Thinking about distance

What benchmark should be used to measure the distance between you and others?

Everyone's concept of distance. Can be said to be completely different. There are people who get nervous when they are approached a little bit, and there are people who don't care at all as long as they don't touch each other no matter how close they are.

When the epidemic broke out, "maintaining distance" became the focus of attention. People's sense of distance has undergone tremendous changes, which are reflected in their physical and mental states, and the actions they actually take according to different situations and situations are also constantly changing.

As for the control of keeping distance, the various differences in this are almost like the discussion in the Japanese drama "Quartet" about whether to drizzle lemon on fried chicken. It seems simple but detailed.

Let's start with the extreme. When the epidemic rose to level three last year, before the company started working from home, for safety reasons, even if the distance was not close, he still rode a one-hour bicycle to and from the company. Without taking the elevator, climb up to the office on the 7th floor step by step. Completely stopped the habit of going to the riverside park for running and only exercised at home.

Two months later, Level 3 was lifted, the company resumed normal commuting, and I took the MRT as usual. But I soon discovered that even though life was back to normal, the MRT was no longer overcrowded. And there are some people among the passengers. Before everyone gets on the train, they always stop in front of the platform and wait for the next train first, just to get on an empty carriage and keep a distance from others.

When I arrive at the company building and take the elevator, if someone is standing next to the button, sometimes I will stand in the corner to keep a distance, and wait until the other person gets out of the elevator before pressing the button of the floor I want to go to. When I see a lot of people outside the elevator, I often choose to climb the stairs to go upstairs.

The fear of contracting the virus and the fear of causing trouble to others is still unsolved to this day.

The epidemic is like a world-scale werewolf killing, but no one knows whether he is a villager or a werewolf. This ambiguity makes it difficult for us to maintain a consistent distance.

Nobody wants to get sick. But the reality is that as long as herd immunity is not achieved, we can only take the road like China's zero, and how far is that road? How much freedom to sacrifice? Nobody knows. So people are learning to adapt, but there are still many who have their voices muffled, who take a firm stand and threaten others into submission.

Like war, the virus has brought a lot of despair to the world. Because of the many restrictions brought about by the epidemic, to a certain extent, our bodies can be said to be "immobilized". Many losses and partings always happen in the blink of an eye, and we are often powerless.

"What is really important cannot be seen with the eyes alone," said the little prince. I don't know if this sentence contains factors such as anxiety and fear, and in such an era, it seems that most of the invisible things have become anxiety and fear.

In the past, the habit of trying to chat with strangers as soon as I found an opportunity has gradually faded due to the epidemic. In addition to music in life, I spend more time with books and movies, absorbing ideas from books and understanding human nature from images. On the plus side, I have an awkward personality. Although street performances were completely suspended and social activities were greatly reduced, I was finally willing to slowly start the road of Youtube and Podcast, shortening the distance from the virtual world.

To communicate with people through the virtual world, language is an important bridge for communication. However, due to cognitive differences, too little or too much thinking, there are still many misunderstandings and estrangements. And I still often wonder, does the Internet make people redeemed, or just make people live more lonely?

However, when viewing humans as merely part of nature. The current situation, as far as the earth is concerned, is nothing more than a long-awaited clean-up.

All things sometimes, and whether our thinking and way of life have been too far from nature, will we constantly feel anxiety and fear?

Last year, when I was alone in Riverside Park, watching the sunset while riding a bicycle, even wearing a mask, I felt a sense of peace of mind that the world would not end there. After all, the sun still shines honestly, and the moon hangs there quietly.

And these seemingly ethereal words may still be far away from the hearts of many readers.