Written 26 days ago…..

The Toad and I are on Day 8 of our March Break vacation while socially isolating. As we have done for most of those 8 days, I am allowing his rhythms to dictate the nature of our day. Today has been a slow, low energy day. I have filled my day with reading, research and writing.

My research today included watching Jonny Sun’s 2019 Ted Talk, “You are Not Alone in Your Loneliness.” It is a brief presentation that has several light but candid moments. These moments were illustrated by sweet, simple cartoon characters but it is a question he asks that dropped on me like a huge weight.

“How many people in your life have you had your last conversation with?”

Maybe this question hit hard because of the fear and uncertainty of our world with a virus running renegade around the world. A virus placing people I love in harms way. Maybe because our world has become smaller and simpler in the last few days, I have more time to contemplate relationships. I have thought about the relationships that exploded or fizzled and am wondering if these people, once important to me, are safe. Maybe it is because this pandemic has taken away our ability to travel home for the foreseeable future that home and family seems so far away. Maybe the question reminds me of people that have already left this world – some too early and recalling (if I even can) what our last conversation was.

Regret is not something I abide. Now is the time to reconnect with someone so that you can change the notion of the last conversation. While counter intuitive to connect just as we are called to distance ourselves from one another, the slower pace and simpler days have made room for that to happen for many of us. I think it is the salve our fear needs at times like these.

Who will you reach out to?