It’s not my first, nor my fifteenth thought to join a crowd. I generally stay to the edges, or turn in the opposing direction. It frustrates people. It sometimes frustrates me, but I am what I am, and habits of solitude are hard to break. That’s a bit of irony given the state of the world just now, wherein we have all been afflicted, to varying degrees, with the same thing. Now we are trying, in varying degrees, to fix it. To find our balance.
It feels strange, being part of the multitude.
in so small a pond
who can fail to notice? fish
flunking out of schools
who can fail to notice? fish
flunking out of schools
This pandemic has brought up so many thoughts and issues about being alone, being together, being alone together, and what all of it means. I was grateful the other day for a podcast I stumbled across that talked about the angst associated with returning to “normal.”
And in a few weeks, I will retire, losing my built-in system of social contact. So while everyone else is figuring out how to be together again, I will figure out how to be alone…and then how to build a new “school” in which to “swim.”
And what a strange and occasion to be part of the multitude. While I relish my time alone, I have found myself longing for just a bit more contact.
Love the call to notice here.