It’s election season. With the provincial election, American election, and, of course, the Camosun College Student Society election all happening recently, it’s a lot of politics to consume. It all adds to all the big—and sometimes stressful—thoughts we’re all thinking these days.
I was chatting with someone last week who said that we hear words about self-care so much because they’re just that important, regardless of how tired we might be of hearing them.
Cut to last night after class: my prof said he would stick around in case anyone wanted to chat or had any questions about the assignment. What ensued was a long, winding, sometimes jocose conversation about nothing in particular: philosophy, politics, movies, and rock music. A handful of my classmates stuck around after class, too; none of them had any intention of talking about school. They were all small bobbing heads on my screen; it wasn’t the real thing, but for the first since COVID-19 hit BC in March, I wasn’t just talking to one of the roughly six people in my bubble.
Beyond that, it was the first time I inadvertently stumbled into a conversation with a handful of other people, and it was incredibly fulfilling to just talk. Out of survival more than anything, I had forgotten how important that was, even for an introvert. For about half an hour after our conversation, I was buzzing, as if I had drank too many cups of coffee, but it was all internal, natural, and needed. Gag me with a spoon if you must, but that sort of arbitrary interaction sometimes feels like a painful platitude when plentiful. Take it away, though, and I’m left with an odd sort of feeling, as if I’ve got all the calories I need on my plate but none of the nutrients.
So next time you’re in a Zoom or FaceTime meeting or class, think about the possibility of sticking around for a bit after if time allows; odds are the person on the other end is just as deeply entrenched in survival mode as you are, thinking big—and sometimes stressful—thoughts, and needing a little small talk about nothing and everything.