This came to mind heavily during the pandemic.
The lockdown meant we had to refute back to the very basic, even things we thought we couldn’t do without.
If you loved to shop you couldn’t anymore, at least not physically. It meant you couldn’t feel the fabric, try on for size and whatnot.
If you were the assistant pastor you became solely Daddy G. O in your home, leading prayers and identifying the child who needed deliverance or more attention maybe?
If you married for looks you were stuck with a bare-faced, cornrow wearing wife without the sucked in packaging while you were forced to confront the man you married for money with the hope of being majorly out of town.
CEO’s stayed home, traders stayed home, shoppers stayed home, children stayed home, EVERYONE stayed home.
Distractions were thoroughly cut off and while we had withdrawal symptoms at the beginning, a number of people are beginning to settle in.
My concern was largely on the single folks living alone. How long would it take before someone notices your absence should something happen to you?
*yeah, godforbid but yeaa…
Who would be the first to notice your absence?
Beyond work and emails, if anything happened to you, how soon would someone check in on you.
I remember the case of Fahim Saleh who was discovered by his cousin after a day of not being reachable on the phone. And while that was a sad sad event for humanity and the Nigerian business ecosystem, the singular action stayed with me.
We were not created to do life alone.
Even in a world of connectivity, we’re constantly edging into isolation and we have to be more intentional with our connections.
What changes need to be made in your life this instant? What value do you need to pick up? What communication channels do you need to reignite and keep alive.
I know what mine is and I’m doing better at letting the people who mean a lot to me know just how much they’re valued, still a work in progress but working all the same.
There was this story of a young lady, Joyce Carol Vincent who was found dead in front of her TV that was still on years later after she had died and no one knew.
This lady was just bones as of the time she was discovered dead, and no one knew when or how she had died.
It’s really a sad tale, but as remote workers, we must form better meaningful relationships, keeping in touch and responding to touch.
