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I see you all chatting with your exes. A lot of my single friends are doing it. I’ve been seeing those Instagram stories. I’ve been seeing the snapshots of FaceTime calls and Zoom meetings. I see a lot of exes being back in touch. There happens to be a pandemic going on, and required social distancing. But there’s another pandemic happening in my opinion which is people getting back with exes! I call it a pandemic because it is a global outbreak of a disease that is spreading between people quickly and for which there is no immunity. That’s what getting back with an ex sounds like to me, don’t you think? It’s not good for us. Once we get one little symptom or make brief contact, we experience full-blown symptoms in a matter of days. Texting every day. Calling throughout the day. Possibly breaking quarantine to physically get together. Chatting with an ex is infectious, and a lot of people are doing it right now.
Look, I know that I’m privileged because I’m in a stable relationship. I have someone to quarantine with right now—someone with whom things aren’t complicated or messy or tumultuous. It’s just a solid, loving relationship. I don’t know what it would be like to be single during this pandemic. Even as I’m in this relationship, I have times when I feel lonely and depressed right now. One man alone cannot provide me all the socialization I need. Nor should he! We aren’t codependent, looking to each other for every type of support. We typically have lives full of other people—lots of friends and lots of socialization outside of the relationship. And that’s healthy. But, since I am used to that sort of dynamic and vibrant social life, having it be just me and him can be tough. I can’t imagine what it’s like for single individuals who don’t even have a boyfriend or girlfriend to get tired of right now. But, I’m telling you, people are getting back with their exes during quarantine.
There’s a bigger problem
Whatever your problems were with your ex, there are much bigger problems in the world now. The world’s problems eclipse your problems. People are dying. Hospitals are overrun. People are losing their jobs. In the same way politicians are putting their differences aside to acknowledge a larger enemy, so, too, are you and your ex.
