A typical response to isolation is a feeling of having been slighted. Rationally we know a cure for loneliness is finding connection but with loneliness come feelings of rejection (even when we haven't been rejected)...

...and so loneliness can make us feel hostile towards our fellow humans or even down on ourselves. Which unfortunately makes us feel disinclined to seek out others or even feel warm towards them. Once we can understand we are in this process, we can override it...

...we can be kind to that knot of hostility and anger, whether we come across it in ourselves or in others. And with this lockdown situation occurring again, it might pay to be on the look out for it in ourselves so we can do something to steer it off. Easier said than done.

A friend told me that 3 weeks into lockdown last time she bumped into neighbours on a walk. She had forgotten how to talk to them, and felt awkward and stupid and ran away. She emailed them to apologise and said she'd forgotten how to be with people. #normal