Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
With the worldwide spread of COVID-19, most people are confined to their homes in hopes of quelling it. Just a month ago, Colorado State University declared a universitywide closure, with thousands of students going back home and others staying in Fort Collins to self-isolate.
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Since then, people have been staying indoors and limiting their exposure to other people by social distancing. Social distancing is a great way to limit your contact with the virus and lower the risk of subsequently passing it on to family members and roommates. Not to mention that in some states, it’s apparently improving the current situation.
However, a question remains: How is social distancing going to impact romantic relationships in the long run?
If you and your significant other met on campus and don’t live together, you must be devastated at the moment. No one thought that things would get this out of control in such a small amount of time. Many of us, myself included, simply didn’t get the closure we needed.
Most importantly, think about your relationship with this person and what it means to you.”
Sadly, whether it’s one more hug or one more movie date that you crave, staying apart is the only way to ensure your health and safety.
For many of us in relationships, quarantining apart may be a lot harder than we anticipated. The relationship we build with another person, whether it’s been a couple of months or a couple of years, is something that a lot of energy goes into.
And long-distance relationships may not work for everyone, especially since we don’t have a reliable and promised date of when the lockdown ends.
Just because long distance may seem hard, that doesn’t mean it has to be. There are so many ways that we can keep in touch with our loved ones. It’s really just a matter of trying.
Everyone needs to stay connected during this uncertain time — that’s super important. Making time for each other is imperative, regardless of how long you’ve been together.
It’s time to get creative. Making FaceTime calls simply won’t cut it anymore as couples try to figure out new ways to do cute things together while living apart from each other. Netflix Party nights and dates through Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the new Nintendo Switch game, are some of the cutest things dominating my Twitter timeline right now.
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My boyfriend’s birthday is today but we couldn’t have a party bedause of social distancing so we threw one in #AnimalCrossing! #ACNH
— Leels ☠️ (@OfficialLeels) March 23, 2020
Being stuck in quarantine with your partner may seem like a dream, and being without them can bring up things we may not want to think about. It becomes more than the amount of affection between two people and more about the amount of effort two people are willing to invest in each other.
The same way we worked to put energy into cultivating the relationship, being apart involves investing double that energy to maintain it.
There is nothing as intimate as a face-to-face interaction. So much translation gets lost through text and over the phone. Often, it’s quite easy for meaning to be misconstrued or overanalyzed by either party.
Being quarantined without your partner isn’t all bad. In many ways, it could help foster personal growth as an individual.
Whether you’re quarantined by yourself or surrounded by friends and family, this is a good time to focus on yourself. It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of sleeping and watching movies all day. But think of how much better it feels to be productive, not just with school work, but by taking care of ourselves as well.
Most importantly, think about your relationship with this person and what it means to you. It doesn’t matter if you’re 50 or 5,000 miles apart. Because of COVID-19, you’re going to be spending this indefinite amount of time apart.
With the bleak nature of the lockdown and travel bans, this could easily go on until summer. Use this time apart to encourage and uplift the energy that you put into your relationships, and decide whether you’re capable of investing in it.
Joslyn Orji can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @lazy_svndae_.
