English 9 Guest Series: Why you should strengthen your relationships during quarantine
By Charlie Ziehl ‘23, Tai Leong ‘23, and Parth Mathajan ‘23
No one could have predicted that COVID-19, the mystery illness that many only heard about from their parents or the news, would end our physical school year, force us into a worldwide quarantine, and prevent seniors from having a much desired graduation and prom. However, as “Parable of the Sower,” a dystopian science fiction book written by Octavia Butler communicated, that change is constant, as is the ability to adapt. The quarantine has given us a unique opportunity to improve upon ourselves, and it is up to us to adapt to the situation and make the most of it. Now more than ever, it is important to strengthen our bonds with those around us by continuing to connect with friends and family, supporting others, and overall being supportive members of the communities we are a part of.
During this time of separation, it is important to maintain and strengthen our relationships. It is especially important to make sure that you do not shut yourself off from the rest of the world. Of course, physical separation is important, but you should not be retreating into yourself mentally. It is imperative that you use this time to strengthen your relationships during quarantine because if you don’t, you'll both be left more alone than ever and experience long periods of time with little social interaction outside of your family.
Along those lines, you should also be trying to use this time in quarantine to not only maintain your relationships, but strengthen them as well. If you were to ignore other people, you won’t just be lonely during quarantine, but you would also probably find yourself awkward and without many connections when everyone comes back together. Just because you are not seeing people in person does not give you an excuse to ignore your relationships with them and change how you act towards them. I’ve done this before, and I found myself wishing I had just stayed in better connection with those around me. That’s a lot of time to connect that I’ll never get back. If you do not maintain and strengthen your relationships during this time, you’ll end up wishing you could go back, spend less time alone, and more time connecting with your friends and family.
Finally, supporting people is an integral part of improving relationships. By supporting those around you in this trying time, it is likely that you will end up building a support system for yourself that you can fall back on when you need it. An example of this can be seen in “Parable of the Sower,” as Lauren supports and helps those she finds, who then join her on her journey to find a safe place. She probably would not have survived without the people around her, and she only had their support because she supported them. Overall, it is imperative that you strengthen your relationships during this time because otherwise you’ll not only find yourself alone, both in quarantine and afterwards, but you will also squander the opportunity to support others and find yourself a support system. As someone who used to always want to be left alone, I’ve found it very helpful to have people that you can trust and rely on. Not only is it simply encouraged that you strengthen your bonds, but there are also several ways that require little effort of doing so.
Although we can’t physically interact with each other, there are still a myriad of opportunities when it comes to how we can strengthen our relationships. Not just with friends, but with each of our respective communities. There are many things that we can do to maintain and continue to build upon your bonds. Calling a friend just to check up can go a long way at a time like this. The fact that you’d go completely out of your way just to check in, shows that you still care about building upon your friendships. Before the quarantine, we would take a small task like talking to them, for granted. Now, we communicate much more frequently and if anything, this has brought us closer to each other.
Other than that, there are lots of other options such as video calling, texting, video games, book clubs, etc. The list goes on. The point being, it is still imperative to maintain and expand our relationships, even if we have to use platforms and methods that we wouldn’t even imagine using to communicate on a regular basis, because being physically distant from others doesn’t mean we have to be emotionally distant. Every weekend, my family has a large call with our family in India. If you notice that someone you know is not communicating well with you or other people, talk to them, see what is going on and how you can improve it, and only then will you understand what they are going through.
Some people might argue that maintaining and ideally strengthening relationships isn’t worthwhile during this period of separation and people should be more concentrated on minimal contact with people outside of your immediate family. It’s understandable that people would feel this way, given that for the past few months we’ve been locked inside and kept away from our friends. While this is a valid concern, as stated earlier, our ability to adapt is of utmost importance. Naturally, social distancing is critical to ensure we minimize further spread of the disease. There are several ways to remain in contact with friends during this quarantine period without transmitting any illnesses, as stated earlier. Staying a minimum of six feet away from people will greatly decrease your chances of catching COVID-19, so it would be reasonably safe for people to engage in activities such as a walk with friends or maybe just meeting up to talk. Personally, I’ve been staying in contact with my friends online which is an even easier alternative. During this current time in isolation, you’re fairly limited on things you can do, so you likely will have plenty of time to improve these relationships with people close to you. With all these low risk ways to stay in contact and strengthen bonds, the concerns surrounding spreading COVID-19 become less and less intimidating.
Humans are a social species. Most prefer to be in the company of others and to have some social interaction. If you’ve ever felt ignored or not listened to, you have to realize that when you retreat into yourself, this is how it makes other people who just want to talk to you feel. In this time of division and separation, it is our responsibility to use this time to our advantage and improve the relationships we have with others so that they do not deteriorate. Although we are in this time of isolation from other people, this is no excuse to retreat into ourselves and abandon our bonds with those we care about. We can still maintain and grow our relationships without the need for physical interaction. If we are to continue to maintain our communities and come out of this quarantine stronger, we need to keep this in mind. Otherwise, we will emerge into a society with less interaction and more unfamiliarity of those around us.
