As more and more communities are being told to “Shelter in Place,” the world is becoming bigger and smaller all at the same time.

We are physically far from one another. Tucked away and sequestered in our own little corners of our own little worlds.

The vastness of the physical space, the yawning chasm that separates us, seems bigger now that we are told we are unable to bridge it.

And yet, as the immediate physical circle becomes smaller and more intimate, the conversations become deeper and bigger. It is in this less that we become more. In this smallness that we become big. In this distance that we become close.

I spent most of the day touching base via phone, text and email with family and friends. Conversations that are normally surface and routine quickly became very deep and very real.

Uncertainty brings with it a certain sense of clarity. The blurry edges serve to bring into focus what really matters.

When my husband and I decided to make this move, to venture out just he and I across country and start over I knew it would either make or break us. We were going to have to depend on each other more and in ways we never had to before. We would be spending a lot more time together learning the lay of the land, working on projects and just existing in general without the padding or buffer of other people or many outside distractions. We were building something new in part because the old wasn’t working.

It is like that now all over the world.

Circles getting smaller.
Conversations getting bigger.

People depending on each other like they never have had to before.

Families working together.

Neighbors looking out for one another.

A realization setting in that for all of the distance between us we are not that far removed.

And, perhaps, when the dust settles, we will realize that the old wasn’t really working and we will set out and create something new.