Space

Earlier this week, things started to get real in a new way, at least from my perspective. I know for some of you this all kicked in much earlier. But Tuesday was when work suddenly became full of cancelling, planning, re-scheduling, moving online, and working out contingencies on minimal information. I found myself getting sucked in to constant checking of news updates. Every group on Facebook was full of endless discussions around different implications or scenarios which no one had answers to. And there was, if not actual panic, measurable anxiety.

I needed to find some space. Not from people, but from the headlines, the clickbait, the panic and the scaremongering. I needed to limit my consumption to actual news, and that only at specific tmes.

So I made a Facebook group that would be virus-free. It's called Space and it's here and it has been wonderful. Joyous, even. This is what I just posted there:

Thanks for another great day! It's been really fun seeing people from different parts of my life (and some not from my life at all!) connecting over a shared love of The West Wing or Cabin Pressure, Pickled Onion Monster Munch or cat videos, crochet and poetry, and all the other good things in life.

This is a virus-free space, but that doesn't mean it has to be a relentlessly upbeat space. It's okay if you need it to be somewhere to post about the normal frustrations, worries and sorrows of life. I hope it can be a kind space and a gentle space.

It has been reminding me a bit of Live Journal back in the day, actually. I've been excited to keep checking back and see what new threads have been started and who's commented on existing ones. I know most of you don't know each other, and it will take a while to build the kind of trust and community that LJ was so good at fostering, but I'd love to see bits of that starting to happen too.

And once again, a reminder that if you know someone who might need this space, please do invite them.

If you need a space right now, you are very welcome to join us.