While the government’s guidelines on social distancing might have relaxed slightly, the threat of Covid-19 is still ever-present. While the law might be constantly changing, the relevant facts remain much the same: when you come into contact with friends and family, you generate a risk that they’ll contract a virus that you might be carrying. With enough interactions, the likelihood of the virus spreading rises.
In short, you still need to care about social distancing.
But that needn’t imply that you can’t make your friends and family feel loved and appreciated. By now, we should all be experts in doing this from a distance. But it’s not always easy, and reminding ourselves of the basics is always worthwhile. Let’s take a look at a few tried-and-tested ways of showing long-distance affection.
Write a Letter
While digital communication might be an indispensable means of staying in touch with those closest to us, it’s no substitute for a hand-written letter. You might pen your message to the inside of a greetings card, or you might write it out on lined paper. You might even encourage your pen-pal to write back, and then you’ll have something to look forward to in the post.
Schedule Facetime
Seeing one another face- to-face is incredibly powerful. Even if you’re not normally a chatty person, you might find yourself talking for hours on end to that friend you haven’t touched base with in weeks or months. If you want to push the boat out further, you might make plans for a formal games night, including charades, Pictionary, or even a pub quiz you’ve devised.
Keep Tabs
If you know that your friends have something interesting going on in their life, then you might show an interest. If they’ve taken up a sport, or a musical instrument, then make a point of asking after their progress. Having people acknowledge that you’ve done something good can be intensely rewarding!
Do Something Special
While regular contact will help to keep your friends feeling valued, and help to safeguard their sanity in an age of social distancing, it’s also worth occasionally making a big effort to do something extra-nice. Write them a poem, or sing them a song, or buy them a chocolate hamper and leave it on their doorstep. Grand gestures are sure to go down well, especially when they’re not expected!