As we continue to watch the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic there are no doubt challenges and changes for everyday life. Some good, some bad. Perhaps one good thing to consider is that the world had become so small. You could easily take a plane in the morning and be on the other side of the world hours later. The internet has made international communication across the world common place. A “small world” on a large earth. I think you know what I mean.
Over the course of the last few days I have noticed a Flip Flop in that status. I’m surely not interested in getting on a plane and many governments have actually closed their borders to foreign travel for now. The world has become “bigger” again. And it’s not just international. It’s happening in communities where folks from the outside are being asked to stay away for the moment. I believe that all of this will find a new normal and people will travel and support tourism again. But as of the present moment our small world has become so big again.
In the meantime, something fantastic and unexpected has occurred. I’ve noticed that neighbors are coming together again. Neighborhoods had become the “Big World” and people had lost interest in those closest to them as a result of the rest of the world becoming so small. It had become common to see your neighbor coming and going without even knowing their name. But as a result of reaction to the Covid-19 crisis many people (while practicing proper Social Distancing) are at home and not traveling so neighborhoods are full with residents. People are out in their neighborhood walking their dogs, getting outside and standing on their decks saying “Hi” from a distance to people that they haven’t seen or talked to in ages. Now you see the same folks in the store that you always see but are more likely to acknowledge them with a smile, a nod or a hello, how are you? Neighbors are becoming neighbors instead of people who just live in an area together.
Your small world is now your neighborhood and your community again. That’s a good thing. It’s a fortunate Flip Flop in which the people closest to you are more important than those on the other side of the world. I hope that it is just one of the many things that will change for the greater good in a world where separation in our communities had become normal. And when things reset remember and appreciate this time in which your family, your friends, your neighbors and community are the best part of your world. And that is something that should never change.
