Geeks Vs Loneliness: giving people a bit of a break

Hello! This is Geeks Vs Loneliness, our weekly spot on the site where we try and talk about things that may be affecting you, or people you know. Basically, we just try and gather together here weekly, natter about something, give ourselves a group virtual hug, then retreat to try and be good human beings. That’s the plan, anyway.

Right then. Someone around you is having a terrible year. It may actually be you who is having a terrible year. It might be lots of people. It might be people just having a pretty bad day. Behind the guard and shield that lots of us put up simply to get through the day, there’s a story going on to which most people aren’t privy.

Life, you certainly don’t need us to tell you, can be really rather on the testing side. This, then, is one of those very occasional posts I have a habit of penning, just asking that we all cut each other a little bit of slack. Not an infinite amount: there comes a point where somebody’s bad day/month/year isn’t your fault either, and you need to exercise some self preservation. But just to try and pause, and not jump to the worst possible conclusion from the off.

I had a chat this week about someone I worked with some ten years ago. It was a lovely conversation, and I loved catching up with him. He surprised me by saying that he thought I thought ill of him. It really took me aback. I asked why, and he told me that one of our last conversations was quite short. I can’t recall what I did on that day, and certainly apologised if I had come across in an odder than usual way. At the back of my mind, I did recall vaguely that it was quite a stressful time, and I can’t help but wonder if I may have rubbed someone else up the wrong way at the same time.

Basically: I didn’t have sufficient regard that somebody else may have been going through a bad time as well.

To be clear: I’m not beating anybody up about this. More getting across the fact that oftentimes, we don’t even realise what we’re doing. That the frantic nature of daily life does tend to leave a bit of collateral damage behind it.

By the nature of us all being human beings, we’re bound to upset somebody at some point, whether by intent or accident. That comes with the territory of being a human, as frustrating as it can be.

But still: I reckon that some of these conflicts are avoidable, just be taking an extra second. That’s what I intend to try to do. I’m bound to fail eventually, but I’m more conscious than ever – especially having been through a pretty horrific year myself – that there are heartbreaking stories all around us every day. A bit of slack, a quiet moment of kindness, might just lift someone’s day.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Stay brilliant.