Good morning…
In a recent post, I sheepishly admitted “I am not drawn to connect through Zoom.” As it turns out, I am not alone.
“I am SO thankful that you have not zoomed our classes, as I would have felt compelled to “not miss out,” one subscriber wrote. “THANK YOU for allowing us to have some perhaps-at-times-uncomfortable solitude.”
“Like you, I don’t want to feel pressured to have to connect via social media/zoom,” another subscriber wrote. “This time with my family has been so precious. It might be a crazy time in a lake house with 4 adults at any given time, 7 kids, 4 dogs and a pet frog, but every night we sit around the dinner table together and thank God for our blessings. It’s a strange but delicate time and I love finding God’s peace through His holy spirt at work in and through us.”
“I am not drawn to virtual learning either,” someone else wrote. “Instead, I’m learning real contentment in whatever situation I find myself. I’m talking more with God and learning gratefulness more, but different than it used to be. Now I’m so aware of the breeze that gently moves the leaves on trees, the various colors of green growing differently each day. With less distraction, the beauty of God’s world is capturing my full attention.”
“I too have not been drawn to continue my Bible studies virtually,” another woman shared. “I am glad others are benefitting, but for me it feels forced. I feel like God is calling me to a quiet place with Him right now. I have been praying for God’s Kingdom to multiply like this virus has been spreading.”
“I am proud of you expressing your grief regarding your son’s lost senior milestones, which are losses for you too, as well as NOT feeling led to Zoom your Bible study gatherings,” she encouraged me. “You are being true to yourself, which gives others the same permission. We ALL need to be still during this crisis and let it just be us and God, with no teachers or ministers. It’s all about our relationship with our living LORD. This is the true Source of healing for our whole world.”
The same day we, as an online community, explored our intuitive resistance to Zoom, I touched on a link to learn from an intriguing article.
Dr. Curt Thompson explains a phenomenon he calls Zoom fatigue: “Normally, our bodies are able to ‘say’ things when we are in person that we don’t have to ‘think’ about otherwise. I can say, ‘I’m really comfortable with you.’ or ‘Wow, I can tell that was really hard.’ without using words. This enables my ‘thinking’ brain to concentrate on other things. But when I’m on a Zoom call, my ‘thinking’ brain has to make up for what my body is not available to say. Hence, the conscious, cognitive domain of my mind is having to do much, much more work than it is used to doing… Our bodies, in fact, are looking for the presence of other bodies, as it were—and they’re not there. But that doesn’t mean that the anticipation mechanism that expects someone to be there in an embodied fashion stops working. Rather, like a cell phone that keeps ‘looking’ for cell service that isn’t there will drain the battery that much quicker, so we are much more tired when our bodies can’t find each other in real time and space.”
There are eight very helpful habits Thompson suggests in this wonderful article as we face our inevitable Zoom fatigue. Number four on the list is this: “As you are able, limit the number of people on videocalls to three or less. This may sound unreasonable, or impossible. But the fewer people your brain—and body—has to keep track of, the less tired you will be.”
Staff meetings. Teaching times. Information sessions. These large group experiences often require meeting by Zoom with more than three people. Yet it is important for us all to remember: these are not the intimate, interactive bonding experiences we crave. When we hang up from large virtual experiences, our inner “cell phone” will keep searching for connection. Our energy will drain down, much like a battery, until we find creative ways to recharge with each other in real time and real space.
Then just yesterday another subscriber wrote: “This New York Times article is fascinating, Why Zoom Is Terrible, it shows the science behind what you and I have instinctively felt in our guts with regard to suspending Bible study versus continuing through Zoom. I actually love that there is no real substitute for in-person human connection!”
Jesus, offering us in-person human connection, asks: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-29, MSG).
…Sue…
