Childhoodtake2!

Every Friday we unite for five minutes to write on one word. Only five minutes, that's all we get, that's all we have. And then, right where we are, no edits or second-thoughts, we publish those words. This week, we write on connect.
Go.

People need people, and real connections.

We build bigger homes,
move to places where we have space,
and stop connecting with our neighbors.

We bring children to parks
and sit alone worried about who is looking, judging, not wanting to talk.

We are always on our phones,
pretending to connect, but really alone.

We work out,
alone.

We sit on computers, pretending that we are reaching out, but never really connecting.
And we lie to ourselves and say we are too busy
for people.

Because it is so much easier to judge and write hate then it is to look someone in the eye and say what we are confident in saying across a screen.

We have all lost our connection
to our communities, to each other, and even to those we love, our families.

And, for those that feel we need to all take better care of each other,
our message needs to be louder.
We need to reach across the table and say to a fellow parent,
I have been there too, I understand and you can talk to me, without judgments.
We need to tell our co-workers,
what can I do to help you?
We need to invite our neighbors over for coffee, find out what we can do to help each other out more, call on each other more.
We need to connect.

Because once you have someone in front of you, hatred and hateful words are more difficult.
Because once you are in the presence of people, it's harder to feel alone and isolated.
Because once we all start speaking our truth, it's harder to judge anyone else.
As people, we are all in this together.
We are all trying to figure out a way to survive and make this life worth living for all.
And the only way to stop hate is to connect on a loving level.

So many of my friends have reached across the divide and are starting to open their homes, their lives to connection.
So many of my friends are realizing that too many of us feel isolated and alone, even when in large groups.
So many of my friends are realizing that many are faking their busy so not to show how alone they really are.
And so they have made an effort to say enough, my home, my friendship and I am open to you.

People need people and true connections.

Stop.