Making friends in isolation and how media & entertainment is keeping me sane.
Social distancing makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
Okay, maybe not. But, with so much free time on our hands, instead of doubling down on a message about hustle culture and learning a new skill on an e-learning platform, which I think is a great use of your time, making friends and staying sane is a great place to start. So, let me show you how I make friends in times like these.
10 Years Ago
Back in Greece, seated on my couch, overlooking Mount Olympus through the window and, quite literally, surrounded by nothing else for miles in every direction, I found myself bored out of my mind. No wifi, nothing to do. During the day, I hung out with my family, enjoying the time I had with them before my parents and I were forced to board our flight back home to Montreal. But during those long and silent nights, isolated and bored, I had to find ways to pass the time. Thankfully, I had a 16gb iPad. Just enough storage for me to download 4 movies that I would be rewatching for the duration of my 3-month long stay. (We barely had a working TV over there.) I remember rewatching Adam Sandler and Marvel movies so many times I was able to act them out beat by beat if I wanted to. They weren’t necessarily Oscar contenders. But no 11-year-old watches Schindler’s List for fun. I digress. My point is, in times of isolation and boredom, movies became my friends. An only child, bored and lonely, yet one click away from being transported into another world to escape those feelings. Boohoo…I can hear the violins playing in the background.
1 Year Ago
A few of my friends and I wait in line to watch Avengers: End Game. The final MCU film culminating to the ending of the decade-long run of Captain America and Iron Man as we knew them. I clearly remember wearing my iron man shirt and waiting in line with my go-to bag of buttery popcorn in one hand and a small Frutopia red on the other. I was prepared for the 3 hour rollercoaster of a conclusion to the cinematic universe that can only be described as the Star Wars of my generation. Our Luke Skywalker and Han Solo; Iron Man and Captain America. Walking into that sold-out theatre, being transported back to 10-year-old me, brought to life an indescribable sense of wonder and awe. I was just one of the millions who had that feeling on that weekend. On that day, one specific moment will stay with me forever. Towards the second part of the movie, Captain America grabs Thor’s hammer in the middle of his fight with Thanos. Fans start cheering and clapping like crazy. Literal roars from the crowd, as if we were watching the Habs score a Stanley Cup final, game-winning goal at the Bell Center. That had never happened, ever, in a movie before. That’s when I realized how powerful and impactful media and entertainment can be.
1 Month Ago
You know it’s funny how we long to get some free time, catch up on sleep, watch all the TV shows we want to watch and read all the books we want to read. Not having to commute to work or school and having control of every single minute of your day is great…But too much of anything can make you implode in your own aspirations. I’ve spent so much time in front of a screen that my eyes feel like melting out of their sockets. The media and the arts are supposed to provide us with life; to show us that life is not only merely about survival, it’s about being human. Many don’t have that luxury in this world, so I make sure I appreciate it as much as I can. Netflix more than doubled in anticipated subscribers this last quarter, books purchases are up 33%, music listening, at home, is up 34% and media and entertainment engagement is up 60% altogether. Maybe books, music, movies and TV are what we gravitate to when times are tough, when real-life human connections are scarce, because we want to remember what it feels like to be human. It’s like social distancing with new friends. The only thing is, you can’t talk to them, but they can talk to you.
1 Day Ago
When bored, or alone, or sad, or happy, or whatever, just know that there is an abundance of new friends to be made. Every single one of them can teach you something new. Every single one of them can make you feel a certain way. So, might as well hang out with them while you can. Because, when things calm down, and we all go back to our regular routines, we’ll be looking back at all this free time longing for another moment where our calendars did not dictate our every hour. Where we had the choice to hang out with those we wanted to…in isolation.
1 Minute Ago
Life is short. But, it’s also insanely long. When you look forward, decades feel like centuries. When you look backward, decades feel like minutes. Let’s enjoy the moment right now and make new friends.
Some friends to make:
