Which Friendships Will Survive the Pandemic?

Which of our friendships have taken the biggest toll due to COVID-19?

Photo by Ben Collins on Unsplash

For many of us (if not, all of us), this pandemic has exposed a number of things about ourselves that we weren’t aware of before — our strengths, weaknesses, fears, doubts, and anxieties. However, the pandemic has not only exposed things that we didn’t know about ourselves, but also, things we didn’t know about the people around us, especially our own circle of friends.

When the lockdown was first imposed, the biggest sense of loss was that connection we would get from in-person, physical time spent with our friends, family, and colleagues. But, thanks to technology, we’ve been able to keep in touch and interact with our network without ever having to leave the comfort and safety of our own homes.

Then, after a while, the video-call fatigue finally began to set in. The zoom exhaustion was overwhelming and the virtual happy hours were no longer new and exciting (let alone sustainable) for the majority of us. We were missing the intimacy and level of bonding that would only come from being in-person with the people whom we were used to seeing regularly.

So, it brings me to wonder — what happens when you remove the ability to spend quality time with your network in-person?