COVID-19 has dictated most of our lives. Nobody was expecting anything as monumental as a global pandemic to happen. So many things have been affected by this pandemic, such as the opening of schools or the ability to travel. Among the more prominent things that have been affected is friendship.
Friendship can be defined in so many different ways. Friendships can take many different forms. You can have friends who you aren’t really close with but still close enough to be friends with, or your friends can be your family. Friends are really important to people who aren’t really close with their family. They provide emotional support and they give you a sense of belonging. You are able to choose the people you want to be friends with, and you are able to make sure that they will be good for you and they will make you feel seen and loved.
I made a friend over the summer, right in the middle of COVID-19. We met at a small gathering of kids going to BHS in my neighborhood, and we realized that we were very similar. I became really close with her and she is my best friend now, but I can’t hang out normally with her. My love language is physical touch, and during the time of Covid, that pretty much can’t happen anymore, so I have had to adapt my own love language. I use my body language and the way that I come into contact with people to display my affection towards them.
Love languages are the way that people express affection. The five love languages are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Each person has their own love language, and each person expresses their love language differently. People can have multiple love languages, or they can express different love languages during different times. Knowing your love language can help you figure out how to express yourself towards other people.
My love language has adapted because of the pandemic, and I now have more ways to express myself to people. The experience of figuring out new ways to show affection has made me a more articulate person. While there are downsides to not being able to hang out normally with people, we can still be able to find the good in this.
My family and I have been taking all of the measures very seriously to slow the spread of COVID-19, so I have had to change the way that I hang out with my friend. I try my best to stay distanced with my friends, and I don’t touch them at all.
COVID-19 has also helped utilize other ways to keep in touch with people. I have moved around a lot throughout my life, so I have friends in other states, and I can really only talk to them online. I have learned to use this to my advantage to be able to talk to my friends and family while I can’t visit them. I mostly use FaceTime, or I use Snapchat, and I use Instagram to stay posted on what they are doing. These really help me stay connected with my friends and family.
Friendships during COVID-19 look really different from friendships when things were normal. This pandemic has seriously altered the way people communicate with each other and act towards each other. The way that people interact with each other will change completely, even when COVID-19 has mellowed out. We have all had to adapt to the situation we are experiencing, whether by finding another way to express our affection or taking a break from seeing people to figure yourself out.
