A Millennial’s Thoughts On Social Distancing

Social distancing when living alone in a van really isn’t all that complicated. The frequency of small grocery trips stemming from limited food storage? Very complicated. But why should I social distance in the first place? I’m young and healthy, I’ll be fine. This is all true, but the 17-year old filling up gas after me may have severe asthma; COVID-19 could land him in the hospital and yes, it might even kill him. So what is this imaginary kid’s life worth?

I get why people blow it off, we don’t personally have any reference to base these “fears” on. From our perspective, everyone is just freaking out. And honestly, that’s not wrong either. Lots of people are acting outside reason. (Just go look at the canned section of your local grocery store.) But our governments, and those of the world, aren’t shutting things down for shits and giggles. Economy’s are taking big hits because of these shutdowns. But it’s something that they realize is necessary to curb the rapid expansion of a very new and yet unstudied disease.

Just because something like coronavirus doesn’t seem to affect your everyday life doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to follow along with the safety procedures. We meet and interact with so many more people than we even realize and we swap germs with every single one of them in some way or another. But humans are naturally social creatures, so it makes sense that social distancing is hard for all of us. Unfortunately, it really is the most effective action we can take to put our lives back on their normal tracks.

Wiles, Siouxsie (23 March 2020). “The world is on fire: My message to New Zealanders on Covid-19”. The Spinoff. Retrieved 16 March 2020.

So be apart of the collective, care for the other humans that you consciously and unconsciously interact with because we can be the medicine we need right now. We can be a part of the solution instead of the problem in so many seemingly insignificant ways. Instead of contributing to panic and misinformation we could use this experience to help open up our minds and level up our awareness. Like being conscious and aware of what you’re purchasing and why. Do you really need those baby wipes to get your makeup off tonight? Or could you find a different solution and help save a baby’s bum from some really uncomfortable rashing. 

We all play a part in our society, our collective, and when we as unique individuals can feel a sense of solidarity with each other we can form the conscious collective. It doesn’t matter if social distancing for you is catching up on all those creative hobbies you don’t normally have time for or sitting on the couch and vegging out on video games and Netflix for a week straight. Find what version, or versions, work best for you and live ‘em.

Above all, just remember that we all need each other sometimes. Just because we’re not sick and bored doesn’t mean we need to be jerks. Right now there are members of our communities, of our world, that really just need us to stop being intitled asses, go home and wash our damn hands.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk, xoxo,

PS. For anyone worrying about me being out and about and alone in such weird times, don’t! I’m parked in Colorado with friends and we are doing our part to stay socially distant 🙂