Connection in times of corona

The date of this blog is important, today is monday the 23th of March 2020 and like most people all over the world I am practicing social distancing. 

When the counter measures were announced here in The Netherlands I thought at first; no problem I can live with that. Generally I love my independance and living alone. At times, especially when I am immersed in my work, I hardly surface for food and a trip to the gym, let alone meeting people.

And at home I have my books, there are loads of films to be seen, so much digging that can be done on the worldwide web in regards to jewellery research and a million odd jobs around the house that are always postponed because work is more important, you know what it is like....

So I truely have not been bored for a single moment this last week. I went to work for my employer on the regular days and worked behind the bench on all other days. 

Missing something

But then that strange feeling kicked in. A certain restlessness came over me. I thought it was due to staying indoors and not enough excercise, so I inflated my sup and went for a round on the canals. Lovely to be outdoors, see spring in the air and random strangers greeting from a distance. Almost the same the day after, I went for a very long bike tour through the outskirts of Amsterdam till my legs hurt. I saw people, birds on the water and budding flowers in the fields and trees. Again a great experience but the unnerving feeling stayed.

Till this morning. A tango friend from France shared a video of people in warm hugs and embraces, with serene smiles on their faces, visibly enjoying themselves. And then it clicked, that is what I miss. That feeling of togetherness that tango always brings. The enjoyment of a connection through and with the music. The tango world has been practicing social distancing since the first rumors of its necessity in Europe, so I have been missing tango for much longer than just a week.

Normally I would not miss tango like I do now, there can be long periods of back-to-back car events and 2cv meetings, when I do not yearn for dancing. I meet my friends in a field and sometimes see so many people in a day, have to talk so much even that I go to bed early to recover from the amount of imput.

But now it is different. I would love to be at a busy car event right now, I was preparing for Technoclassica till two weeks ago. I am much more looking forward to a summer of seeing my friends in a field somewhere, though we may have to cancel our next planned session.  And I am hoping like mad that I can feel a happy tango-embrace again in the near future, even with most milongas cancelled for the forseeable future.

There you have it, a goldsmith who is at home reminiscing about what she wants to do as soon as life returns to a somewhat normal pace again...