A Web of Connections
MARSHAE SUN
Connecting when it’s not really safe to be around others can be difficult for many, though I have been lucky in that regard. I’m very introverted and a homebody, which has made it easier for me to stay put than for most, so I have and continue to do so as much as possible. I’m also fairly tech-savvy, making it easy to embrace the many advancements we have versus what was available during the last major pandemic in 1918. Chief among them is, of course, the internet, but the advancements that come with cellular technology have also played a huge role in our ability to be connected with others during this time.
There are a plethora of online apps for video chatting. In my house, we’ve used Zoom for everything from church to birthday parties to extracurricular classes. We Skype with Grandma and Grandpa and FaceTime with Nainai and Yeye (Mandarin for Grandma and Grandpa). The boys use Google Meet for classes and Facebook’s Messenger Kids or Discord to hang out with friends.
Beyond that, I meet weekly with my friends from college to roleplay on Roll20, which, besides video or voice chat, provides a nice platform for maps so we can all look at the same things, tokens the players can be allowed to control or not as needed, and dice-rolling features. If we don’t have enough people or ideas for roleplay, we chat on Discord and use Board Game Arena, Tabletopia, or Tabletop Simulator to play various board games instead.
My kids play Minecraft or Roblox with their cousins or friends while chatting on Discord or Messenger, or just send crazy GIFs back and forth.
Further, I use social media — mostly Facebook and Instagram — to keep up with what’s going on in the lives of my friends. I have spent time on group texts or Facebook Messenger having chats with friends.
One even more tech-savvy friend has a server and found a game called Empty Epsilon that we’ve gotten on Discord and played together a number of times.
In some ways I have been less isolated than before; I no longer need to arrange childcare because I’m not leaving the house. I don’t have to account for drive time and activity time, and I also don’t have to do as much shuffling to accommodate other activities or others’ activities. Particularly in regards to my college friends, the extra time we’ve had not needing to go out and do stuff has let us connect better than we have in a long time. We’ve been trying to find a way to get together once every month or two to roleplay for over two years, and there’s always someone who has something going on. Since March, we have played nearly every week in spite of not even all being in the same state.
All in all, much easier than getting by with snail mail and maybe a telephone the whole house has to share.
Marshae Sun is a stay-at-home mother of two who loves to craft and listens better with her hands busy. She loves Marvel films, tabletop RPGs, and chocolate.