It's physical distancing...not social distancing

Every human being needs to read this!

It may seem like semantics, but the difference is crucial.

I first heard about this a couple of days ago from my friend Laura Ricksecker. She originated the idea but says when sharing it she found out others had a similar idea at about the same time.

I'll let her tell you about this in her own words:

Emotionally, humans and many animals need physical touch and an emotional connection with others to be happy and healthy. Asking people to stay home created physical distance from everyone except those you live with, if you're lucky enough to live with someone you love who can give you physical connection, and then labeling it social distancing imparts the feeling of emotional disconnect with others, so many singles are left feeling like they've been cut off at the knees with no physical or emotional connection to count on in stressful times. We need to reconnect everybody socially because we're lucky enough to have things like Facebook and Instagram, zoom and FaceTiming, so that we can see people and connect on an emotional level. We can also emotionally connect socially when we're out walking the dog and talk to our neighbors from 6 feet away, or talking with others when we run errands. People are not actually socially cut off during this crisis and the wording should not lead them to feel that way. We're in a big enough crisis already without opening the door and encouraging people down the path of depression and anxiety.

According to an article I recently read, 95% of Americans have mobile phones and 77% have a smartphone, so almost everybody can be reached via a phone call or text message and most can be reached via Zoom or FaceTime. Plus Facebook has 2.45 billion monthly active users, with 1.62 billion of those using it on a daily basis. That's out of a total world population of 7.8 billion!

The error in wording is obvious, and it becomes even more so when you see the distress some people are feeling. Some people are feeling profound isolation which can lead to other bad things like anxiety and depression, even though they might be seeing and talking to people more now then when they went to work! The wording needs to be changed so the emotion behind the words isn't affecting people badly.

I think it was Casey Eberhart that said "Don't let social distancing turn into social isolation" but it's easier if we call it physical distancing and not social distancing. And as Laura mentioned above, we have all sorts of tools to make remote conversations easier. In fact, I wrote about Zoom yesterday, and I'll be writing about Zoom dating on Monday.

So, let's start a movement to change the term "social distancing" to "physical distancing" and let's all thank Laura for the idea!

Interesting days

Today - Waffle Day, Tolkien Reading Day, Manatee Appreciation Day and Pecan Day

Tomorrow - Good Hair Day, Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, Nougat Day, Spinach Day and Purple Day

April will be Active Dog Month, Summer Tire Changeover Month, Poetry Month, Couple Appreciation Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Decorating Month, Straw Hat Month, Garden Month, Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Month of the Military Child, Autism Awareness Month and Adopt A Ferret Month

Next Wednesday - Fun Day, One Cent Day, Day Of Hope, Reading Is Funny Day and Sourdough Bread Day

April 25 - Veterinary Day, (Virtually) Hug A Plumber Day, Financial Independence Awareness Day, Anzac Day, International Marconi Day, Malaria Day, Go Birding Day, Save The Frogs Day, Sense Of Smell Day, DNA Day, Independent Bookstore Day and World Penguin Day

Week long celebrations:

April 20 - April 26: Stationery Week