I lost the job I complained so much about. Now I want it back more than ever. I miss my patriotic coworkers that would trade one-liner jabs aimed at each other’s politics. I miss my routine in the kitchen: dicing the veggies, boiling the noodles, flipping those omelets, steaming the hash.
I hate to say it, but I miss arguing with the server that rang in an 86’ed meal. What I think I miss the most — and this can be hard to admit — is the comfort.
Right now, daily life has turned upside down and the comfort of having steady paychecks is gone. I now live solely in my withdrawn lifestyle, behind a computer with a video camera and a microphone. It may not sound like much, but it’s all I need.
As an introvert, I find it amusing how all my extroverted friends are now a part of my inverted world. The number of Discord chat rooms I’m a part of has doubled and my “gamer expertise” has never been more utilized.
More tools exist today to stay connected than ever before.
It’s intimidating.
I had the good fortune to grow up in a world of technology I could explore. The luxury of having a child’s imagination as I poked and prodded a computer for the first time is something I take for granted.
At first, I wasn’t able to use the internet if someone, god forbid, was on the phone. According to an Apple software engineer Forrest Heller, the charger for my Google phone is 563 times faster than the guidance computer that landed Apollo 11 on the moon. The world has changed and some people have been struggling to keep up.
Staying connected through remote tools is only useful if you know how to. According to this study that focuses on the health effects on adults brought on by isolation,
“Individuals who lack social connections or report frequent feelings of loneliness tend to suffer higher rates of morbidity and mortality…” The article adds that isolated individuals also had increased rates of infection.
The study was published in 2009 and yet very little has been done to address depression in older communities.
In this meta-analysis, published in 2015 by Brigham Young University’s professor of neuroscience, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, the health risks of social isolation can be equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. As a whole, we seem to have accepted that sadness builds up over time, and the elderly are morose because of it.
I may not be able to visit my grandma in the nursing home, but nothing is stopping me from giving her a call. My parents struggle to remember their account names and passwords for streaming services, but it’s a chance for me to teach them something I’ve learned for a change.
Comfort has been hard to come by for all of us. Being forced to adapt can make us irritable, but it doesn’t have to.
There are many ways we can help. We can embrace the challenge of learning new skills. We can teach what we know to those who don’t understand. We need each other to stay sane, and no one should have to survive this alone.
Be the comfort in your family and friends’ lives. Not many people care enough, be someone who does.
