I’ve stopped counting which day of the quarantine this is. It’s too hard to keep track, especially when you take a day or three off. Which leads me to this. I got in trouble yesterday on Facebook. I took the weekend off, which is what I have done and will continue to do, but I didn’t write yesterday. I was called out on Facebook for not writing and forced to give myself detention. Note to self…apparently people actually read this.
Thanks, Tracie.
I had a few ideas yesterday, but then school work carried me away and I just didn’t feel like writing. After looking back at my last few posts I felt like I was saying the same thing over and over again. Stay inside, don’t be an idiot, and be nice. Those seemed like the repeating themes, and I didn’t want to keep writing the same thing and boring you over and over again. So today, I’m going to write about a potpourri of topics and see what happens.
Topic #1: Fact-checking
Freaking fact-check your posts before you put stuff on Facebook and Twitter. In case you were unaware, pretty much anyone can create their own website. Some are credible and some are not. The amount of posts that I see that spew out false information is UNBELIEVABLE! The other thing is when someone alerts you to the fact that your post is not factual, or is misleading, then take it down. Because if you don’t, the people who don’t fact check will only look at the image and your initial thoughts, and take it on the surface as fact. Even if you change your thoughts, leaving it up there will still have an impact. Google, Facebook, and Twitter are having a hard enough time dealing with “bots” and don’t need us to make it worse. Yes, I know the article in the link from the last sentence is mostly about the 2020 election, but it has implications beyond just politics. This COVID-19 pandemic has spawned as many posts as any election I’ve ever seen.
Topic #2: The resiliency of children
Our kids are crazy fortunate. Our kids and our neighbors, literally the next-door neighbors, have become best friends. It’s pretty awesome. We couldn’t have asked for a better situation. When it’s nice outside, they just wander back and forth between houses and whenever it is possible they will play all day every day. So, all of this being said, the “Stay at Home” order has been really hard on my kids. They are so used to being able to run back and forth, and see each other whenever they want, so this drastic change has taken its toll. HOWEVER, kids are freakin’ resilient. We got Jay walkie-talkies for Christmas, and last week he placed one of them, plus the charger, in the middle of the yard, slowly backed away. The neighbors waited an appropriate amount of time to properly social-distance, grabbed it and ran home. For the next eleventy-hundred hours they talked back and forth on the walkie-talkie. It was fantastic! They were saying “over”, and “over and out” and reading to each other. They went out in the driveway and showed each other their outfits from a distance, and said over and over, “Can you hear me?” Soon after, the older siblings discovered that they too had a set of walkie talkies, and have been using them ever since as well. So even though our kids can’t play with the neighbors, can’t go to their house, they are figuring out ways to communicate and stay in touch. Kids will find a way!
Topic #3: Friends are great
I wrote a post a long time ago about friends being like a comfortable pair of sweatpants. You can find it here if you are interested. This has proven over and over again to be maybe more true now than it was then. I have had Zoom conversations, group FaceTime, Google Hangouts, chats from my porch to my driveway, text messages, emails, and many many more instances of communication with my friends. It has most certainly opened my eyes to the fact that I have/do take my friendships for granted. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I can now way that I always assumed that I would just be able to see my friends if I wanted. I could high five, bro-hug, or just bear hug our friends, and now not only can we not do that, but we can’t even be in the same room. This social-distancing/quarantine has given me a much greater appreciation for in-person contact. However, similar to our kids, we (myself and all of you) have found a way. I have seen numerous pictures on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter of people figuring out ways to stay connected. It’s been really cool to see how people are figuring it out and gives me hope that this time apart physically will bring people closer together emotionally and deepen those connections. When we can come together again in the same physical space, let us not overlook how meaningful that is. Don’t be afraid to tap into that vast emotional well that you have, and tell someone you love and appreciate them.
In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, STAY HOME, and always remember, PEOPLE CARE ABOUT YOU!
The High Release 
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