Photo credit: “Hug” by zhouxuan12345678 on Flickr.
The universe has been screaming at me lately, saying something like, “BE WITH PEOPLE.” I’m not completely sure if those are the exact words, the screaming is pretty loud.
Among the chorus of voices:
- Hubby’s blog post about friends
- a recent evening out in which we met new people and saw other friends
- a lot of deep conversations with different people online that I wish were in person
- discussions about the benefits of nudity spurred by an article shared on Facebook that also led to an accounting of local “clothing optional” beaches
- this post about hugs vs. deluxe hugs (which just made me want to hug people)
- all the shitty news stories coming out of the states (which also make me want to hug people)
All this, collectively, seems to remind me that I need human contact. Not just my family but friends too — friends I’ve known for a while and friends I’ve only known online and people who are little more than avatars to me at this point. As much as I love the dimensions of social media, I know I do have to “climb out of the Matrix” from time to time. So, I’ve been making an effort to get out more often with friends, see people in real life and have real conversations and see facial expressions, and even get a hug now and then 🙂 Hubby is doing the same.
At work, I made the commitment to go outside every day. Whether I sit in the sunshine or walk through the drizzle, I make sure I get out of the basement, go outside, breathe unfiltered air, and see daylight. It also means I interact with people — even if it’s just holding a door open for someone. It has done wonders for my mental health.
We’ve both uncharacteristically signed up for the “dance walk” tomorrow. Of course Hubby and I signed up without really clearing it with Kiddo and then we sprung it on her… so I explained it was like the zombie walk but with less zombies, “but you can be a zombie if you like.” So that is her plan.
Going forward, if you haven’t seen me (or us) in a while and would like to get together, just give us a shout. Heck, you can even drop by — but if you don’t call ahead and you find us indulging in the benefits of nudity, well we aren’t paying for any counselling. 😉