It’s quite
possible you haven’t missed it. It’s quite possible you haven’t even given it a
thought. I know I haven’t missed it, but perhaps that’s because I’ve managed to
do some of it here on my blog. What I’m talking about is, of course, how
whenever we used to get together with someone, we’d almost always end up
discussing our various physical difficulties. I don’t know quite why that happens
as we get older, but I was/am very aware of that tendency.
Even when I made the decision ahead of
time to not bring up any complaints about how I was doing; even when I decided
ahead of time to steer the conversation away from someone else’s complaints, it
seemed like sooner or later, our conversation became one about a wide variety
of topics having to do with how we felt physically. It could be about
indigestion, intestinal problems, inability to sleep or inability to stay awake.
In fact, I’ve heard complaints from the top of someone’s head (hair loss) to
the bottom of someone’s feet (ingrown toenails).
I heard about one group that began their
meetings with “whine” time. Everyone had 10 minutes to complain about whatever
was at the top of their list. Once that time had elapsed, no one could resort
to a topic that wasn’t relevant to whatever that group was meeting about. I
would have liked to attend one of those meetings back when they were meeting
and see how that “whine” time worked out. Did everyone talk at once? Did no one
listen to anyone else?
In any case, I woke up this morning
with an aching back. Initially, I planned to whine about it on my blog. Then, I
did my physical therapy, had breakfast and went on my walk. Now, my back, while
still feeling a bit tender, is ever so much better. I decided I didn’t need to
blog about something I’d try very hard not to share in a regular face-to-face
conversation.
The fact of the matter is I kinda like
the conversations I’m having with people now. They don’t happen every single
day, but when I do get on the phone with someone, or see a neighbor at a safe
distance, or go to the grocery store wearing my mask and liberally using hand
sanitizer, those conversations are often upbeat and positive. I don’t think any of us want to discuss our
back aches or intestinal problems when our lives could suddenly be upended by a
virus that could result in death.
So far, I’ve been very lucky and not
just with my own health. All my family and friends are, to date, healthy. We’ve
all obeyed the rules about social distancing, wearing masks, using hand
sanitizer and staying home. I think it would be exceptionally nice if once we
are allowed to be close again, we continued to have conversations about
anything except our own or each other’s physicality. Perhaps this time of being
singular will bring forth better and more fun relationships in the future. I
definitely hope so. I definitely am going to work very hard toward that end.
