Pandemic Positive: Less pressure to be social

For me, one thing emerging from the pandemic that’s kind of nice is that there’s less pressure to be social. I’m an introvert. But of course, I enjoy interacting with people (in moderation) and I can’t wait until we return to a world where we can all do that again, physically. But pre-pandemic, it felt like everybody around me was always doing something social, and personally, I felt some undue pressure from all that to be more social. I would come into the office and Janice from accounting would tell me about her weekend trip to Napa Valley with her boyfriend, or I would open Instagram and see my cousin posted a story about drinking bubble tea with his dumb friends, or I would walk over to the cafeteria and overhear a group of people making plans to go whitewater rafting. It was non-stop and everyone around seemed to be leading budding social lives except for me. (Of course, the ubiquity of social media amplified the problem.) Now I do feel a little guilty and ashamed for putting this out there, but the lockdown and ensuing forced distancing has lifted a lot of that pressure for me. With everybody confined to their homes and being unable to socialize, I’m so much more at ease with my anti-socialness. Am I the only one that feels that way? Btw, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not pro-pandemic. I can’t wait for all of us to get to the other side of quarantine and return to normalcy. I’m just trying to find the silver lining to our current circumstances. #mentalhealth #quarantine