ABOUT THE PROJECT:

One year after COVID was officially declared a pandemic, many of us feel like we’re “hitting a wall.” We’re not just tired of the ever-present dangers and restrictions of COVID-19, but feel like our lives are at a standstill — and more chaotic and desperate than ever. As the vaccine rolls out (however chaotically), people are slowly getting the protection they need against the disease and cases have declined sharply, but we are far from out of the woods. We are receiving very mixed messages on whether it’s safe to socialize, travel, and do activities such as indoor dining, so we’re pretty much left to our own devices and basing many of our decisions on how safe we “feel.” The national state of mental health is worse than ever. This series of stories is about finding a path forward, however imperfect, among this landscape. There’s no one panacea or “light at the end of the tunnel,” but eventually we can turn all of this desperation and despair into forward-thinking and try to build a new future. Together, we’re going to look back at the strange year it’s been, how we’re dealing with the pandemic “wall” today, and what’s next.

After A Year Of Isolation, Are Introverts Doing Okay?

At the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of introverts were more than happy to be inside with the company of their own thoughts and Netflix for long periods of time. But it’s been so long. Are they still okay with all this increased alone time? We’ll talk to self-described introverts about what the past year has been like for them, and whether anything’s changed in their outlook.