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This weekend was a weekend of things that were unexpected but precise. I am lucky enough to be in London for the Platinum Jubilee and it was an opportunity to be with friends and family and share. I also thought why do we need to have an event to enjoy the interactions of chatting, sharing opinions, agree or disagree and also just feel as ease?
One of my reflections about the weekend, was that there was an occasion for people to be together for whatever reason that felt right to them. People knew that there was an extended holiday, they made plans, they took part in activities, traveled and generally just got into the swing of enjoying the overall euphoria. In a way we all experienced a ‘feel good’ factor moment which seems to be decreasing in our lives.
Have we stopped making the effort to be with people? Is it because we are overworked, stressed and also financially stretched that making the effort really does become an effort? Something as simple as chatting and talking face to face, has been replaced mostly by social media. We are in the comfort zone of being able to do everything remotely and just ‘switching off’ when things become uncomfortable.
When I spoke to some friends about physically meeting up, they said it had been a really difficult thing to do. Not only because of time but also what people may think of them. This was a curious response and as one female friend said, I have my social profile and everyone sees the flawless me, I'm not sure I want them to meet the real me.
But it's the real you, the authentic you that makes you, you. If we continue to hide behind the screen, fearful of people seeing our true selves, the lumps and bumps, our imperfections as we call them, we will just regress further into the hermit life of social media.
During the last few weeks in London, I've been traveling around by train and it has been a great opportunity for observing the joy of that spontaneous reaction, laughter, disputes and also the body language. We are effectively social animals and although some people elect to be solitary, on the whole we need that face to face communication where we can interact and read each other’s emotions and respond to them correctly. Also this is something we learn environmentally, the skill to interact, the right posture, response, eye contact and also how to recognize or engage our fight or flight response to a situation.
The celebrations were a great opportunity to meet up. Generally, people felt united in the moment and we are creating memories. I feel that this is something we truly need to embrace for the future. Creating more opportunities within our lives to be with people. The opportunity for conversation, to drift into comfortable or uncomfortable areas, to remember, to hypothesize and also to plan. That face to face interaction that helps us read people’s emotions in their faces and their body language and also help us responds in the best way we can.
It'll be a weekend that I will remember for many reasons, to see how people can enjoy themselves and for whatever reason, celebrate in their own way.
And a good bonus was…..there was cake!