How to stay together while being apart

By: Miranda Mowrey, Columnist

Although social distancing physically separates us, people across the world are all experiencing this new and foreign reality, together. Author James Fahy once said, “Nothing unites humans like a common enemy.” 

The only way to overcome this virus is if people band together. Due to widespread stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines, it is easy to relate to one another, as our lives are looking very similar to the lives of our neighbors.

If you have been doing your due diligence as a citizen the last couple weeks by staying at home and away from others, you probably can (sadly) relate to a lot of these new realities:

Amazon doesn’t even have their stuff together.

You know things aren’t right when the estimated delivery date of the normally very punctual Amazon package is just about as trustworthy as a guy wearing Greek letters and awkwardly short Chubbies, telling you that “You’re not like the other girls.”

“Is it…is it 5 o’clock yet?”

For my of-age readers, I answer this question with another question: what would Jimmy Buffett do? Under these circumstances, there is no bad time to pour yourself a generous glass of wine. You can even attempt to acclimate your taste buds to your dad’s IPAs that have been sitting in your garage fridge since you were ten. 

Having a happy hour gathering on Zoom with your friends and family is a great way to connect with everyone. Whether cheersing with friends on Zoom, chatting over gin and tonics as dinner is cooking, or enjoying a silent happy hour alone in your room and away from your family, we can all agree that a nice drink here and there makes this all a bit more bearable. 

Changing out of pajamas just to change into another pair of pajamas.

At this point, when I slip on leggings instead of sweats, I feel like I am attending a black tie event at The White House. I won’t even talk about that insidious drawer that taunts you from the shadowy depths of your room, enclosing an ancient and forgotten wonder: The American Blue Jean. 

A little piece of advice: if you want to have a productive day, avoiding sloppy sweats and taking time to clean yourself up will help motivate you to keep moving. 

Allotting yourself one task a day so you don’t run out of things to do.

After cleaning and reorganizing your bedroom, don’t you dare set eyes on the dirty laundry sitting in your closet. Quarantine means rationing your tasks out so that each day you can feel a sense of purpose and structure! Try making a to-do list for the week that includes everything you want to get done. During this time, it is important to take it into your own hands to create structure in your life.

It is interesting to see how much people really do have in common when they undergo the same things as one another. We all have the same goal: to end the suffering caused by this virus and go back to the way life used to be. It is in times like these that we realize that we are all much more similar than we are different.

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