Quarantining, sheltering in place, staying home. We’re tired of hearing it; we’re tired of doing it. Yet, it’s what we still need to be doing to stay safe for a while longer. All of this can be lonesome. As the days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the alone time is getting to even the most introverted among us.
Solitary confinement is considered one of the most psychologically damaging punishments a human can endure. The New Yorker reported on this in a 1992 study of prisoners in detention camps in the former Yugoslavia, as well as Vietnam veterans who experienced isolation. These studies showed that prisoners who had experienced solitary confinement demonstrated similar brain activity to those who’d suffered a severe head injury, noting that “Without sustained social interaction, the human brain may become as impaired as one that has incurred a traumatic injury.”
We aren’t meant to be solitary creatures. Your “pandemic brain” is real. That fogginess, the lack of productivity, can be attributed to many things, including anxiety, but being kept apart from other humans is a big part of it too. Be kind to yourself, give yourself grace, and join others virtually. Be it an app, a class, a Facebook group, a chat room, or a livestream, someone somewhere is out there waiting to connect with you too.
The good news? We are lucky enough to live in an era of near limitless ways to interact socially online. Sure, it is different, but it is something. It’s important. The best thing about this type of social interaction is being able to hone in on your specific interests, though I’d caution you against getting caught in an online echo chamber. Diversity of interests, personality, and opinion make for a richer experience, with opportunities for connecting and expanding your worldview.
Here are a few suggestions on ways to socialize while staying home and staying safe. Communicating with other humans is good for you, physically and mentally.
Interactive Livestreams on Twitch:
Twitch is best known as a streaming service for video game fans, but it offers multiple streams appealing to different interests. This is more than passive watching (although that is an option, too) as Twitch livestream channels also have chat rooms. Twitch is fun for people who like multi-tasking because the chat rooms for popular livestream channels can get busy with chatter.
While people watch the Twitch hosts play a video game, film a live podcast, make music or art, mix cocktails, or dance, they can comment on what they’re watching, make suggestions, ask questions, crack jokes, and get to know each other (by Twitch handle, so it is still as anonymous as you want it to be) in the chat room. The best hosts take time every so often to interact directly with the chat room questions and comments.
Many Twitch channels develop loyal followers who get to know each other, thus forming communities. I have participated in the Alamo Drafthouse Master Pancake movie mocks a few times because they are fun and local to Austin, where I live. Plus, in my non-quarantine life, I would go to Master Pancake shows live sometimes. The chat room feels familiar in a nice way. While watching online is free, you can (and totally should) tip them.
Online trivia in real time:
There are some good options for real-time online trivia, but I’m impressed with the NYC Trivia League’s model. They have trivia games online on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The NYC Trivia League seems to have figured out a good way to run the game live while keeping answers private from the other teams. They run games on Instagram Live with a live video of the host, and participants answer via the question feature. Clever!
Online book club:
First I have to shout out my Austin local independent bookstore, BookPeople, because they are fantastic. They run book clubs throughout the year, along with readings, book signings, and all things book-related. BookPeople hosts several online book clubs during these lockdown days, and most people will find something that appeals to them.
I’m also impressed with this list from Hugo House, a writer’s resource based out of Seattle. This list includes Instagram and Goodread book clubs, book clubs for Black women, rebels, and poetry lovers. The Financial Diet recommends the Reddit book club, if you are comfortable with the Reddit format. Please note that it’s a busy place, but if you like Reddit, you already know this.
Cooking class or virtual tasting:
This is doubly satisfying because you can follow these chefs in real time, and you end up with a meal. There are a couple on Instagram Live, such as The Culinistas or Chef Massimo Bottura.
You can also participate in virtual tastings for wine, whiskey, or chocolate, though you will have to buy the product to participate in the classes (usually held over Zoom or Facebook Live). If you are in Austin, Dallas, or Houston, I recommend BeenThere Locals. The cost of the course includes the wine, spirits, or cooking kit in most cases, and all of the money goes to the business and expert hosting the class.
Look for your favorite wine, spirits, cheese, chocolate makers, and chefs that are local to you to find a similar experience. Most either prepare the class kit for pickup or delivery within a local area.
Quarantine chat:
To interact with another quarantined person seeking social interaction, there’s Quarantine Chat. Quarantine chat is one of the ways to connect through the Dialup app, available on iOS and Android devices. Sign up to make and receive calls when you want to speak with someone. The Dialup app pairs you randomly with another person for a phone conversation, at a scheduled time, either with anyone or with someone with shared interests.
Quarantine chat takes it a step further with calls at random times. When your quarantine chat caller calls, you will not see their number (or they yours), only the “Quarantine Chat” caller ID. If you are unable to pick up when they call, they will be connected with someone else, so there is no pressure to answer. It’s nice to hear someone else’s voice, merely to talk about what you’ve been cooking or what hilarious thing your pet is doing.
Play Uno:
Uno Freak lets people set up games and play Uno online with friends or strangers. Players do not need to register or download anything to play. Uno Freak is web-based.
Talk to mental health professionals:
If your state of loneliness starts sliding toward depression, call someone you can speak to right away to talk over your concerns. When in doubt, call a trained professional! Here are a few resources:
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 am–6 pm, ET, 800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org.
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to this text line 24/7 for someone to text with who will also be able to refer you to other resources: U.S. and Canada: 74174, U.K. 85258, Ireland: 50808.
- Psych Central has put together this comprehensive list of crisis intervention specialists and ways to contact them immediately.
There are many ways to connect even though we are physically apart. These are just a few real time ways to interact with others online. If you want something a little more flesh and blood, take a walk around the block or even sit in a chair in front of where you live.
Wave at people from afar, and remember that we have lots of brilliant doctors and scientists working on a way out of this. Hang in there, buddy. I’m rooting for you. I’m rooting for all of us.
Doug Francis
May 3, 2009 at 11:23 am
I have been establishing a new blog using one of these themes mentioned and it really looks great. A couple of bugs that I am working on today but the feedback so for has been positive. WP has been easy to use… with a little help from some clients who are more proficient (a great way to reconnect).
Matt Stigliano
May 3, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I’ve been using the iReal Estate Theme and it works great. Its pretty self explanatory from the start and looks great. I’m still working on making some changes (and the upgrade is starring me in the face, but when I upgraded it changed a lot of my layout so I need to get to work on that and then get the upgrade installed).
It took me awhile to get a hang of it, but once I did, it helped. The new update has a great feature where you can write new pages, but not include them in the menu – it allows for deeper sub pages or just some good test pages that you want to work on without them being seen by the public.
Duke Long
May 4, 2009 at 8:23 am
Great post. I use word press now.I will use this for research.Great content. I have you in my Google Reader.
Carlos
May 10, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Thank you for featuring the Gorilla Themes Real Estate WordPress products, we have a new theme coming this week for single and multi agents .
Jim Reppond
May 11, 2009 at 9:23 am
The tipping point has come to dump static real estate websites from old template-based companies like Superlative or AdvancedAccess. These WordPress themes make it very easy to migrate over to web 2.0 and control your destiny.
Red Lodge Real Estate
May 12, 2009 at 12:21 am
i am planning to create my real estate blog, maybe i can use these templates.
wordpress themes @ blogicthink.com
May 20, 2009 at 2:04 pm
This is a great news. Since real estate is a BIG industries blogger can optimize their making money online effort using this theme. So they can looks professional and trustee.
WordPress make that possible. Thanks for sharing this info.
Eliese Pivarnik
May 20, 2009 at 10:54 pm
The premium themes really make a difference. I have several websites, and I’ll use the premium templates for future ones.
Mike
July 11, 2009 at 3:42 am
I tried WordPress and some other scripts both free and paid for launching a real estate site and my choice is PG Real Estate Solution. It is not so costy, yet has everything I needed. What I like is that regularly I get updates with new and new improvements, support is also one of their strong points, i would recommend it to my friends.
Doug Francis
July 11, 2009 at 9:43 am
Mike,
When I first started my blog I consulted with some clients (Allyson and Chris) who are more internet savvy. Both have gotten totally into WordPress since I started in January ’09 and they now consult with me… role reversal? They have been very excited about what I have done with my blog going from a 2001 web site to a 2009 WP blog – click above.
Anyway, in a conversation last week I suggested to Allyson that she take a look at Joost de Valk’s blog since he is a WP guru (in my book). Here is his info and I think you will be even more excited https://yoast.com/wordpress/
Have fun!
Cory Lahey
December 17, 2009 at 11:49 am
Check out this theme… reitrainer.com/free-wordpress-themes/ . It isn’t the traditional real estate agent type site with listings. It is more of a squeeze page type thing, made to be a lead generator for real estate investors looking for home seller leads.