Damn it put down the cell phone
I know you’re feeling lonely all alone at home binging happily ever after movies/tv shows. You might say to yourself ‘maybe I should reach out to my family or ex’ or whoever you finally were able to leave behind with hard-fought boundaries. DON’T DO IT!!!
You had good reasons to stop talking to your mother/father/sibling (or other relatives), your frenemy and a DAMNED good reason for your ex to be your ex. It’s unlikely a medical pandemic will give these people a ‘come to Jesus’ moment where they stop being garbage humans to you! Instead, they will use this moment when you are at your weakest to get back in and treat you like a human punching bag or indentured servant to run errands for them (so they can avoid exposure because … garbage humans).
I’m not saying this like I’m so perfect since I’ve been pondering should I check in on my ex to make sure he’s ok (no I shouldn’t). I was so tempted that I forced myself to go on TINDER (yes TINDER <eww> dammit) and yes everyone until the urge passed.
If your social distancing and feeling lonely or have ‘urges’ read a book or if you want human contact jump on a dating or friend app and DM each other THROUGH the app (don’t give out your number/address). Use social media to feel connected with people from twitch to afterbuzztv to podcasts to reddit. Lots of people and organizations are arranging ‘watch along’ and live-tweeting with people. Jump on a popular hashtag and start taking <cough> tweeting people. Join a meeting or FB group and start chatting online. You can call old friends who you lost contact with because of life/career/dating drama that you were going through before covid19 that made you stop talking to people. I’m sure they want to hear from you and let yourself be vulnerable and tell them what’s been going on.
But whatever you do don’t open the door to people who couldn’t treat you decently when the world wasn’t going to hell in a handbasket. It’s hard not to especially if you’re ‘used’ to being treated like a dirty dishrag and are unable to accept people being nice to you. If you are only used to sharp and jagged edges when communicating with people in your life call one of the counseling hotlines or chats to talk you away from the phone.
Please don’t get caught in social isolation with someone who will make it worse by emotional or verbal abuse.
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