Since the start of the pandemic, I feel like my social life has taken a big hit. At first, it was due to trying to be safe during the worst of the pandemic and staying isolated at home. I slowly started to see friends again, but so much had changed just a few months into the pandemic. Many of my friends moved away so they weren’t around to hang out with. Once I started my social media job, I worked a lot more hours than I used to and didn’t feel like going out after work. I was used to being done with work at 3pm, and now I was done at 5 or 6pm. That’s a big difference with free time after work. And since I get up so early in the morning to work out, I don’t like to go out after work because I know I need my sleep.
I’ve tried to be more social in the past year or two, but it’s still not easy. It’s never easy to make new friends as an adult, but it seems even harder now. I’ve been working on making the most of the friendships that I already have or seeing people that I felt were acquaintances more so they become friends, but my social circle does feel pretty small. It is still better than what it was like at the beginning of the pandemic because at least I have my workouts in the morning and that gets me out and around people. And because I usually see the same people every week, I have gotten to know them. It’s better than nothing, but still, I know I need to be with friends more.
Since I don’t really like to go out after work (although I have been trying to do so when something has to occur then), I’ve been trying to do more over the weekends. I know I need to take some time over the weekend to relax and reset to be ready for the next week, but I don’t have to do that for the entire weekend every weekend. And one of the easier ways I’ve been able to make time for my friends over the weekend is to go to brunch on Sundays. I’ve been able to do this a few times over the past month and it’s been really great for my mental health.
Brunch is so casual and easy, so I don’t have to stress too much about planning it or making it a big event. And most of my friends feel the same way about brunch so we don’t dress up to impress each other. It’s nice to be able to fit that social time in between other errands that I have to do on the weekend, but I’ve also been trying to make an effort to do as many errands as possible on Saturdays to keep my Sundays free for more fun things.
Not only have these brunches been a great chance for me to catch up with friends that I don’t see that often, but it’s been fun exploring new places around LA. I didn’t set out to do this, but all the brunches I’ve had recently have been at restaurants I haven’t been to before. When I do go out for meals, I tend to go to the same places over and over again. So finding new places has been something I probably needed to do and these brunches have been a great excuse to do just that.
I know that I can’t just expect to have brunches with friends planned and I have to make an effort to make them happen as well. But I do feel a bit more motivated to do these since they fit into my schedule a lot better than other things I have been trying to fit in. I’ve been trying to make myself be better about going out in the evenings when I knew I didn’t want to. And I finally feel like I found a good option for friend hangouts that fit into my schedule and my life. And maybe this will push me to be more social in other aspects of my life, but I’m just happy with finding something that gets me out in the world more and feel a bit more like the old me.
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