I couldn’t have fathomed the importance of connectivity without being engulfed in its opposite. For all of my life, I’d only been exposed to what was familiar, with the exclusion of vacations. It wasn’t until I did something that only bravery or, some would argue, foolishness, would allow one to do. I moved! My husband, I, and three children gathered our things and left behind everything we’ve ever known. We moved to a place where every face would be that of a stranger, every knock at the door would only be for a delivery, and anything I ever found myself needing I’d have to see to it alone. I believe that to truly understand the importance of connectivity is to experience the vicissitudes of disconnect.
Having been a professional store dodger, I used to take pride in hiding from familiar faces that I’d spot first when running errands. I refer to my current location as the wilderness. Oh, the joy it would bring me to run into a face I once knew. I have never felt so isolated. No one has waved at me in three years. It sounds so little, so simple. I get it. I would have never known how much a wave hello would ever mean to me until now. I come from a place where even strangers speak. Moving somewhere where that doesn’t exist has taught me that what’s referred to as “southern hospitality” is quite a luxury.
What I wouldn’t give to actually be familiar with the person on the other side of the knock at the door. It’s become quite the family event. Every time there is a knock, the entire house rushes to get up. Though we all know, no matter who’s knocking, it will be nothing more than a quick turn away. Three years, and we’re still hoping the knock will be from someone we know who came to stay.
Living a life where nothing can happen will definitely keep you on your “p’s” and “q’s”. The only emergency contact is you! Until you’ve lived this, you could never comprehend how a phone call, text message, or a simple waving hand could mean everything. There’s no notifying the school, advising them that you’re running late, and someone else will be picking up your children. There’s no one saving you a dinner plate. Getting sick, what’s that? The show must go on. There’s no number you can call on your phone. My only connection comes through a screen, and that is why connection means everything. I can’t just hop in my car. I can’t just book a flight. Anytime I want to connect with the people I love, I have to go through a device.
