I’ve been connecting with people my whole life. As a fifth-grader, a friend named Sabina, my brother and I made and sold jewelry to raise money for Tryon Creek State Natural Area. The three of us decided to do a similar sale the next year, and again the year after, donating to Water for South Sudan and then the Children’s Book Bank. All told, we collected more than $500.
This summer Sabina and I went running most mornings for about a month. When the repetitiveness started to get boring, we decided to hide what we called “capsules,” watertight containers that had a note and some random trinket-style things for people to find at the end of our runs. It was a way of collaborating on something, through the obstacle of the coronavirus, which has hit me hard in terms of motivation because of how socially oriented I am.
When hiding capsules grew boring, Sabina and I moved on to podcasting. At that point we were both thinking of painting our houses, so we found ourselves talking about paint colors as a regular topic, despite many, many tangents. The discussions very quickly became Cream House, White Trim (and Other Modern Horrors) which will have finished its first 10-episode season by the time this article is published.
About a month ago Sabina and I realized that we both write, particularly when stressed or frustrated. At the end of this year the plan is to publish a collection of poems. We feel like that no matter how good they are, if they can help us, they can also help someone else in the world.
Working with Sabina is just as important as the project itself. And this is the part that I think applies to everyone’s life. Finding someone you can work with well can be a challenge. It’s not necessarily someone you have a romantic relationship with (not the case for us) or that you’ve known for a long time (we met in 2008). It’s someone you want to collaborate with, someone who can always add on to your ideas or honestly tell you to shut up because you’re being a complete doofus (her words, not mine).
Great piece, Liam. I love how the theme of connecting and collaborating runs throughout and how it’s so well illustrated by your relationship with Sabina. The theme is so timely when social isolation has so many negative consequences to our emotional and even physical health. Thanks!
I also love your piece on using the term “physical distancing” instead of “social distancing”! Did you know that your aunt Beck has a hugging blanket to meet the great need for people to be able to hug without increasing our risk of catching the virus. Wish it could stretch across the continent :).