Be Open to a New You

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You may feel especially lonely if you lost a community you used to identify with—maybe because you were furloughed, or because your homeschooling pod of mama friends broke up when half the group ignored the rules. “Your social identity is a core part of who you are,” says Groarke, so it hurts extra hard when you need to make a shift. But keep in mind: “People can hold multiple social identities, so the loss of one does not equal the loss of all,” she says. How has your self-perception changed since the start of the pandemic? Did you become more active in different causes? Start doing more YouTube yoga for a dose of zen? Good. “Become more involved in groups that speak to who you are as a person now,” Groarke says.