This health crisis is far from being under control. As physical distancing becomes a norm, we will all need digital spaces to transform our personal loneliness into communal empathy Most workplaces and educational institutes have been closed till we figure out how to escape the wrath of covid-19.
Since we don’t have a cure yet, social distancing is our only hope of staying healthy. While it is a vital strategy for slowing contagion, it pushes against our instinct for togetherness and can worsen our well-being and mental health.
In The War For Kindness: Building Empathy In A Fractured World, author Jamil Zaki, who’s professor of psychology at Stanford University, explains that physical, social and emotional distance don’t have to coincide.