HOW C OVID IS SPOILING THE PARTY FOR BIG MILESTONES
Separation forces rethink on milestone events
TASMANIA’S extended border closure has been tough on families separated from loved ones, but perhaps tougher still on those already at risk of loneliness.
It has been a year of thwarted plans for weddings, major birthdays, big anniversaries and other significant events for many Tasmanians, with many holding out hope they can make up for lost family time over summer.
Sociologist Nicholas Hookway said the inability to mark milestones with loved ones was taking an emotional toll on many, but the impact could be greater still for those already isolated from family and friends.
“Those rituals are really important to that sense of social connection and there are different groups that will be much more vulnerable to loneliness ,” said Dr Hookway, who is a senior lecture rat the University of Tasmania.
“If it becomes harder to coordinate these catch-ups, perhaps that could disadvantage some men because they tend not to be the social choreographer sandmen may need to be skilled up in some of those areas.”
Celebrant Merren Wilkinson, from Cinta Celebrate Love, said it had been an incredibly emotional year for Tasmanians who had been forced to make tough decisions about how to organise events including weddings and funerals.
“The amount of teary phone calls I’ve had over the past few months has been amazing ,” Ms Wilkinson said.
“Coronavirus is teaching us resilience in a really powerful way and it’s teaching us what’s really important in life .”
For many soon-to-be-married couples, that meant reassessing whether a big wedding was what they really wanted.
“C OVID gives people a reason to say ‘Let’s not have 200 people, let’s have 50’, and maybe deep down that’s the way they wanted it in the first place,” she said.
“A lot more people are el oping and some are choosing a more intimate ceremony and then in six or 12 months they’ll have a bigger celebration.
“A lot of people have brought their weddings forward because they want to get on with having babies and others are cancelling everything and saying ‘We’ll have babies first and then get married in a few years’ time’.”
Ms Wilkinson said in some ways COVID had changed the funeral industry for the better, with most homes now set up to provide meaningful livestream services complete with music and photo montages.
“For the first time people who are overseas are getting access to something that is really amazing and great.,” she said. “They can see everything and feel very much apart of it .”
She predicted that if Tasmania’ s border did open before summer, many families would rush to make up for lost time, not by holding mass gatherings or parties, but by spending quality time together at home and in national parks.