An Introvert’s Guide to Rejoining Post-COVID Society

As an introvert, I’ve never liked people very much to start with, but after months and months of isolation, I’ve forced myself to get back out into the world. As the pandemic winds down in the United States, it’s okay if you look back on the past year with mixed emotions. Here are some of the things that helped me.

Forgive Yourself for How You Handled It

It’s okay if you spent the last year just barely functioning. There’s no right way to survive a pandemic, and anyone who says there is had better have been alive in 1918. If you didn’t learn to bake bread, that’s okay. If you are utterly unprepared for any variety of summer (hot girl, hot vax, etc.), don’t stress about it.

This was traumatic. You lived through a worldwide event that epidemiologists have been warning could happen for decades, and even with all the warnings and preparation, nearly every country on the planet completely failed in their response. If the people with all the resources of an entire nation failed, what chance did you have?

So don’t be too hard on yourself because you drank more than you should have (apparently, we all did). I told myself that I was going to take up oil painting and read more books. While I’ve got some really nice art on my walls now, I’ve also got a bunch of blank canvases that aren’t getting painted anytime soon. All those books I said I’d read? I got through 3 of them in a year.