The pandemic has affected infinite aspects of our everyday lives and it’s no doubt been tough. It’s natural to want to see your friends, either for support or just a sense of normalcy, but that’s not always possible right now. There’s any number of reasons you might not be able to socialize in person — out of safety, because you or your friends are attending classes remotely or everyone just lives far away and you aren’t looking to take part in long distance travel. Whatever your motive for physically distancing yourself is, here are a few ideas to help you stay connected while staying apart.
Physically distant dining
Do you miss going out to dinner with your roommates? Brunch with your best friends? While you might not be able to recreate sitting with a friend in a familiar diner with a cup of coffee or those avocado toast-filled Instagram photo ops, you can still catch a bite together. Plan a time to “get together” over a meal with a friend. Make something fancier than usual, whip up your coffee, drizzle some expensive olive oil over your plate, garnish with edible flowers, do whatever you need to do to make it feel like you’re eating at your favorite restaurants together. You might not be able to share food from across screens, but you can still share each other’s company.
Getting social with screen sharing
Fortunately, with Zoom’s screen-sharing abilities, playing games with friends from far away is easier than ever. Never been in the “online gaming” community before? Don’t worry — the industry has gone far past arcade or combat style games, if that’s not your thing. Check out developers like Jackbox. Jackbox makes games specifically for groups of people, where most attendees play by using their phone and seeing the “gameplay” on a shared screen. If that’s still not how you’re looking to spend your Friday night with friends, consider streaming a movie or television show together. Even if you don’t literally “share screens,” you can sync up so that your movie is playing at the same time. There’s also a few extensions that were developed to help with this — just be sure to do your research before downloading any new programs.
Planning during a pandemic
If you’re like me, you’ve somehow managed to yearn for those messy group chat conversations where you were trying to find the perfect time to get your 10 best friends together to hang out all at once. It can absolutely be a pain, but making “plans,” even if it’s just to video chat, can help make socializing feel a little more normal — and it can help you prioritize seeing your friends. It’s really easy to say “I miss you, let’s FaceTime!” and never actually get around to it, despite everyone’s best intentions. Now that you hopefully have some more ideas for hanging out, set aside some time in your schedule for socializing — like you normally would — even if you don’t leave your room.
