Today, I was really struck by how physical distance is creating a new sense of connection. So how is physical distancing bringing us closer together?

I realize this may seem counterintuitive, so let me back up.

A Walk in the Neighbourhood

Today, I went for a walk in my neighbourhood. Unlike in some parts of the world, we are not currently under shelter in place orders, but we are being told to #stayhome, practice #physicaldistancing and to #washyourhands.

I’m so lucky because we are able to #stayhome, and even more fortunate that I am able to work from home.

I am also so grateful for all of those working to provide essential services. At great risk to your own physical safety and well-being, each of you are creating an environment that allows us to slow the spread of this coronavirus. Without you, we wouldn’t even have an option to #stayhome, so #thankyou.

So back to my story…

With my work-from-home day done, I was ready for a change of scenery. It was a little bit sunny, which is REALLY lovely weather in the Vancouver area in April, so I went for a walk in my neighbourhood by myself – the rest of my family were doing their own things.

As I left my house, my neighbour’s daughter was playing basketball, by herself, against a hoop in our front yard. I said hi and we had a little conversation. This was probably more conversation than we’ve ever had before. And it was lovely.

Then I went around the corner, down the block, said “hi” to some other neighbours as I walked by on the sidewalk, over 2m / 6ft away from them. As I continued along, there was a mother, pushing her toddler in a stroller ahead of me on the sidewalk. The sidewalks in our neighbourhood aren’t wide enough to keep a physical distance between us while we both remain on the sidewalk. She saw me coming and started to pull her stroller up into someone’s walkway up to their house to create enough physical distance between us. I signaled that I would walk out onto the road, which is safe to do in my quiet little neighbourhood with hardly any traffic. So as we walked past each other, she said “thank you” and I smiled and said “no worries”.

As my walk continued, this pattern repeated itself again and again. Sometimes I would say “hi” to the person who moved to the road, or sometimes they would smile and nod at me as we walked past each other.

And I got this sense of happiness as I was walking. And I wondered, where was this happiness coming from?

What about this situation was creating this sense of happiness?

Sawubona – I see you

As I reflected on this deep sense of happiness I got during my walk, I remembered a story that a facilitator at a Women’s Networking Event that I attended shared. She told a story of “sawubona” which is a Zulu tribe’s beautiful greeting. Sawubona literally means:

“I see you, you are important to me and I value you”.

And I realized that physical distancing is creating an opportunity for us to see and value each other in new and important ways. It’s creating a new sense of connection.

Usually moving physically away from people is body language for “I don’t want to be near you” or “I need space away from you”. So to counteract this, I find myself saying “hello” or “thanks” or “it’s a beautiful day” to people I would otherwise not greet. And I have the same experience in return.

In this time of social distancing, the act of physical distancing yourself from someone else, is a very visible way of telling someone “I see you, you are important to me and I value you”. And I feel this from other people too; people acknowledging me with their words and actions in a way that did not happen before physical distancing.

So while physical distancing is a new, different constraint in our lives, it’s also creating a new sense of connection for all of us. It’s creating opportunities for conversations and interactions with people that we don’t usually chat with. It’s creating opportunities to acknowledge our neighbours in a different way.

Sawubona. I see you. You are important to me. I value you.

So look for this new sense of connection in this physical distancing world. As people move farther away from you, they might just be saying Sawubona to you too!

We’d love to hear from you about how physical distancing is creating new connections for you too in the comments section below.

And if you liked this article, check out: