Hello everyone, I hope you are doing good today and staying safe and healthy. I have been pretty productive with our Twitch channel, getting some things done around the house, and I even picked up my paintbrushes on Monday for the first time in a while. Look forward to sharing a few pictures from the stream that night – mind you I have only painted a handful, if that, of times in my life so it doesn’t look the greatest. LOL Today I would like to share a topic that is on everyone’s mind, isolation. We may be performing physical distancing and separation during this time, but that doesn’t mean we should isolate ourselves from people socially and “go dark” in a sense – or completely shut ourselves off from the world around us. So join me today as we discuss the killer of intimacy, Isolation.

Photo by Victor on Pexels.com

Isolation – What is it? 

When you think of isolation what is the first thing that comes to your mind? For me, I think of someone who has cut themselves off from the world and is a bit of a recluse. Webster Dictionary defines Isolate as: “To set apart from others; an individual socially withdrawn or removed from society.” The word that sticks out to me the most in this is withdrawn. I feel that during this time most people are prone to withdraw from everyone and everything – especially if they are not working right now and don’t have children. I asked a few people on our Twitch channel what they thought Isolation meant to them and one person responded with; “I feel it is synonymous with loneliness.” I believe now more than ever technology should be used to our advantage. I mean think about it. I joined a class for Spanish to brush up on the subject, and hopefully become fluent, and it is a class that is normally designed for people living in Colorado! How amazing is that? I think America – and even the world – is more connected now than we have ever been. Yet I feel we shouldn’t base our worth or value on how many people we are connected or not connecting with during this time and to be wise with how we spend our time online. I feel that using social media and the internet can be a great tool to fight against isolation. Which brings me to our next topic; intimacy, what is and how can we learn to become intimate with those we care about most.

Intimacy: how to cultivate it, and why it goes beyond the bedroom.

In our culture today, I have noticed a coloration between intimacy and sex. No without getting into the nitty gritty of it all, I want to make a mention that intimacy can lead to sex when you are talking about intimacy with your partner. However, that isn’t the kind of intimacy I am talking about here. Before I continue however, I want to again go back and see what Webster had to say about it. The dictionary defines intimacy as: the state of being intimate; familiarity.” A few synonyms for intimacy are; closeness, belonging, and nearness. In other words, when you are intimate with someone, you are sharing a piece of your heart with them, or sharing details and a side of yourself that most people don’t get to see. Again I asked my followers on Twitch and the response was pretty much the same. However you think of the word, it all boils down to opening yourself up to a handful of people and letting them see the real you.

So we’ve looked at what both words mean, but how can isolation be the killer of intimacy? I fully believe if you found someone – whether romantically or otherwise – that you can become intimate with, any shred of isolation will diminish because you want to share your heart with them and be around them more often. The walls you have previously had up towards people, and judgements you may have rendered toward even that person you are becoming intimate with, suddenly disappear when you get to know them and allow yourself to become vulnerable as the relationship deepens.

I hope during this time you’re not only able to strengthen those intimate relationships with your immediate family such as your parents, in-laws, spouse and kids, as well as your close friends. I also hope you find ways to connect with those in your community and are able to spread love and joy to others from all around the world; because at the end of the day we are all in this together and each one of us are feeling the affect of this virus and quarantine.

I hope you enjoyed today’s topic, if so then make sure to share this with your friends, and don’t forget subscribe to the blog so you can receive a notification when I write a new article on the blog.

Happy Trails,

Angie