THE SOCIAL AXIS

When I come home from work I am emotionally and physically tired. I have been around people all day, dealing with interpersonal challenges and the politics of working in a large institution. I also have talked to a lot of different people about a lot of different subjects ranging from how the weekend went to existential angst, from best restaurants to worst ways to attempt suicide. Social interactions at work start the minute I walk in the door and I am allowed practically no time alone until I start my walk home. I don’t usually feel up to much social interaction once I am home. I tend to process alone and to allow the day to wash over me.

Although all that time with others can be quite exhausting it also provides a very important aspect of human interaction; and in the setting that I have been working these contacts are generally quite intensified. I imagine that once I stop working there will be a gap, a loss. My newly retired friends remind me that this can also be a profound relief. Nevertheless, not wanting to turn into a hermit, I am determined to maintain friendships and to build-in weekly and monthly visits with my friends. I have already asked several of them if they will be available on a regular basis to get together for coffee or for a walk.

Of course, my wife has become my main confidant over the years and will likely remain so. Nevertheless she will be continuing to work and might well arrive home in a similar state to that which I am used to after the travails of the workday. It will be imperative for me to reach out to those whom I have neglected, and to renew and revitalize interpersonal connections with a range of stimulating people. I do believe that my main modus is through interaction with others. I am an adherent to Martin Buber’s I and Thou philosophy and have always found that human endeavor is richer for the sharing of our joys and sorrows.