Connection
I recently became a Tik-Tok addict. I share that with reluctance, since I never thought I would be getting on that app. But it was funny and entertaining. Above all though, I saw people expressing what I was feeling. There were the “bored in the house” bits, the homeschooling bits, and the mom-life bits. Most of them making fun of these things, but at least it was addressing it. I went from wanting to cry and never move, to never moving but laughing (and wishing I had the guts to make a video).
Then there were the day drinking videos. So many day-drinking videos and let me admit- I think they are funny and many times clever. There have been days where I related, but there was this part of my heart that hurt. It’s the same part of my heart that has made me so confident in Purposeful Living and the needs that it meets- healing and connection.
Isolation is dangerous.
Numbing our feelings is dangerous.
If you didn’t quite understand isolation before, I imagine COVID – 19 quarantine has changed that to a degree. Some of us felt it hard and others not as much, but isolation hurts. And when we hurt our first instinct is to make it stop and so we look for something to make it go away or numb it. When we numb our hurts, our feelings without resolving them, we’re setting ourselves up for an eventual explosion, which will probably land on some unsuspecting person.
Isolation hurts in different ways to each of us. For me, I felt so insignificant, without any purpose, meaningless. And then I felt guilty for feeling those things. I talked myself into believing that my feelings weren’t valid because I was also in a season of blessing. But I didn’t figure any of this out by watching my Tik-Tok videos all day. That was my numbing. I figured it out by connecting with a friend and dear mentor. She let me vent, and then she validated my feelings, my struggle, and confirmed that other women were feeling this same stuff about quarantine. She helped me process, which is the healing way to deal with our feelings and struggles, and she connected with me.
That simple connection and healing conversation was enough to pull me out of this dark isolation hole I was in. And I stopped my addictive behavior with Tik-Tok, but still enjoy it occasionally. I’m not saying it’s always that simple. But I know that connection is fundamental to our well-being and it is fundamental to our healing.
Are you feeling lonely? Are you isolated?
What can you do right away to get healthy connection?
How has connection brought healing into your life?
Share with me. I’d love to connect. 😉
