Currently I'm feeling the most uncomfortable about going out in the world (for grocery shopping, the library) as I have since the beginning of this in 2020.
I have been realizing more that even after the pandemic is "over" things probably are not going to be the same.
My Saturday night dinner buddies for example. We have been going out for dinner in some combination of people on most Saturday nights for years. Now, one person has died (not of Covid) and two others aren't speaking to each other. I don't know if we will ever get back to those dinners. At the same time I've actually enjoyed not HAVING to do that on Saturday evenings, and I've also enjoyed not having to cope with restaurant food which so often messes up my delicate digestive system.
I've also been thinking about travelling. I've never liked the actual travel part of going away - getting to the airport, dealing with the airline and security and customs and immigration and waiting in crowded airport lounges and sitting in a cramped seat and maybe being annoyed by obnoxious passengers etc etc. I travel mainly to see the people at the other end. But when I think about that I realize that visiting friends often involves going to restaurants or eating food that they prepare and that often leads to digestive problems that are even harder to handle when travelling. So even when the pandemic is over I may never go back to travelling. It is sad to think about never seeing some of these people again but there you are. I'm over seventy and my life has been getting more centered around myself and home as I age, and being an introvert I've never been that involved with the world anyway. It's been years since I went to a movie or a concert or a play- things that for many years I did regularly. I don't think this withdrawal is necessarily a consequence of the pandemic, but the pandemic has certainly exacerbated it.
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