When the pandemic started, everything shut down very quickly. I have said it was like a light switch. One day, things were open and seemed normal. The next day, I didn’t know what do to or what I would be able to get done. And while it was a little tough to go from feeling safe and able to live my life to feeling locked in my house, I think that transition also was easier because there was no thought necessary. I didn’t leave my house unless I had to. Most places I would have gone weren’t open anyway. So I just stayed home and went to the grocery store when I had to (if I wasn’t getting my groceries through a delivery service).
And I got used to my isolated life. I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but it became familiar and easy enough to do. I didn’t have much in my life, but I also didn’t think too much about things since I didn’t have many other options.
I’ve shared on here before how it’s been tough for me to feel ok going out and doing more. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I still am nervous about being out and about. The more that I do it, the better I feel. I think seeing how careful so many other people are has been helping me. I have only seen people throw a fit about wearing a mask a few times, and they were either removed from that location or left when they realized that nobody else there was on their side. And every time I add something back into my life, I am reminded about how much joy those things bring to me. For example, going out to dinner was amazing and made me feel more like myself again. Going to the grocery store more often than using delivery services is something I didn’t know how much I’d appreciate until I’d do it again.
But there are new routines and habits that I have started over the past year and I’m not necessarily giving them all up. There are some things that were almost an even switch. Such as no longer working out at home because I’m back at Orangetheory. That was easy for me to decide to do and I didn’t think twice about it and didn’t think about trying to do both the studio workouts and the home workouts. I would have done it if I needed to, but fortunately, I haven’t had to do that yet.
Then there are things like how I am dating. That’s not an even switch. Even with me going out for in-person dates again, I’m not completely giving up on virtual dating. I do still have the goal of meeting someone in person, but it is nice to almost have a pre-date to see if I want to take the time to meet them in person. I’ve joked to friends that with virtual dates, you don’t have to wear pants and you can make sure you just look good on camera. Much less effort than going to an in-person date. But dating in real life is still the plan for the guys I actually want to date, but I’ve been mixing up what I did before and what I’ve been doing this past year.
And then there are things that are new to me because of the pandemic that I’m still doing and plan on trying to keep in my regular routine. A big one is still doing things with my Netflix Party group. We’ve been watching things together for over a year now. And we have a good routine down. We watch a tv show together as a group on Wednesdays and movies on Saturdays (although we have watched some of the MCU mini-series on Saturdays too). This was started so none of us would feel too alone or isolated when things were at their worst with the pandemic. But it’s become something I look forward to every week now! And even though I can go out and do things with others in person, I want to prioritize my schedule so that I can still join on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
I know that this transition is going to be something I need to be aware of so I don’t overwhelm myself. I know that if I have too much on my schedule, I can almost struggle to do anything. But I also feel like I have to make up for lost time from this past year. But I know that at some point, I will find a balance of what I want to do from before and from now and it will make things in my future feel like a really amazing and full life.
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