

I've written about empathy and compassion, about how they're seen as outdated in the same way many of my core beliefs are. But I want to revisit these aspects of cognition for just a moment as this may be more than a little ironic.

Having distanced myself from most social media, I only really only get the barest of it these days but seeing the reactions of people having to stay home has been something for me. Everything from boredom to borderline mania with a lot in between has popped up in my feed a lot. People who have never dealt with it before are now staring depression square in the face. Having to confront all those things pushed to the back of the brain pan must be powerfully unsettling for those who never have chosen to deal with them.

And I bring it up because the reaction seems all but inevitably to voice even more the 'woe is me' sentiment rather than to simply look at all the people who have been dealing with the ghosts and demons and take the opportunity to reach out in support or solidarity. But no, instead of this being a time and a chance to find how much more we all have in common, I'm seeing even more separation and hearing louder whining. Yes, I realize I grew up in another century but when did the paradigm switch so far from "help one's fellow humans" to "my problems are so serious, you guys"? I won't say I'm not cynical and there won't come a day I describe myself as a Samaritan, but of all the time for people to choose superficiality, this one surprises me.

With all the means of communication and connectivity at our disposal, the one thing I've noticed is that people stopped reaching out to me when lockdown/quarantine began. Some return my communications (and I love those of you who have!), but fewer and fewer do. This is not me blaming anyone as a populace has to face things it never did and most know I'm just fine on my own, but it does mean my isolation is a bit more profound. Luckily, I have music and writing to see me through and the view from my window is always breathtaking.

As usual, I am not trying to draw conclusions or offer up solutions so much as just ruminating and meandering, so thank you for coming along for the non-journey. Next time I'll see if I can't maybe actually write something cohesive and more fun to read.

Oh! One quick caveat: this latest iteration of Blogger doesn't allow me to reply to comments. But please know that I read them all and thank anyone who's taking the time to pore over what I e-scrawl here!