Six New Ways to Help You Stay Connected With the Local and Global Community During COVID 19

Here are a few creative ways to make new social connections so you can thrive even during this time of social isolation.

In these days of social isolation and concern over a potentially deadly virus making the rounds, it can be difficult to find enough social outlets to remain connected to those outside your home. This is especially trying for those who live alone.

While most of us already have certain online communities and networks that supplement our in person relationships, now that all of our contact has become virtual, they may not be enough to get us through our day. I have felt very isolated and cut off, in particular since I returned home from the hospital after testing positive for the virus.

It felt a bit surreal to come into an empty apartment and feel as if I were entering a bubble world. I guess before this, I was living in denial (nope, definitely not just a river in Egypt), thinking each day that things would turn by the end of the week or perhaps month. I figured we’d be past it and able to resume our normal lives by the beginning of April. Actually, I was counting on it.

Being in the hospital, surrounded by rooms with people who were so much sicker than me, on ventilators, hearing codes called when someone went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated and two deaths during the less than 48 hours that I was there terrified me. I returned home to find out that one of my mother’s best friends had died from the virus. Laying in bed, still battling this monstrosity of a virus, left me feeling sometimes like I was the last person on earth.

During those times when I was feeling better, I knew I had to do something to reconnect with the world around me and increase the ties I had with people or else I’d descend into a darkness that definitely wouldn’t be conducive to getting better. So I came up with some new ways I might be able to form new links to those beyond my apartment walls.

As I only have short periods right now when I’m lucid enough to carry out these types of activities I’m only just beginning this journey. Hopefully, after a few more days I’ll feel stronger and will be able to do more of this.

Reconnect With Networks You May Have Neglected

I think this is a good first step because, at least for me, I had one big network that had been an important part of my life, both writing and personally, that I’d largely lost touch with. This was the Hubpages community. I had some issues with some of their policies and when I found Medium, I slowly eased myself away until I no longer wrote there. Unfortunately, that meant I also lost touch with the group of writers I had established relationships with.

So step one for me was to re-establish that connection. I’m still working on doing this because I feel that I need to publish there at least once in a while to keep linked to the site. But I am starting to re-establish that network and it feels pretty good.

They also have tons of forums some of which are serious, information or question based and some of which are must for fun. I forgot how much I enjoyed some of the threads and even the silly games that people posted. I’m (slowly) working on a piece for the site which I hope will be finished by the end of today so I can get it under review and maybe published by tomorrow.

Use Nextdoor or Something Similar It to Connect With Nearby Neighbors

My landlord introduced me to Nextdoor when I moved in and I loved it even before the outbreak. It has been a Godsend since social distancing has taken effect.

Nextdoor is a hyperlocal neighborhood hub for establishing nearby connections and for exchanging helpful information, goods, and services. You can find free and cheap used (and sometimes new) items from people down the street or even in your own apartment building. People do favors for each other, make recommendations and provide information on every topic you can think of.

Since the outbreak there have been a lot of discussions going on about the virus as well as about other topics as people try to distract from the stress of daily life. The thing I like most about it, is that I know that the people I’m interacting with are all close to where I live. You would be surprised how big a difference this has made.

Whenever anyone needs a recommendation or just to vent or talk there’s always someone available to respond. When people put out a request for something they need but they can’t find, even on line, there are always several responses from others who either provide information about how to get the item or offer to give them one which is left safely somewhere nearby.

I think Nextdoor has become my main goto’s for local support and information about how the local area is dealing with this health crisis. Using the site makes me feel like I have friends around and we could get together if we wanted to (and if it were safe to do so), which makes me feel less alone. I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet some of these individuals once this is all over.

Start a Community Story or Game

This is something that you can do through a social media site or other other online website or blog. I used to love creating stories with people where one person started it off with an introduction or single line and then the next person added a line and so on until you had a complete story. I don’t remember why I stopped, but I’m hoping to find a way to get back into it.

There are also a lot of games you can play like alphabet games where someone starts by naming something like a food or city with the letter A and the next person starts with B and so on. A variation of this is for someone to start with a city or food or whatnot and the next person has to name something in the category that starts with the last letter of the response of the person before them. This can on for quite some time and after a while you’ll be impressed with the unusual response people start to give.

The key to these types of activities is to get as many people involved as possible. If there are only a few people participating it’s not as much fun and doesn’t provide a lot of opportunity for social support.

(I’m currently looking into options to start something along these lines so stay tuned!)

Volunteering Online

This is something I’ve been gathering information on which I think will help me feel like I’m giving back to those in need. I imagine those who had difficulties before this outbreak must be having an even harder time now that this health crisis has cut off a lot of support and resources.

I have seens a number of text or phone crisis lines that I’m thinking about volunteering with. There are crisis lines for so many issues now, more than ever before. Even those organizations that only had people volunteer at a phone bank at a physical location now have switched to remote versions of their services, where you can volunteer from home.

There are crisis lines for suicide prevention, trauma and loss, coping with family members who have mental or physical problems, sexual assault, issues related to being a vet, child abuse and domestic violence, general crisis lines for anyone suffering a mental health crisis, and now there are a number of COVID 19 crisis lines that have been created.

If crisis lines seem a bit too anxiety provoking for you there are numerous other online sites and causes that you can volunteer for. Several that I have seen not only provide training but they provide real time sessions when volunteers can interact with each other, get feedback and do problem solving, just get things off their minds. In some cases there are even virtual happy hours!

Participate in Online Hobby Groups

Hobbies are not just a great way to pass the time, but almost ever hobby you can think of that can be done inside has a group that has formed to do it together either in real time through zoom or the like, or asynchronistically with times during the week to check in and show each other where you’re at.

Some of these groups have a group project that everyone is doing together. Sometimes these are mystery projects. For example there are a number of “knit along” and “crochet along” groups where the leader provides the pattern for a certain number of lines each day but you don’t know what you are making until the end.

I’ve joined a knit along group that is great because it is for creating squares with positive messages and each square uses a small amount of yarn and you can use yarn in your stash so you don’t have to buy new supplies. I’m not sure what I’ll do with the squares at the end, perhaps make a wall hanging or baby blanket to donate, but it seems like a fun option whatever comes of it.

Play More Video Games

Yes, you heard me right, I am advocating for you to play more video games. If you’re already involved in role playing games, or games where you team up with other players who you communicate with as you play, you’ll already have a natural network. Playing in real time can give you a sense that there are people out there even when the streets are largely empty and your neighborhood may look like a ghost town.

For those of you who aren’t hardcore gamers, try something silly or basic that you already know how to do. Most of these games allow you to send and receive lives, boosts, gifts to use in the game. Believe it or not, just giving and receiving these little gifts can really boost your mood, despite it being just in the context of a fictional game.

I like the games that let you use the points you win to build something like a garden or decorate a house bit by bit like Homescapes or Gardenscapes. If you enjoy mahjong there is a Secret Garden Mahjong which is a Facebook game that is an elaborate garden building game where you can buy different plants, flowers and other objects to use in your garden. You can send and receive gifts, there are contests and options to take and post pictures of your garden to share with others. You are encouraged to visit other players gardens through little gifts left there for you to search for and you can also leave comments on other people’s gardens.

A lot of games have chats or forums where you can get to know each other. Tournaments with people you have included in your network provides some fun competition and another way to connect to new people.

Take Away

As the outbreak rages on and we continue to be stuck inside our homes, many are finding that their existing online social networks aren’t providing enough support for the current conditions. It’s important that we find as many ways as possible to connect with people outside our homes to prevent this situation from having negative mental health problems that persist long after the crisis has ended.

The good news is that there are tons of ways to do this that won’t cost you a penny and which could lead to relationships that continue once the need for social distancing has ended. Sharing these ideas and resources with each will also help all of us better cope with this crisis and may deepen connections to those we already know.

Natale C. Frank has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and enjoys writing articles on coping with difficult medical situations. She is an editor for The Partnered Pen & One Table, One World and is Editor in Chief for Promposity & Mental Gecko, both of which she created. She is also the Managing Editor for Novellas and Serials at LVP Publications. Her collection of poetry, Disguised I Breathe, In Love I Hold, can be found here on Amazon.

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