maintaining a social life in a COVID-19 world

I feel incredibly fortunate to be spending my days in isolation with a friend (and her wonderful, welcoming family) in Barbizon, France (a small town about an hour south of Paris and 20 minutes away from the better-known town of Fontainebleau). Being with a friend has made the transition to this new way of life (that nearly the whole world is now facing) much easier than it would had I had to go it alone; we are able to talk about our worries and fears, and then balance them by talking about things for which we are grateful or to which we look forward to doing once life has returned to normal (and it will). It has also made the realization that I will not be seeing the rest of my friends for quite some time a little easier to bear, but it's still a tough pill to swallow. I find myself missing my friends in the U.S. more than ever and lamenting that I've put a pretty hefty pause on growing my relationships with my other friends here.

So what's there to do? Get creative about ways to connect digitally that go a bit deeper than checking Instagram stories and a quick FaceTimes - my list thus far includes:

• Having a Google Hangout party (with a special shared playlist) to celebrate a friend's birthday

• Putting a few dinner & lunch FaceTime dates with friends back home on the calendar

• (ditto for dates of the romantic sort to keep that still-new "relationship" going)

• Setting a day & time for a weekly virtual shadow-boxing workout with my boxing buddy

• Setting weekly "TV dates" & post-show discussions

• Making individual playlists for friends, either as requested or designed fully by me

• Sharing articles (and memes) of interest with friends that are NOT COVID-RELATED

While this list isn't too shabby, I am looking forward to adding to it in the coming weeks and giving my sense of creativity a real refresh (and that's a happy thought for the afternoon).