In It Together I am a part of Generation X (those born between 1965-1980). While there are many exceptions, most Gen-Xers thrive on solitude. We enjoy quiet time. Actually, we find down time to be rejuvenating. We need it. We don’t mind being alone for a while. Of course, like anything else, we enjoy it until it is forced upon us. COVID has forced us into isolation beyond even our expanded threshold. Personally, Carol and I spent the entire Christmas break in isolation (me with COVID and her in quarantine). Having lost my dad over Thanksgiving, we could not be with my mom during her first Christmas alone. I know that many of you experienced similar and much worse situations including hospitalization and even death of loved ones. I have read that some people have not seen or touched another person for months and describe an inescapable dystopian sense. When “ordered” to be alone, I did crave contact with people. Even before COVID, our society was trending to be more alone than ever before. Some have described loneliness as an epidemic of Western society. Has anyone else felt it? It has been connected to mental and physical illness as well as a shortened life span. We were not made to be alone. Loneliness is the first problem God addressed in the Garden of Eden, and He declared it “not good.” We were designed to connect with God and others. Many find creating these bonds to be challenging. Marina Keegan expressed it this way in her essay, “The Opposite of Loneliness”: We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. What I’mgrateful and thankful to have found at Yale, and what I’m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place. It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table. For eight years, my family has enjoyed the togetherness afforded by the greater Lancer family, and we will be forever grateful. The events of the last year have magnified the importance of thriving relationships. Plugging into a church family is critical. Leaning on the Lancer family makes sense. All that subscribe to the mission of our school must love each other through this time. We are in this together.
Shawn Minks, M.Ed Head of School
https://www.endurance.org/not-made-to-be-alone/ https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/not-meant-to-be-alone/ https://www.registerguard.com/zz/news/20200525humans-not-meant-to-be-alone-many-americans-havent-seen-or-touched- another-person-in-3-months-because-of-covid-19
2 | ccslancers.com Spring 2021 - Connections
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