Taking Inventory of Your Relationships During Quarantine
Look around and pay attention.
Written by Jake Levyns
These days, it can be difficult to feel like there are people who want to be a part of our lives when everyone is distanced from one another. We are our own victims of this too, and with every day nearly blending into the next faster than we can breathe, the desire to act on this continuously feels foreign. I still can’t fully comprehend the feeling I get thinking about how I never got to say goodbye to my friends at college before having to leave campus a full two months early. If any of us knew where we would be now, not being able to be with each other to figure things out together, things might have turned out different, but the sensation to reconnect and understand what else could have been done remains just as strong.
There truly is no better reminder of what we let slip away when we’re confronted with the worst-case scenario: going back home. For some, home is somewhere that feels too far away to be a safe haven, as it forces people back into circumstances they don’t want to be associated with. We’re all still very much in the thick of something totally out of our control, and balancing the responsibility of maintaining relationships with people we don’t see is much more difficult, and, sometimes, being there for the long haul just isn’t worth the mental strain. While the loss of such formative relationships is something most of us are accustomed to, it still hurts when you consider the resources you lack to make it known how much you want to be there for someone else.
If the desire to step up in a relationship doesn’t immediately come back to you when someone expects you’ll be there, cut the cord. The longer you remain in contact with or proximity to people you know don’t have your own best interests at heart, the less you’ll feel like you deserve the same. Sometimes, it’s just easier to admit you would be better off without the pressure of being good for another person, and there are easier ways to say you need to look out for yourself. Also, if you’re thinking about how a relationship with someone you still talk with has been incomplete for some time, and you have a feeling there’s more to be discovered, speak up! Imagine how much more at peace you’ll be knowing that the initial feeling you had was the same as someone else’s. It’s just a small step toward a better tomorrow for you and those you care for.
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