Quarantine sucks, right? We’re all hunkered down, eating in every night, not traveling or putting on pretty shoes or going to parties or concerts. When we do try to see friends, we’re usually sitting outside in the cold talking about Covid-19. So we can all agree that it’s a super lame time, right?

Or, maybe not.

“I’m an introvert so this time oddly suits me,” says Leigh Abrams, a New York-based copywriter. “There’s zero social pressure to do anything or make plans that you wind up dreading and then ultimately canceling. I get to hang with my husband in my sweatpants and not go into my office. Of course, Covid-19 has totally devastated people’s lives on so many levels, and I’m lucky to still have work and my health. But all things considered, I’m quite enjoying the new day-to-day.” 

For a select few, Covid-19 is not the terrible time we’ve all come to acknowledge as fact. Yep, despite the 2020 memes and viral tweets, these lucky introverts are finding themselves free of social obligations and pants that button. For some, the pandemic has removed a variety of social pressure and anxieties, leaving them feeling a bit relieved.

“The pandemic is by no means a similar experience for everyone,” says Jacqueline K. Furst, a therapist based in New York. “While some people are overwhelmed, depressed or anxious, others are thriving. It’s all normal, as life’s experiences are always layered and complex. It’s important not to assume that even though as a society we are going through a similar experience, that we are all experiencing it as bad or uncomfortable.”

So if you’re one of the few enjoying this dialed back time, live it up. But before you go gloating, remember that it’s not all sweatpants and Netflix. Many many people have lost loved ones to Covid-19, or their jobs. Women are leaving the workplace in droves to care for their kids at home, and the economy is in shambles. By the way, it might be worth looking at your pre-Covid life to see how you can carry some of the same laid-back energy into your post-Covid life. But whatever you’re feeling right now, even if it’s totally confusion, it’s all good.

“There is no normal to coping during the pandemic just as there is no normal way to cope with any crisis,” says Furst. “It’s important to be open to a range of emotions that you feel or have felt during the past eight months without judgement.”