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Your soul feels lonely not when you lack company, but when you lack the cause.

Sheryl and Dan Malin
Apr 20, 2020
3 min read

Hello to my followers,

Good morning Monday, this is Dan and my 35th day of hiding out. How have you all been handling your physical distancing?

Dan and I only go out to walk our three miles, which takes about an hour and a half. Other then that, we keep busy in our apartment. Thank goodness it is big enough for us and have room to roam in.

I thought today we will talk about social distancing or a better term physical distance. For we need to keep in touch with the ones you care about. So, stay social from a physical distance until this virus goes away.

“In isolation you just lose the company but don't lose the purpose.”

“Your soul feels lonely not when you lack company, but when you lack the cause.”

What is social distancing (physical distance)?

two people with masks on 6 feet apart

Social distancing, also called “physical distancing,” means keeping space between yourself and other people outside of your home. To practice social or physical distancing:

Stay at least 6 feet from other people

Do not gather in groups

Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings

The fashionable history of social distancing

Social distancing has long been around since the early ages. The term “quarantine” is derived from the Italian number “quaranta,” or 40, and the practice originated in 1347-1348, when the “Black Plague” was sweeping Europe. In an attempt to slow the spread of disease, Venice founded the first quarantine island, Lazzaretto Vecchio, Santa Maria di Nazareth Island, and became the first city to close its ports to incoming ships. When a successive wave of the plague hit in 1485, the same Italian city required all vessels coming from infected ports to be detained for 40 days. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know how many deaths were prevented by improved sanitation efforts and decreased person-to-person contact during the plague.

The 1918 Flu was the deadliest pandemic in human history. From September 1, 1918 - April 5, 1919, the world mourned the loss of more than 50 million lives as a result of the flu. Approximately 500,000 of those flu-related deaths occurred in the United States.

In other words, social distancing and self-isolating measures must be activated as close to the time of disease onset as possible and sustained throughout the peak of disease trajectory in local communities in order to be most effective. If executed properly, non-pharmaceutical interventions can help slow the spread and decrease the number of disease-related deaths during pandemics.

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed 50 to 100 million people around the world. John M. Barry, the author of a book on the pandemic, explains what happened. Also, how the response to corona virus could avoid a repeat of 'the great influenza,' or the Spanish flu.

The difference from the early days are that in this world today, we have social technology. We can keep in touch through the cell phones, zoom, face time, what’s app and many more. The opportunities to stay in touch worldwide is amazing. The other week on zoom, we did a yoga class from Mexico and we are in Virginia. My mother has church on zoom with over 20 members all attending from their own home. On March 27th my grandson’s birthday, we were with the family members from all over attending his birthday on zoom. Plus, the other day Dan and I had story telling with our grandson before his bedtime.