Maintaining relationships can be difficult at any time of year, let alone when a pandemic is running loose and causing absolute havoc. For me, I have always been terrible and keeping in contact with loved ones. It also seems to be a curse upon my family, none of my siblings and I are capable of calling each-other more than once every six months. Besides this, I do want to stay in contact with family and friends during this time because of the pandemic and draining. We feel grief for the lives we were living a couple of weeks ago and can no longer do in a safe fashion. This is okay. We’re allowed to feel tired, calling people might seem a mountain to climb when you’re exhausted, and maintaining relationships might seem like the most difficult task of every day. So, what do you do when you’re no longer able to see your loved ones but want to walk out of this crisis by the end of the year with your former relationships?
1. Set a schedule:
Everybody will have different timetables during this pandemic, just because you’re working or studying from home doesn’t mean you’re constantly free. Set a date and time to meet with your friends via one of the many video call or audio call apps. I recommend Zoom, Skype or Facetime for the best quality conversations and ease of technology.
Setting a date and time to meet with your friends and loved ones will give you a sense of organisation and purpose. You can wake up that morning and feel that sense of excitement for meeting your loved one remotely, just as you would if you had organised to meet them at a bar.
2. Think creatively:
This might seem like a broad statement, but think creatively in how to transform events you would normally do in-person to a remote format. This could include house parties or small gatherings.
You can call and organise to all watch a movie together, Netflix has a fantastic addition of Netflix party to be able to stream something and chat about it as well. Netflix and chill can now be done remotely, kind of.
You could call on Houseparty the app with a big group of people and still play different drinking games that you would normally do in person.
My friends and I combined both of these tips and organised on a Thursday night at 8 pm to use Houseparty, to show up with a strange hairstyle or hat and watch two of our friends perform drag makeup. It was organised, something I could look forward to and a fantastic way to meet my friends remotely. We were able to laugh, cry and drink a bit of wine from the comfort of our own homes. Although it’s not the same, it’s better than nothing. The drag makeup, however, was definitely something that should stay in the aether of the Internet.
Anything can be done remotely if you think outside the box.
3. Use the apps you already have:
Remember we’re the generation of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. We still communicate with each other regularly through message and social media. So, use what you already have.
Send your partner regular selfies with what you’re doing, laying in bed, making dinner, watching Netflix – change up how you message.
Exchange memes with your best friends.
Send funny dog videos to your Mum.
Do what you normally do through social media, this is still a way to communicate and maintain relationships. It’s okay if you don’t feel like calling your loved ones, you can always message them. We’ve been doing it for years!
4. Talk about how you’re feeling:
It is so important when you’re isolated to still talk about how you’re feeling because your friends are surely feeling the same kind of displacement and isolation.
If you can have a sounding board and be a sounding board for your loved one, you will be able to relieve some of that bottled up tension from being stuck in the same four walls.
Reach out to people you haven’t heard from in a while. Make sure they’re okay. We need to maintain our sense of community during this time, and talking about your feelings and listening to others is the best way to do this.
Looking after your mental health is so important during all of this craziness. That means being an ear for your friends to vent to as well. We’re all in different places mentally, so take the time to talk it out.
COVID-19 might have taken away our opportunity to go outside and conduct our daily activities, but the faster we can isolate, the faster we’ll be back outside with our friends and families. We have so many forms of technology that enable us to communicate and maintain our relationships. Figure out what works for you and run with it. We will make it through this scary time, and by the end of it, you’ll be watching Netflix on the couch with your best friends.
Blog by Savannah Meacham
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