Since March 15, 2020, everyone has been living in an introvert’s paradise — including the ambiverts and extroverts.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of community quarantine in NCR (later an enhanced community quarantine affecting the entire Luzon region) meant that social distancing was truly in effect. No one is allowed to go out of their homes unless you have to do a grocery or medicine run. If you’re not a health worker or any other frontliner, you must stay home.
For an introvert, this is paradise (as I mentioned). Ambiverts can adjust. Granted, 50 percent of them may itch to go out, but they’ll eventually settle. But for the extroverts, the quarantine situation is a struggle.
If you’re used to hanging out with friends and family every day, the sudden lack of physical social interaction can be disheartening. I’m an ambivert, so the extrovert side of me longs to go out and have milk tea while I chat with friends about a series or life in general. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone who lives and breathes conversations and social interactions.
But life’s too short to curl up in a fetal position and miss our friends. Surely, we will see our social circles soon, but we have to see the bright side of this community quarantine.
Dear extrovert friends, here are a few things you can do to keep your sanity while we wait out the quarantine season:
Video Chat with Everyone
Thanks to technology, you can meet with your friends online. Facebook Messenger allows you to video call with seven of your friends (with filters, to make your conversation more interesting and IG-worthy).
But if you have more than eight friends, Zoom is your best friend. Zoom can accommodate up to a hundred participants for 40 minutes. If you upgrade your account, you gain unlimited hours (although Zoom has been giving free unli hours to some users).
Tiktok — Get Into It
Everybody’s doing it. Why not you?
Consider it as a fun form of exercise. Shake off your excess extrovert energy by dancing off to the recent Tiktok trends. The best part is you can share your vids online and tag the friends you miss. Tag them for a challenge or at least get a like. Wait for the flood of comments from the people you love.
Read More. Write More. Cook or Bake More.
Beat cabin fever by using your free time to finally do the things you love. Pick up a book and read it. If you’re worried about the current situation, write down your feelings on a journal. Create a Quarantine Journal where you write your experiences during the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Why not try doodling while you’re at it?
Cooking and baking are other ways to take your mind off the situation. Facebook is flooded with easy recipes with ingredients you’ll find in your kitchen. Try your hand at cooking a curry soup or chicken dish, or see if you can bake a complex soufflé. Who knows?
(Dalgona coffee is also a thing, so why not?)
Meditate
You’ve had a busy couple of months with all the deadlines and social gatherings. This is the perfect time to slow down.
Personally, I take a one hour break to just sit down and read the Bible. Living in a time of uncertainty, I need to remind myself that everything has a purpose. Honestly, I enjoy these quiet times of meditating and praying. It’s a piece of calm in the middle of the storm.
This too shall pass, friends. While we wait for the lockdown to be lifted, let’s spend our excess energy in doing other activities. Spend this time to quiet down and pray for our world and the frontliners. We’ll get through this!