Coming into the pandemic, all anyone ever heard about in the dating scene was how to get into a good relationship through the internet. For me, none of those articles helped. I was already (and still am) in a committed relationship. No one really knew how to keep those types of relationships going in these times. I will admit, it was extremely tough, but we're still going strong today.
In the beginning it wasn't too hard to not be around each other all the time. Over the months, things got worse. Both of us were on edge and started to fight quite a lot. I talked with a few of my friends who were also in committed relationships but couldn't see their significant others during this time. Almost all of them, no matter how strong their bond and how good their relationship was, were having problems.
It took a bit to actually realize that we weren't falling out of love with each other, it was just taking a toll on us mentally and emotionally. In my case, we were around each other almost all the time before quarantine started. Being ripped away from each other so suddenly because of the virus and me moving back home was what hit the hardest. It felt like my life and soul had been ripped away. Having anxiety and depression, I didn't really know how to handle it.
Anxiety and depression is a whole different topic to talk about over quarantine, but to keep it short, it was a huge factor of the downfall within relationships. When places started opening back up again and people were allowed to see each other, I noticed two things from relationships. The first being that so many people who thought they were compatible with each other, were not. The second being those who were compatible, made it out of quarantine with an even stronger relationship than before.
Fortunately, I was one of the ones who's relationship came out much stronger than when we entered it. I realized that if my relationship was meant to be, then we would be just fine over quarantine and especially when we were able to come back to campus. If the relationship wasn't meant to be, being in quarantine just accelerated the breakup that was bound to happen.
Overall, being in a committed relationship while you're apart from each other can be rough. There's going to be ugly and sweet moments. There's going to be a lot of moments when you wish you were in your significant others arms and wanting everything to be normal again. There's going to be moments when you've facetimed so much that you just don't want to anymore and that's okay.
Being able to be honest and open with your significant other in a time like this is extremely important. Keeping that spark there even though you can't physically see each other is the next most important thing. To all the relationships that survived quarantine, kudos to you! To the ones that didn't, I hope you find your significant other, the person who completes you.
