The Joys of Being Single During the Coronavirus

10 Reasons why it isn’t “so bad” being really, really alone.

Single people: now is the time to rejoice in our unsettling isolation. We are the captains of our ships, the CEO of our one-bedroom apartments, and perhaps the only person we can make direct eye contact with in the mirror for the coming weeks. This is our time to relish in the unknown.

Leave the dirty dishes until tomorrow: let’s explore the best parts of singledom during the virus.

1. You Are In Charge Of Your Own Sanctuary (or Hellscape)

We’re talking candles, air purifiers, crystal collections, self-help books, instrumental oldie playlists, and more. If you have someone bringing their emotional tornado into your sanctuary, you’re asking for trouble. This is a space of peace and surrender. This is where you cry, dance, try meditating for four minutes, and rearrange the furniture.

You are in charge of the energy here, peaceful or chaotic, and no one can take that away from you.

2. You Can Be a Crafting Monster

Now is the time to get your craft on. There are so many strange life hacks on YouTube, so many unfinished projects you were planning on doing (yes, I’m talking about that tree of life paint-by-number kit you impulse bought), and a lifetime supply of art supplies somewhere in the recesses of your house. You can do this.

You can peel yourself away from this screen and start making a toilet paper roll garland for your entryway.

3. You Only Have to Be Brave If You Want To

Um, Hi, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. It’s great to be brave, proactive, vigilant, and a good role model. But, honestly? It’s okay to be the hottest of the hot messes right now too. Your singleness (Unless you have children, then cry when they are sleeping — or with them!) gives you unimaginable freedom to let loose with the emotions.

Take a day to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream and stare at a wall while weeping uncontrollably (in between Zoom meetings, of course).

4. You Don’t Have To Feel Guilty Anymore

As a single person, the old world always pressured us to go out on weekends and live our “best lives” or risk people feeling sorry for us. Other times, we feel slighted because our coupled friends like to double date with other couples only. Rude. You could have brought your body pillow to California Pizza Kitchen if you wanted to!

Guess what? It’s impossible to feel this way during a pandemic. You are at home. Everyone is at home. Nothing is open. You are all collectively feeling the same FOMO towards a ghost party that doesn’t exist.

5. No One Is Asking About Your Love Life

What is that sweet silence in the air? For the first time in your life, your well-meaning family and friends aren’t asking you about your love life. We focus so much on the “search” in our normal lives, but when life is upside down, it’s a virtue to stay home and stay haggard. The question of “So, are you seeing anyone new?” or “So, have you gone on any bad dates?” doesn’t come up in conversation anymore.

No one wants to know about the exchange of germs between internet strangers.

6. See What Your Friendships Really Mean

Now is the time to interact with your friends, near and far, in all kinds of weird ways. Yes, your friends who are “in relationships” or “have families” will naturally be busy. But this whole pandemic is cracking those relationships wide open. It’s like looking into the abyss together. Who will send you a funny GIF? Who will let you know how much they’ve always disliked you after all these years? It’s time to root around in your friendships and hold on for dear life. You’ll likely find a hell of a lot of love if you’re lucky and make a few realizations when you’re not.

During times of distress, this is when true colors emerge.

7. Time to Upend your Whole House

If you need a project that will last awhile, dump out everything and look at what you’ve got. Rearrange your furniture, dramatically drape different blankets on your couch. When you’re expunging your junk, there’s no second-guessing, no smarmy hands grabbing stuff you put in the donate pile. It’s yours to give away so you can feel free in your post-quarantine life. If you were in a relationship, your partner would question your choices, stub their toe on your stuff, and be mad at you while they play on their phone. But in your very own fortress of messy solitude, it’s time to let go.

Ask yourself how much tupperware you really need in the apocalypse.

8. Learn the Art of Old Timey Dating

Before the time of “U up?” texts coming from who-knows-anymore, there was the art of courting. Subtle gestures, words of fancy, and flowers being sent to your castle gates. These were simpler times! If dating is your bag during the virus, it’s time to experiment with slow and intentional courting. See how you communicate over long conversations via text, over the phone, or video chat with Chinese food. Get to know someone’s character before sleeping with them and feeling weird about it the next day.

It’s not time wasted because what else are you doing, anyway?

9. Make Your Own Schedule (And Change it Every Day)

Sometimes, you want to get up early and go for a run. Sometimes you want to sleep in until 12:30, scrolling through Instagram for that one dog wearing a bowtie picture you remembered from three weeks ago. Having unlimited flexibility with this never-ending slog of time is a beautiful gift and a terrifying curse. You don’t need anyone annoyed with you if you’re not “doing enough” when there’s nothing to do but wait it out.

10. Be Unabashedly Kind To Yourself

Intense isolation means it’s time to be your own lover, mother, and best friend. You alone have to see yourself in a reflection day after day. It’s time to relish that you can make pancakes in the morning, put on a dark red lipstick for no particular reason, and prance around in a dress you wore to a wedding once. You can also wear sweatpants all day, have a cowlick, and play video games. Be kind to yourself. Write yourself a love letter. Water your plants. Sing in the shower. You are the ruler of your little temporary kingdom, so drape yourself in metaphorical jewels once in a while.

You’re doing a great job. Don’t let isolation get to you (or let it get to you, and then get through it!) Remember, this is only a blip in time in the grand scheme of things, and after that blip of time you will be a beautifully crazed and zen-like hermit with brand new coping skills.