Everyone has been dealing with their mental health in different ways during the lockdown. Some have taken to art, others to cooking and some, to nothing at all. All of which is completely alright and up to you–productivity during a pandemic shouldn’t be a metric at all. Personally, the free time has allowed me to reevaluate my friendships because it took a global viral outbreak to see who finally cared.
All the people we call friends
Giphy/Four More Shots Please
We have a bunch of people that we call friends but they don’t really know what’s the situation inside your head. You meet for your regular social plans like a regular Friday night out or catching a 10:45pm movie after work. However, it’s usually with a group rather than individually. Now that there are no more plans to be made, it seems like a lot of people have lost their significance. They have been discarded from my life but the realisation that some friendships are not as wholesome as others, is part of growing up.
Even for you. When was the last time you realised that X was a better friend than Y? That didn’t mean that Y has done something wrong–it’s just that you like things a certain way and they are just not that!! Or the fact that there was a fight that you’d act on it and eliminate them from your life--you’d just let things be! Does that make sense or not?
Even for best friends and close buddies
Giphy/Wifflegif
For best friends as well, this time is a good indicator of finding out how much everyone actually cares. You might be extremely close, sharing everything, but with time the dynamics might have changed. It is essential to understand where the other person is operating from as well. If, as best friends, you can establish a balance in terms of communication, conversation and space, you’re going to come out of the lockdown even stronger as friends.
Personally, I have been able to analyse my relationship with my best friends as well. It made me confront them about a few issues that I realized I had never spoken about before. It really helped in healing old wounds as well as have more clarity about how to deal with such problems in the future. Although the situation might not be ideal, at least I got a better understanding about the people that truly matter!
Giphy/India
