If you find yourself missing your community or having a serious bout of cabin fever, sustaining and reconnecting relationships is helpful to add joy and purpose to your daily life. While there are many forms of relationships, consider these three categories:
Relationships with Classmates
Connecting with the people who you would usually see in your day-to-day life can help you focus on your class work as well as maintain consistency. For example, texting a quick “Hi! How are you?” before each class, chatting with your peers about content, and forming online study sessions are great ways to not only motivate your studies but also grow a supportive scholarly environment.
Additional Tip: Use your school resources! Many school clubs and engagement resources have found ways of meeting online. Check your school website to see how they are offering online academic and psychological counseling.
Relationships with Friends
If you are finding it more difficult to keep these “long-distance” relationships, be conscious in setting times to meet; put out a date and a time to connect online, and negotiate from there. Perhaps try a new YouTube workout together, FaceTime and play cards, challenge each other to a virtual dance off—you know, normal things.
That being said, recognize this is not about promoting a hyper-social media attitude; it can be just as draining to constantly engage in social relations online as it is in person. Choose to maintain relationships that are meaningful and that uplift you.
Relationships with Family
Now is the chance to pull out those family games! Even if your family is not a huge fan of games, take this time to have fun with them. Read in the same room, challenge each other to ping pong tournaments, go on walks together. For some families, it may be useful to schedule a regular time for everyone to come together, aside from work and daily duties. This is an important aspect in establishing time for oneself, as well as time to be with those with whom you share your living space.
Of course, there are many ways to sustain your relationships while social distancing; it is important to find a balance that works for you individually. One thing, however, is universally certain: while we may feel apart, we are not alone in this, and when we look back, we will be able to see how we became a better community, and how we did it together.