What to Take Away from Quarantine

As the days of quarantine slowly start drawing to an end, and restrictions begin to lift on social gatherings, I have made it a point to consistently ask my friends one question:

“What do you want to take away from quarantine? What is something you learned which you want to implement in your life, even when things go back to more of a normal?”

It’s a good question to ask yourself. The first time a friend asked me the same question, I was honestly caught off guard and didn’t immediately have an answer. What has the Lord taught me and shown me in these past few months? These weeks definitely weren’t a waste of time, though there were many moments which could have been spent on something better than another Netflix show. Rather, it was a time of growth. It was hard growth, but there was growth. When asking my friends this question, there has been one common response, a response which has rung true in my heart as well.

Quarantine has taught me how much I need others.

To put this another way, why was quarantine so challenging a lot of the time? Why were there many moments of loneliness and sadness? Thinking back on teenage years, why was getting grounded the worst thing that could happen? Take it a step further: why is solitary confinement a punishment? Because, by our very nature, we are made to be in communion with others. Now, I am not totally equating the quarantine months to the strictness of solitary confinement, but I think there are interesting connections to be made here.

In Genesis, we hear God say, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) God, as Trinity, is Himself a communion of persons. Being made in His image and likeness means that we are ourselves designed for communion with others. “It is not good that the man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) This isn’t to say, for all my introvert friends, that man should never spend time by himself. This has nothing to do with being introverted or extraverted. While personal preferences and personalities may differ, all men at some level are designed for connection with others.

And connection has been a bit challenging the past few months. We have all felt the lack of interaction and socialization. Transitioning back into normal life hasn’t been easy. Trust me, the first time I shook hands with someone after three months, I held on for about ten seconds too long.

But as my friends explained to me, quarantine has taught us something, even if we decreased slightly in social skills. It has taught us how important it is to be intentional with our friendships. When you and your friends no longer just “bump into each other” or float in the same social whirlpools, it can be so easy to lose touch. It is easy to be friends when you share classes, work, outings, meals, and life together with someone else. But when those are taken away, does the friendship remain? What my friends and I discovered was that putting in effort in a relationship wasn’t always easy at first, but was so worth it in the end. Whether that meant hour long FaceTime calls just to catch up or going on social distancing walks, we all came to the same conclusion: we all need each other. And for whatever reason, having to put in effort made the connections we built so much richer and deeper.

So what is something I want to take away from quarantine and continue practicing in my life? First, thanks for asking. Second, you’re right, I wouldn’t mind baking yeast bread and feeding my sourdough starter for the rest of my days. But more than that, I want to learn from my friends and our conversations. I want to put into practice so much of what they showed me and what I learned as well. There may be seasons of loneliness in the future, but as long as we stay connected, we will experience joy in those intentional friendships. We can come to a greater understanding of our own nature through communion with others.

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“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” – John Donne

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