The Philosophers' Cocoon

It goes without saying that the COVID-19 crisis is upending our lives. Some of us are ill and self-quarantining. Others have ill family members, friends, or loved ones–or know people who do (my wife, for example, already has friend whose mother-in-law died from COVID-19). And of course many of us are worried about our own health and the health of others, particularly (but not only) members of vulnerable populations. Changing how we teach has probably been challenging for many of us, but in many respects it is a very privileged problem to have right now given the labor markets and the overall state of things. Things, in other words, look increasingly dire. But we already know that. The task of this new series is to support and help each other cope with things. So in this post, I'd like to end the week here with what I hope is a little bit of a pick-me-upper: a quick post on some things I've found helpful or seen other people find helpful in surviving social distancing. I'd then like to ask all of you who are willing to share what you've found helpful in the comments section!

As a hard-core introvert, the easiest part of social distancing for me is not being around other people. Aside from not grabbing the occasional drink with my few close friends (which I do enjoy), thus far social distancing hasn't been very different in social regards than my typical summer. What has been different is basically being more or less stuck at home: not going to the gym, or to work, or taking my dog to the public park by the water, etc. That has been pretty tough–basically seeing and doing the same damn things every day, and having a lot of time to ruminate and worry (including worrying about my parents, who are elderly and living in San Francisco, one of whom has already had multiple bouts with pneumonia in recent years). So, while in some respects I may find social distancing easier than my more extroverted friends (including my spouse, who is a hard core extrovert!), it's still been pretty damn hard tbh. I'm also a bit of a hypochrondriac to boot, and have already "felt like I'm coming down with" COVID-19 at least a half dozen times. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm in solidarity with everyone who's finding social distancing difficult. The struggles that introverts and extroverts face here may be different, but in my experience at least they are equally real (just different). I also recognize that as a tenured academic, I'm in a relatively privileged position throughout this crisis–though I do have family who are very much at risk due to age and preexisting conditions. Bearing all of this in mind, here are some things I've found helpful or seen seem to be helpful for others so far:

1. Facetime/Zoom parties: my spouse has held several of these, and they seem to be vital to her well-being. As an extroverted person, she really needs social interaction above and beyond interacting with me. She and her friends have set aside time to do these in the evening every couple of days, and in some respects this has given her more social interaction than she had before. Indeed, given that many of her close friends are people who graduated from her PhD program in recent years and are now in jobs around the country, social distancing has had the somewhat paradoxical effect of actually bringing her closer together with these people–as during normal times she would maybe only text them or see them once every few months.
2. Online development of social groups and friendships: one thing that I've seen a lot of people express kind worries about online is about people who live alone and don't have many family or friends to engage with. There was a loneliness epidemic even prior to COVID-19, and social distancing may only make it worse, for obvious reasons. However, I know some people who live alone and didn't have strong social networks prior to COVID-19 adapt to social distancing in a fascinating and encouraging way: by cultivating healthy online networks that they didn't have before, finding other people with similar interests (such as science fiction, music, sobriety, etc.) to get to know online, talk to, and develop friendships with.
3. Hobbies: although I've participated a little bit in my spouse's facetime parties, as I mentioned above I don't need a lot of social interaction. For me, the real 'godsend' I have right now is a hobby. Throughout most of my adult life prior to getting my first academic job, I was a semi-professional musician. However, my last year in grad school I sold all of my equipment in order to get my act together, finish my dissertation, get a job, and eventually tenure. The past year or so, I bought some instruments and equipment again and started writing and recording songs. It was a good hobby to take up again to begin with–but it has been especially a godsend during COVID-19. I know buying lots of stuff is difficult (and potentially dangerous) to do right now, but if you do find yourself sitting around ruminating and worrying a lot (as I am wont to do myself), my experience thus far is that finding a hobby can be helpful. And of course hobbies don't have to involve buying stuff. Some people write fan fiction, others make philosophy videos. The potential hobbies one can pick up–even just electronically–can be nearly endless.
4. Getting outside: one of the strangely pleasant surprises I've experienced thus far from social distancing is simply getting outside more. I used to go to the gym to stay in shape. Now that's out. So, in addition to taking the dog out for walks (which I did before), I am not going outside for jogs, sit with my dog in the backyard while taking breaks from work and in the early evening, etc. It is almost strange being outside so much. It vaguely reminds me of my childhood, when I used to spend so much time outside just enjoying the outside world. Of course, who knows how long we will be able to do even that much (given the lockdown now in California)–and I am starting to get worried whether jogging is safe. But still, being outside so much has been pretty nice. It has also been nice to see other people outside: parents with their children, spouses taking walks together, etc. Although I am beginning to worry a bit about how safe it is (despite everyone I see keeping a seemingly-safe distance from each other), it has at least been nice to see people enjoying the outdoors more.
5. Slowing down life: one of the other odd things I have derived some solace from is how life appears to have slowed down a bit. Our lives, particularly in the US (or so it seems to me), were increasingly moving at a breakneck pace. Although I still have plenty to do, my life has slowed a bit–and, or so it seems (from how many people I see outside), other people's lives seem to have slowed a bit too. 
6. Catching up on good TV and movies: I'm normally not a big TV watcher (mostly because of time), but COVID-19 has been giving me a pretty good excuse to do it! Mindhunter is pretty good imho. Any other suggestions?
7. Pets: I know not everyone has pets, but one final thing I take some solace in is that our pets have us around a lot more. I recall watching a sad video a while back where people filmed their pets while they weren't home, and as it turned out dogs apparently spend a ton of time simply looking at the front door longingly for their humans to come home. Social distancing may be difficult for us, but I cannot help but derive a little happiness from things never being so good for some of our pets–like this old man (who also, paradoxically, just happens to also be my baby boy;):

Anyway, these are just a few things I've found or seen seem to be helpful to others for surviving social distancing. What about you? What are you finding helpful during these difficult times?