#3 Disconnection
Rewind to the end of 2019: I was nonchalantly glugging down prosecco cocktails, celebrating the year that had passed and looking forward to new beginnings, excited at the prospect of all the possibilities the new decade had in store for me. In that moment, had there been even a murmur that we would all find ourselves hurtling towards an apocalyptic existence (all ages of society spending record amounts of time on the internet, becoming slaves to technology, Zoom becoming most people’s life line) I would have laughed in your face. I didn’t even know what Zoom was! I am a complete technophobe and that isn’t me being self-deprecating or feeling sorry for myself, it’s just a fact (ask any of my friends). But when the unavoidable happened and the whole world entered lockdown and was forced to replace social connection with a computer screen, after much resistance and very reluctantly, I too had to jump on board.
I am definitely a people person. A social butterfly. Reliant on social interaction - I feed off human energy to recharge my batteries. I like to get into conversations, ask questions and learn from others. So this year when all social interaction was put on hold and all opportunities to create new connections, friendships or relationships were halted, I found myself slowly sinking at the deep end. 2020 has been about adjusting to the ‘new normal’ and it soon became clear that to save myself from being completely excluded from the world, a big part of my personal journey was to finally become more accustomed to technology. And I hate to say it but when I finally got involved, like millions of people throughout lockdown, my devices became my salvation. Face to face contact was replaced with seeing people on a screen, family meet ups exchanged with weekly Zoom’s and socialising with friends became a virtual event called House Party. For me and so many others living through this unprecedented experience, a device, whatever form, has been a complete lifesaver. But what if you were without technology during this time? I know that to many this sounds completely absurd - everyone has a computer in 2020 right?! Wrong. Even now, when we seem to find ourselves more digitally connected than ever, many of our society are still without technology.
During the Summer, I was doing some one to one creative development work with a learning-disabled artist. I love working with her, she has a wildly exciting imagination that never ceases to amaze me and her free-spirited creative writing is the perfect vessel to share her love of nineties and early noughties boybands. Like many others up and down the country, she doesn’t have direct access to her own computer, internet connection or even a smart phone and has always relied on computers at the local library to keep connected. When the country found itself heading into Lockdown 2.0 and the government announced that people with Down’s Syndrome fell into the high risk category and must stay indoors to shield, she was forced to live in complete isolation, unable to access any news or understanding of what was happening in the world outside. When measures were relaxed a little, we started working together again and it became apparent very quickly how integral our weekly meet up’s were for her. Social interaction is a vital ingredient for anyone’s mental health, so when it’s taken away from us, it obviously results in unwelcomed repercussions. However, I also learned how incredibly important creativity had been to her during this time. The writing and poetry she’d produced had become a refuge and her very own lifeline. Most importantly it reminded me that imagination is free and even though we’re lucky enough to exist in a time of abundant technology, allowing yourself to be completely saturated by it is not healthy and perhaps can even be a creative hinderance if you don’t give yourself space and time (away from the computer screen) to just be.
Towards the end of the second lockdown, I was out walking and noticed a man had slipped over on the wet pavement up ahead. I crossed over the road towards him, offering to help. “Are you okay?” - no response. Wanting to be respectful of social-distancing I continued. “I’ll of course keep my distance but I’m happy to come and help you if you want me to?” The man was quite shaken and took a few moments to respond. “Yes I’m alright, I’ll be okay. But thank you for asking, you’re the first person to be kind enough to offer help.” My heart sank, this for me was yet another example of how a year existing through technology has progressively affected social behaviour. Just to be clear, I completely understand the seriousness of COVID 19 and don’t want to seem at all disrespectful. I absolutely recognise the necessity for all the new safety measures that have been put in place in order to protect everyone’s health and wellbeing. I just find it incredibly sad to observe what a massive impact this new way of living has had on people’s social habits. As a country, we’re now all so fearful of contracting and spreading the virus, we’re somehow losing the ability to connect with one another on a human level. If someone is walking towards us on the street, we’ve been conditioned to take a huge sidestep so as not to touch. It’s become normalised behaviour to bypass someone on the path up ahead who’s had the misfortune of falling and is it just me or does it feel like eye contact is becoming less and less favourable? I wholeheartedly agree that 2020 without technology would have been completely inconceivable, I do however think we all need to be aware of the negative connotations that have evolved from living in a socially disengaged world, starved of ‘IRL’ human connection.
For me, the festive period is about coming together and connecting with friends, family and loved ones, so experiencing this time during a worldwide pandemic obviously meant modifying the usual yearly traditions. We’re about to close the door on 2020 (good riddance, I say!) and 2021 offers us the opportunity for a brand spanking new chapter, new beginnings and hopefully in the not too distant future, an alternative version of the ‘new normal’. Obviously, the year ahead still holds a lot of uncertainty, especially as there is no end date in sight as to when this will all be over, but we will get through this if we remember the importance of community. If you have capacity, think a little more about your neighbours and what they might be going through because connection may not be as straightforward for them. Show compassion for others, smile with your eyes (because your mouth is most probably covered) and say hello to passers by, it might just make their day. Most importantly, don’t allow the newfound virtual existence to replace real life. Human beings need to connect and interact with one another and I live in the hope that even when the road ahead is unclear, we will always find a way.