Remind me to spend some good time with you.
It’s been about eight months since I’ve seen a client in real life. That’s a long time. Honestly, I don’t miss the clothes as much as I thought I might. But, I do miss my people. I’ve sent handwritten birthday cards to my clients for over seven years. When this whole debacle began, I wanted to send cards to everyone. I researched sending mini nail polish bottles and delivering them on doorsteps. I wanted to give some extra love to the Poplin Community. I know everyone needed it. But, that was a time filled with confusion and fear. Mailing cards seemed like it might have a risk of infection and delivering nail polish was certainly worse. So, I did nothing. And a month went by, then two then so many more. You know how it is.
I’ve been thinking a lot about a friend of ours who committed suicide. We hadn’t seen her in a while. She moved away and came back without letting anyone know. Anyway, the next thing we knew, she was gone. I’ve been thinking about how that happened during “normal times.”
Now, we’re all bombarded with a seemingly never ending barrage of bad news. Personally, professionally, nationally, globally. We had a hilarious moment a month or so ago when we discussed whether or not we could pull something from our emergency kit because… wait for it… we aren’t in an emergency. Are we? Wait, when is it officially an emergency? Maybe the emergency kit will let us know.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking. I know everyone tells us that we are not alone, yada yada yada. But, really. Are you feeling alone? Alone to figure out how to know when or if your kid is actually doing the work of online schooling. Alone to muster up the energy to be your kid’s new BFF since he can’t see any of his other friends in the ways he was once accustomed to. Maybe you feel alone to decide when it’s right to take the risk to go see your parents. The game has changed, folks. So, it’s now time to change our approach to supporting one another.
Here goes. I vote that we all take a cue from the Five Love Languages, a mind blowing book that will help you find ways to nurture the ones you love and get the right kind of attention you need. It’s a little more religious than I’d like and is focused on your mate, but, the message is totally worth it. If reading a book seems impossible at this moment, that’s fine. I’ve got you.
Try to speak the appropriate love language for the folks in your household. But, equally important, do the same for your friends and family that you haven’t seen in ages. The world wants us to think that the choices are severely limited. They are not. You don’t need to choose between a socially distance walk, FaceTime, a text or nothing. There are ways to send the love your friends need right now and to get some of that back. Here are my favs. I know they’ve been helping me. I hope they help you.
