As someone who enjoys one-on-one time with individuals. I can tell you at the end of this I would love nothing more than to spend time drowning in a sea of bodies and love, ill advised to be sure, but it exemplifies the sense of isolation that has been pervasive and expounded upon during these novel times. I’ve been lucky, as I’ve been able to spend quality time with both my fiance and Jellybean, but it’s also exacerbated the longing to be around other friends and lovers, whose physical presence I have come to count on in recent years. It’s like being in a multitude of long distance relationships, but long distance has now become five minutes down the road.
In this current climate, I think it’s important to remind ourselves, that this will come to an end. Life will not always be this way. There may be some rough roads ahead and quite a few unknowns, but we will get through it. I will not belabor the hardships of being separated or isolated. Each one of you has probably dealt with/ dealing with it and don’t need another voice lamenting in your ear. Instead let’s focus on the positives of being free of social obligations.
Positive 1: Pants have officially become optional. Even as we use video conferencing to connect with the outside world, we are blessed in that those we interact with are often only interested in seeing essentially from the chest up. It’s great! Now you can roll right from that work meeting with your client into fun times with your paramour. And the only thing that changes is how far you’re sitting from the camera. I would of course advise caution, this could easily lead to some rather, we’ll call it awkward encounters. However, with a little creativity and some coordination the possibilities are quite endless.
Positive 2: Minimized commute time! As an individual who spends three hours of my day commuting, five days a week, these past few weeks have been a dream in that regard. I have been given back three hours of my life to allocate elsewhere. As a result one of two things will be true at the end. I will either have the most stunning physique of my life, because of the at home work-outs I’ve been able to maintain on a daily basis, or I will weigh 500 lbs from all the new recipes I’ve been cooking and sampling. The jury is still out on which it will be.
Positive 3: New and inventive methods of staying connected. I’ve already mentioned video-conferencing, but I also know of those who’ve streamed live digital dance parties, or started on-line board games groups to stay social. Right now these are proving to be the ONLY way to interact, but again that won’t always be the case. When, not if, we return to normal (even if it’s a new one) we will have in our arsenal a new set of tools for staying connected and reaching out.
Positive 4: We will all have the shared experience of knowing who the Tiger King was. For those of you who don’t know yet, log-in to netflix, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Also you literally have nothing better to do. Your most likely cooped up inside anyways. And this will help time fly by as you binge watch, because you won’t be able to turn away. Shared experiences bring us closer together It gives us an opportunity to bond, a common space to have conversations and dialogue. So I urge you to watch, then all those memes will make sense.
Positive 5: We will all be better photographers & the library of intimate photos we have at our disposal in the future will be damn near limitless. As a gay man with access to grindr, I’m pretty sure a large majority of my photo drive is definitevly NSFW. However in a time where I can’t leave my house, I have become much more creative and attentive to the quality and content of the photos I send. A skill I will no doubt reap benefits from well into the future. I’m sure I’m not the only one either.
That’s all I have for now. We, like all of our readers, are not exempt from the ravages of our current crisis. However, I hope what we can provide is an escape from that reality or at least a different perspective that might help temper the harder facets of what we are collectively experiencing. Poly life goes on holding for no one or thing, this is just a new learning experience we must grow from.
- Always in love, Pants-less Poly Guy 1
