Friends

Most of my friendships are not of the regular catch -up type. I'm not sure why, all those years of child rearing maybe, distance, competing priorities (mine and theirs). My friendships are more of the twice annual dinner  type, or the "I'm in Sydney, can I swing by?" type.
It's always been ok with me, they are all the kind of people who I can see after a year and feel like we were never apart but the covid experience has left me wondering if I have misjudged.
I have said here repeatedly that covid hasn't changed my life a lot, I have still been working and maintained a semblance of the usual routine. It hasn't been difficult for me but I am aware that not everyone feels the same way and have made extra effort to let people know I am thinking of them. My cards and emails have often gone unanswered and I make a lot more phone calls than I receive, some people who I thought might have checked in with me haven't and people who i never imagined would be interested have called to ask how I am.
It makes me wonder how to interpret all of this. I know better than to make bridge burning judgements on people who are possibly anxious and overwhelmed but at the same time I wonder if some people ever really cared.
I hope I don't sound whiney, I don't think thats my intention. A friend of mine recently told me that he re-evaluated all of his friendships at age 50 and I wonder if the pandemic has prompted me to do that just a smidge nearly a decade early :)

Challenges

i was talking to a friend today who asked me "what on earth are all the challenges?"

Well, I challenged myself to No Meat May and as a matter of interest or inspiration for others I'm posting a photo and basic description of my food on Facebook every day. 

My brother challenged me to post every day for ten days, an album cover relating to music which formed my musical taste. I'm not really that type of music consumer but I'm trying. I'm up to day 5 and 'm not sure what I'll be posting for the next five days....

A colleague challenged me to post photos of my dog for ten days, so 'm up to day two on that, it may become repetitive!

What are they foooor? my friend wailed. I don't know, I guess people in isolation are bored?

What kind of ten day challenge would you set for your friends? What do you want to see or know about their lives?

The Covid App

I'm not sure what's going on in other parts of the world but here in Australia the government has released a covid smartphone app which we are being encouraged to download and use. It anonymously tracks where we go and which other app users we have come into contact with, the aim being to make contact tracing easier when anybody tests positive. f somebody tests positive, their contact data will be available to health care professionals who will then be more easily able to trace the people who may have been infected.

Curious about how my facebook friends are approaching the app, I asked the simple question "Who has the covid app?"

The answers were divided along two very clear lines: Church people,Yes. Doulas, No.

The doulas don't surprise me. Every doula has seen the system/ the authorities misrepresent risk and benefit information. At some point every doula has seen the personal agency of their client stolen from them, either by force or stealth. Every doula has seen a client fall victim to the "bait & switch".
I don't want to call my community mistrustful of authority because that tends to be associated with the whole tin-foil hat idea but healthy scepticism exists in bucketloads in these women.

The church people? There are many reasons they might be so compliant: they are conditioned to compliance? they are happy to drink the kool aid? they like to hand over their decision making to others? their relentless desire to see the best in people suspends their judgement? they are generally less educated and less critical thinking?