The new way of connecting during the pandemic

It has been a while since I last wrote… I hope you are well.

I was reading through some of the articles I wrote for the blog and realised time has really changed. A lot of things that we took it for granted as normal are now not possible to do.

For example, I wrote about Don’t Wait until a Special Occasion before we connect again. It was about my grandmother’s 100th birthday celebration. We had relatives fly in from all over the world to celebrate the occasion. It was definitely a very memorable and joyous time to reconnect, and I even urged the relatives to connect more often and not wait for such an occasion before meeting again.

However right now, such a celebration is something of a past for at least another year or so. It will be a while before we can start planning for a grand re-union. Based on what we observed from last year and this year, we experienced changes that we did not foresee coming. Who would have thought we would experience border closures within countries and internationally? Who would have guessed there would be restrictions imposed during festive celebrations?

I was talking to my parents, who are still recuperating in one of the convalescent homes in Penang.  During the Chinese New Year, no guests were allowed to visit the centre. It was very sad, as that would have been one festivity that they would have looked forward to each year, as that would have been the time when they had the chance to meet up with all the relatives far and near.  And this situation rings true all over the world, not only in the senior care facilities, but in their own homes too.

However, having said all the above, let’s look on the bright side. We are also very blessed with advanced technology nowadays, right?

Here are a few examples of how we can still connect, share and celebrate the festivity with our loved ones despite the distance:

  • I have seen my relatives overseas enjoying their reunion dinner via video conferencing. Everyone just shared their reunion dinner online and could chat and share news.
  • My cousin organised a video call with all the relatives who could not make it home to celebrate.
  • We can still call our relatives via WhatsApp/Signal, and some telephone plans enable us to use our landline or mobile phones to call overseas at a very reasonable rate or even for free.
  • Friends and relatives are connecting via social media with family photos and their activities.

Remember, your relationships with your family are built gradually through constant interactions with each other, so make use of the advancement in technology to connect with your family – today, next week and so on despite the distance.

Have a wonderful day ahead.