As you sit on Zoom for what seems like an endless number of hours each day, longing for the embrace of a friend or partner, you may find yourself wondering, “Will this pandemic  permanently change me?” “Will my ability to form relationships be altered forever?” or “Will I find future physical contact too overwhelming?”

Imagine you’re relaxed in bed, string lights aglow, watching a movie with a glass of wine when your worst fear of living with a couple suddenly happens: You hear slapping noises. A high-pitched “daddy.” Moans emanate from the bedroom all the way across your hallway, even though both bedroom doors are shut.

Last spring, Professor Chandan Reddy noticed a common theme popping up in his reading about COVID-19.

“When the pandemic was really setting in as a reality in the United States, by as early as March, I began seeing a number of newspaper articles and opinion columns, advice columns that were asking about how to have casual or anonymous sex ... duing the pandemic,” Reddy said. “Whether they could have casual sex, whether that would be risky.”

I can envision a line that separates my life from its purpose. On one side, I’m younger and I don’t know much about anything; I care about my friends and their happiness, even as time closes eras and forces disconnect. On the other, I’m mature and I’ve been places; I’m someone’s partner and I no longer fear the idea of togetherness as just two people.

If Instagram is your favorite platform, you are very, very average. Exceptionally so. This is reflected in your sex life. You’ve probably mostly had sex within a relationship, the kind where you post a less than flattering photo of your significant other captioned “my whole world” to celebrate nine months, which, frankly, is a weird milestone to celebrate outside of pregnancy.