Derek Thompson writes about the difference between being alone and being lonely in his article “The Antisocial Century” in the February issue of The Atlantic. He writes that alone time can be therapeutic, but social isolation can be bad for us personally and bad for us as a community.
Reading his article at this time of year made me think of all the times “cabin fever” set in as winter lingered in February and March.
Some years it seemed that spring would never come and then some welcome signs of spring would start to appear. The daffodils and aconite would start to “pop up” in gardens. The Dairy Queen at 10th and Washington would post a sign saying “Opening Soon.” The piles of dirty snow in parking lots would start disappearing. The trees started budding.
The Friday night Fish Fry would return for the season of Lent. (This year the restaurant Draft Picks once again will staff the kitchens at the Naperville VFW.) And finally, the daily forecast again would include the words “warm and sunny.”
As I contemplated those days of isolation during winter, I started thinking about the servicemen and woman who are on deployment. Just recently I heard that we have a base on Greenland. How hard is it for them to make it through winter? What about all the servicemen and women on the ships that are traveling on the high seas? I can’t imagine getting up every day to just see water, and maybe a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Thinking of those serving on submarines, they don’t get to see sunlight for months on end.
In his article, Mr. Thompson said that we need to be there for each other to combat social isolation.
I’ve seen first-hand the comradery among people who have served together on a ship. I have seen veterans caring for each other regardless of which branch of the service they were in or when they served. And then I am reminded that we all get along with a little help from our friends. I am thankful for all the ways my life is better because of my friends.
