To fight the Co-Vid virus, I was, like everyone else, forced for weeks into a degree of isolation and social distancing. For some time now, the range of travel has been no longer restricted and I have resumed one of my favorite leisure activities: hiking. And I was able to observe a few small changes in each other’s attitudes… .and it was not in avoiding crossing paths at all.
Last Sunday, I went for a short hike above Vence, the Cascade de Vescagne.
I was eager to resume hiking, not that I am a great walker but I like being in the middle of nature, I always find it very refreshing to be in a natural space.
And there what struck me was to feel like never before, an incredible feeling of freedom. Quite simply, what a well-being to be in nature.
Another thing that I found quite amazing was the people I met… never before had I had so many exchanges.
On small hiking trails, it had become rarer to hear a real “hello” when you passed people … I sometimes even had the impression of “snatching” this word from some … But hello, too mechanical be it, whether verbal or gestural, is the 1 st step of socialization.
And that day, all the people I saw, not only greeted me with a big smile, but many stopped for a moment to talk and share this feeling of freedom.
It is undoubtedly this limitation of the social bond that induces a greater need to communicate and exchange … and also to rethink our relationship with others with the desire to express to them everything that we have never been able to, knew or dared to tell them….
We are going through a time when we, perhaps, all feel the need to refocus and rediscover our innermost nature.
Isn’t the happiness of life a priority in being in harmony with yourself, with our own, and with all that surrounds us?
Patricia
