"Creation" Is The New "Connection" - The Skeleton Key

We all need it. We all can still do it.

It seems as if people assume we have all this time on our hands now.

I mean, I guess a lot of us do, but a lot of us really don’t. Time that was usually spent on one thing is now being spent on four other things and honestly, that’s ok. Do what you have to do. It isn’t like having a full calendar means you’re doing this whole shelter-in-place thing wrong.

Wait, does it?

Ok fine, I really don’t know. But what I do know is that a lot has changed and it’s impacted each and every one of us significantly and differently.

Paradigm Shift

Ever heard of that term? Yeah, me too, but not in a long time. Mainly because it’s super pretentious, often misused, and generally unnecessary to ever use in regular conversation…so shut yer yapper, college boy.

As you probably know, a paradigm shift is when there is an entirely new way to do something that was already being done a different way. Essentially, it asks people to re-learn how to do something they’re already doing, but by doing something else. Sometimes the new way is more efficient or better, but sometimes it’s not and probably not worth learning.

These days, with shifting and changing part of our normal, one thing that has fallen to the wayside is our human need for connection.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a hugger and yeah, seeing people that I love and not going in for the hug is awkward. It’s like a take a few steps in and then remember the social distancing rule and then try to act like I didn’t forget but it’s obvious I did forget and then I think about how awkward they must think I am instead of listening to what they are still saying and goddammit you guys, it’s so bad.

External vs. Internal Connection

But, I realized something yesterday.

That desire to connect can — and should — still happen for us. We’re so used to external connections with not only people, but also places. I miss the movie theater. I miss my favorite concert venues and restaurants. My kids miss school. If I went to the gym, I might miss the gym, but I don’t so I don’t, but my wife misses the gym. All external places with which we have a connection.

But what about internal connections? Ok, ok…hear me out. That sounded super cheesy…just hear me out.

Never in our lifetimes has there been such an opportunity for all of us, globally, at the same time to connect with pieces of ourselves that haven’t gotten a lot of attention lately.

That might be playing music, or painting, or writing, or making jewelry, or doing yoga…whatever.

I’ve said before that I’ve always felt that re-discovering old music can be just as good — if not better — than discovering new music. Music you used to like has that ability to take you back to the sites and smells and even the language you were used to using at that period in your life.

Along those lines, let’s take this collective, worldwide opportunity to reconnect with some of this things that we used to do.

So, instead of physically connecting with people and places, let’s re-connect with our own talents instead. Me? I’ve gotten my fingertip callouses again from playing guitar every day (oh hello there, old friends). I’ve seen friends sit down and slowly flip open a piano again after years of not playing, smiling as the hinges of the cover squeak. Some have dug out their old box of paintbrushes from the furthest corner of their garage. Some have started writing stories again.