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Coping With COVID-19 Social Disconnection
April 7, 2020
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How to keep your social life on track during quarantine? I know I am not the only one sitting at home resisting the urge to have a long overdue get together with my girlfriends, or a poker night with my boys. Don’t you miss the days when you could socially gather, see a movie, get all spiffed up and head out to dinner? I sure do. My hair hasn’t been done in a week, I don’t think I even know where my make up bag is, and the only thing in my washer is my pajama’s. YIKES!! I think it’s safe to say we have all been socially stripped, and might be going a little crazy.
Not to worry, this strange time that we are in has gotten our creative juices flowing. Today we are going to discuss a few different ways that you can stay social and stay quarantined … at the same time.
The number one way that I see friends and family interacting is through video chatting. Having a weekly date with your friends, family, co-workers, or anyone you catch on your mind, is a great way to stay in touch and keep to your non-quarantine schedule. Have your book club meeting, record your morning show podcast on Facebook live, and talk to record labels about zoom meet-ups with an artist and some listeners, go to that staff meeting … virtually!
I have made it a point to also use this time, via video chatting, to reconnect with those friends or family members that have faded away due to distance or so much time having gone by. Our busy lives can keep us pretty occupied and maintaining friendships can be a tall order. This rare free time is precious. Call an old high school pal, reminiscing on memories you haven’t thought about in years will make you smile, and who knows, you may re-spark a friendship you have missed more than you realized. Spend some time calling your relatives that live in different states or countries; they will love to hear from you and vice versa.
Talking about family and friends that live afar brings me to my next suggestion, Social Media. When I think of Social Media I think business, marketing, work. Think back to your first Facebook experience. Was it to network for job opportunities? To promote a business or product you were selling? Or maybe just to promote yourself as an influencer? Your very first Facebook experience probably had nothing to do with any of those things. Social Media has not always been the cash cow it is today. It was first marketed as a tool to reconnect with people that you had lost contact with, to discover new and old friendships. They don’t call it a FRIEND request for nothing. This is a perfect time to use social media the old school way. Give your friend suggestion tab some love and see who you may have missed, spark a conversation.
Who here has a quarantine buddy? This one’s for those lucky dogs that have a buddy to keep you company during this time. As we approach week 4 of our “stay at home” order, I’m finding that even the best of buddies run out of things to do. I understand that being stuck inside with your family, your husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, might make you feel like death is imminent, but fear not my friends, you have a guaranteed partner for just about any activity. I love a little healthy competition … play a game … card, video, board any game will do. Since it looks like we may be in this for awhile you could even make an ongoing tournament out of it, with the loser in charge of finding toilet paper for the house … ANY TOILET PAPER. If the competitive route is not for you, you could read a book together, redecorate the house, or perhaps invest in an impossibly difficult 1000 piece puzzle, that’s what my crazy family decided on, death by puzzle, but hey they’re occupied.
The ideas are endless. I’m sure you could come up with a few more. I think the main thing that we need to practice here is our follow through skills. If you’re anything like me, the alone time isn’t killing you; it’s almost a little too comfortable. I hate to break it to you introverts (like me) but being social is part of being healthy, so get out there, or I guess I should say in there, LOL ... make your friendships happen … this is 2020 people!!
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