COVID-19 and Communication

Covid-19 has caused our world to be more divided than ever. Due to the pandemic bringing both political and social restraints and views, there has been no room for any grace given to this subject. Tensions are higher than ever, the numbers of deaths are continuing to grow, and America is holding on to every last ounce of hope for our country.

In spite of the Stay- at- Home orders caused by the Coronavirus, social media has exposed how many people decide how they want to handle social distancing rules that were put into effect. During the lockdown, people decided to start having outside lawn parties with their friends. People would set up their chairs in a circle more than 6 feet away from each other and have their social hour then. Another way that I people communicated with their friends with social distancing rules was through happy hour zoom! I know many people would meet for an hour after they worked at home all day and would hop on a group zoom to discuss whatever was new in their lives! I think that this is such a clever and safe way. There is so much less of a risk to just seeing each other over the camera than in person due to the transmission of COVID-19.

As someone who has struggled immensely with learning how to communicate with family members during COVID-19, it was not the easiest thing to do. There was always the lingering thought of what if I am sick and I give it to a family member? What if my high-risk grandma could potentially die from COVID-19? We were urged to stay away. After 2 years of a "Masked-Up" Christmas and New Year and every holiday you could imagine, this was a new way of life. Other families had to communicate with their elderly family members by standing between hospital glass doors in order to just give them a wave. People had to adjust to this new way of life and it mentally took a toll on hundreds and thousands of people.

People came up with tons of creative ideas to keep themselves entertained during the lockdown. One of the most common activities that I partook in was bringing out all the cookbooks and making a few of the items within the week. It took time and gave us something to do plus you ended up with a yummy snack! What can you do better? I loved being able to gather with my family and bake some classic southern dishes. We then started making so much that in order to make sure we were still keeping in touch with our neighbors, we delivered baked goods and dishes to those around us. This was the hug that we wanted to give them! This allowed us to interact in more ways than one. We would bring the baked good to the door of our neighbors or family, step back and talk for a few minutes! This sweet act allowed a chain reaction and soon everyone was gifting each other baked goods! It was quite convenient, considering every family member was home during COVID-19! I think that social distancing impacted our creativity in many ways. We were able to come up with new games and activities to pass time. However, social distancing caused people to lock themselves inside and completely shut off from the world around them. People took advantage of not having to communicate with the outside world. It is not normal for one to not be able to socialize with their peers and after it became "normal" for over a year, people became used to it. It was isolated and lonely. People felt lost and did not see a way out of this lockdown.

While we really relied on social media and technology to communicate with people all across the world that we could not see, we became used to not being able to socialize in-person. It became hard for people to learn how to read one's body language, or even look someone in the eyes while talking to them. My hope for how social distancing changed the way that people communicate is that we appreciate how we survived socially through the pandemic, but we contribute to realize how important it is to be in person and present with those around you.