Day 31: where everybody knows your name

I went to the park with Zander this morning.  We go a few times a week,  sometimes every day.  I recognized moms who have a similar routine with similar aged children. 

Last year,  while homeschooling,  parks were closed.  I had a different routine.  The boys and I would walk a long route to get groceries and occasionally stop at a few shops or get McDonald's breakfast.  Again,  I got to recognize workers in the shops and other people who had the same routine. 

Before the pandemic,  my routine mostly consistently of morning drop off, work, afternoon pickup and home for therapy and homework. I would sometimes take evening walks in the neighborhood. But life was much busier. 

As I walked home from the park I started reflecting on this and the rise of loneliness in our society. I realized how isolating modern life can be.  Too busy to develop routines in places that allow strangers to become familiar.  Turning instead to social media, which is available 24 hours a day conveniently during the scraps of time leftover from all the other activities of life. 

Social media is addicting for me because it is an easy way to connect.  Our brains are (mostly) wired to be interested in other people's lives,  to feel a sense of reward when someone likes our comments on something in our lives.  We are wired for connection. 

These days when I walk,  there are a lot more strangers that I recognize. Familiar faces that smile in recognition as our eyes meet.  Quick greetings and short small talk.  These things add up to tell me,  I belong. People know me here. 

God lives in connection.  My favorite illustration of the trinity come from the book "The shack" which portrays God as three people in perfect relationship. Created in that image, a sense of belonging is core to who we are.  

Life keeps speeding up,  the farther we press on pass the pandemic.  Pushing up make up for lost time and lost productivity. I am quick to want to speed back up too. But it is important to remind myself that some of the rhythm I've developed over the past couple years is important as a way of grounding me in the place I live.