Reflecting on the past year, I cannot say for sure if I have developed much as a person, but I can, without a doubt say that I have experienced a multitude of changes in my life.

Some aspects of my life have differed dramatically from what they were before March of 2020. I completely lost contact with many of my closest friends, some of whom I haven’t spoken with in over a year. I have lost some members of my family, including my pet dog who was one of my best friends for over ten years.

Around me, I could see changes in the people around me. A few times over the past year, I had family members get sick, ending up in the hospital for a few days or even weeks at a time (though, not with COVID). During times like these, I had few people at home to rely on, as all of my siblings have moved out of our home and have started living their own independent lives. This past year has best taught me how to deal with the loneliness of being on your own for an such an extensive amount of time, whether it be a literal sense of loneliness, or just feeling isolated because one cannot connect with other people socially.

Despite these losses, I do have some constants in my life. I’ve made more friends, but my best friends have always been the ones who stayed close by my side, no matter what. Even through arguments and disagreements, I could always count on the same few people to be there if I needed them. Even if it seemed like I had lost so much, my friends remained a constant in my life.

The message I’m trying to say is to find someone, something, anything really, that brings you happiness. To find a group of people that genuinely understand you, or will unconditionally support you even when they don’t know how to relate is a blessing. Finding a new TV show, movie, or book where the characters, themes, and plot have you so hooked that you know you can return to it time and time again and still enjoy it may be one of the best experiences. My friends and the online communities I found have helped me through so much this past year and with my feelings of despair.

Even when it feels like you have nothing, I believe that there is always something that connects to you that you just haven’t discovered.