"How are you?"
It's one of the most common ways we greet each other, but in asking this question most people — at least historically speaking — haven't necessarily been interested in how the person they are greeting is really feeling.
Similarly, if you are someone who openly shares how you actually are in that moment, you have probably had the experience of the person you're talking to's eyes glazing over.
They are just words and we don't really mean it.
That said, I have noticed some gradual and subtle changes over the past 18 months and so.
Now that many of us are concerned about a potentially deadly virus out there, we have started caring a little bit more about how people actually are feeling... even if that interest is perhaps for more selfish than altruistic reasons.
When someone says "I feel like I am coming down with something," we pay more attention than we once did.
We have also become more aware of how we feel. How we sincerely feel.
"I'm calling in sick!" isn't a semi-funny joke like it once was... because if we just "call in sick" we're more likely to be subject to all manners of scrutiny. And so, we're a little less inclined to say "I feel sick" without really thinking a bit about it, first.
In a "backwards consciousness" sort of way, that's probably a positive thing.
But this state of heightened mindfulness extends beyond the simple "how are you?" greeting.
Here in our neighborhood, I've noticed that people walking their dogs or just walking around for exercise are taking a little more time to get to know each other... beyond the usual quick wave and hello.
That might seem like a small thing, but the result is a little more far-reaching: When a household find themselves "voluntarily quarantining" due to a potential exposure to Covid or even a diagnosis, many people are suddenly at the ready to offer help with grocery shopping or dogwalking or whatever is needed... in a way that simply didn't exist just a couple of years ago.
I don't much comment on vaccine mandates and politics and movement restrictions; my interest lies far more at the local and neighborhood level; at the spiritual level; at the point where people help people.
And at that level it does feel like we are seeing a little more mindfulness and awareness, these days!
Thanks for stopping by, and Bright Blessings to all!
You are not alone!
(Graphic is our own)
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