16 Jul 2020

Isolation has been a funny thing, huh? Most of us flourished in solitude by taking up new hobbies, getting fit or saving some serious money in the bank. Unfortunately for some, we slowly went on a downward spiral that caused a few… regrettable decisions. And if you’re single you can probably relate to one particular decision. Yep, the decision to fill the void with iso-relationships.

Truth be told, isolation defs wasn’t doing my love life any good. Nor was it any good prior isolation, but that’s beside the point.

Iso-relationships were the solution to an otherwise lonely, lonely… lonely time. It gave us the attention most of us craved with some harmful fun. Just like real-life dating you’d endure terrible small talk at first, but in no time, you’re exchanging numbers, insta handles and snapchats. And if you managed to make it to the next stage without being ghosted (or ghosting, no shame here), you’re sharing funny TikToks.

The real beauty of these short-lived yet passionate iso-relationships was the tantalising idea that you’d never had to go on a date in real life.

Don’t get me wrong, dates can be a wonderful thing. I’m a real sucker for a good date. But if you were like me, you assumed these iso-relationships would fizzle out by the time restrictions were lifted.

Yet, here we are. Restrictions are slowly but surely being lifted… well, for the time being. Things aren’t looking too red hot, but the point is the idea of going on a real-life date is becoming a reality and your iso-relationship piece is keen to get a move on. But if you’re like me, you’re defs not.

So naturally, it’s time to call it quits. Tell them it’s you, not them. Or perhaps how you’re emotionally unavailable and don’t want to hurt them.

Whatever it is, your iso-relationship looks like it’s coming to an end. It’s bittersweet. If you’re like me, you’re probably going to realise sooner or later that you actually enjoyed talking to them and perhaps a date wouldn’t have been so bad.

They had the same music taste as you, didn’t leave you on seen or read and even laughed at TikToks you sent. Truth be told, you’re going to miss them. And with everyone happening rn, it seems like iso may be reinstated for some of us. Perhaps it was too brave of me to think I’d find my one true love at 2am on a sticky dancefloor with ABBA playing in the background?

And if you’re reading this my iso-relationship buddy, thanks for the good times. Maybe we can give it another go?