Lockdown has got many of us feeling hot under the collar and frisky between the sheets. To find out how lockdown has impacted our love and lust lives, I’m getting intimate with interviews.

Dougie (male), 29

What is your relationship status?

I’m in an open relationship.

Describe your love life in one word.

Fulfilling.

Who have you been quarantining with?

Certainly not a woman. Just my two dogs and me.

Has the lockdown impacted your sex life, if so – how?

It has, very much so. I’m immuno-compromised so I have zero contact with anyone. I went from having sex regularly to having none and that’s rough.

Have any of your desires/fantasies changed during the lockdown?

I don’t believe that they have. If anything, I’ve learned more about what I’m into and have explored these things further.

Describe your lockdown experience in three words.

Frustrating yet enlightening.

What have you missed the most about normal life?

I’m not much of a social person, I don’t get out and go to bars or anything like that I’m usually busy with work. But I do miss going to do the things I take for granted: going to the gym, a restaurant, going grocery shopping – it’s definitely different now.

What coping mechanisms have you adopted during the lockdown?

For me, it’s all about keeping busy. I’ve been dedicating more time to certain hobbies and passions to see if they’re something I’d want to pursue more often. As silly as it sounds, reconnecting with my dogs – those two are rotten but my best friends. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don’t get to spend as much time with them as I would like, so them constantly being by my side and getting into trouble and just being around has definitely helped me to get through this. And they seem to like it, too, so no complaints.

Has the pandemic changed the way you approach love and romantic relationships?

Uh, not necessarily, no. If anything, it has allowed me to find others who share the same mindset as I do. I live in a city but it’s quite small and being in lockdown and finding new ways to socialise and communicate with others has meant I’ve met people – whether it’s three hours away in another state or 3,000 miles over in Europe. It’s been quite amazing and allowed me to establish real connections that I otherwise wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for this lockdown. It doesn’t change the way I approach love and relationships but it has changed the way I go about meeting new people.

What are your hopes for love after lockdown?

Damn, you created hard questions, didn’t you?! I hope people have taken this lockdown, this quarantine, this “new normal” and have used this time to look inward and discover who they are, discover what they want out of life, out of love, out of relationships. I think we’ve fallen into the tropes of trying to please everyone, of trying to mould our image in a way that we feel other people will find acceptable and attractive and it really takes away who we actually are as people. With this lockdown and being unable to put on that fake personality, or those fake smiles, I truly hope people have learnt to find themselves and get comfortable in their own skin. And from here on out, when things do get back to normal, I hope people exude that new confidence in themselves and I think people will form stronger, longer-lasting and better relationships with each other.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash