Matthew: Many changes, and personal growth...
Introduction:
Matthew is a 40 year-old gay male with Italian ancestry. He works in New York City in the theatre industry, and he has not worked since March 12th: the day that all Broadway shows closed down. Fortunately, he is financially secure, so the pandemic has been a time of self-reflection for Matthew. He's spent much time reading, and he's learned to value his downtime. Typically, the theatre industry is busy and time-consuming, so such downtime had been a rarity before the Covid-19 pandemic hit New York. Unfortunately, most of his friends have temporarily moved away to various locations outside of the city, so Matthew's social life has changed significantly. Feeling alone, he says, has been the biggest down-side of the Covid-19 pandemic. As for Matthew's sex life, it has been largely run into the ground. Because he feels that humans require some amount of intimacy in their lives, around mid-summer, he did have a sexual encounter with a long-time friend. Because he was familiar with that friend's lifestyle, it helped Matthew feel comfortable and safe. He has also reached out to other prospective partners online, and finds himself asking them a slew of new and different questions he might not otherwise have asked before the pandemic, almost as if he is conducting contact tracing. Despite having only a singular sexual encounter since March, Matthew feels that he has become more comfortable with himself and his sexuality. He has been exploring, and has discovered new sexual interests that are less “vanilla” than his previous interests. Overall, 2020 has ushered in many professional, personal, and sexual changes in Matthew's life.
Notable Quotes:
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE OF THE PANDEMIC SO FAR THIS YEAR?
“I remember going on a lunch break down to the stage, just to kind of see the set. And, there was a lot of buzz, a lot of buzz around. And, you know, we still weren't sure, and then when I came back up to the rehearsal room, there was a meeting with myself, the director, the choreographer, all the big wigs at the theatre, and they made the decision not to move forward with the production. And then I remember going back downstairs for something... ...and they were already striking the lights and started striking the set as well, so that's when it really really hit.”
“It's been nice to kinda read through the stack of books that I have on my nightstand, and read more, and value downtime as well. In theatre, we work so hard, we work six days a week, you know, really long hours a lot of the time. So, you know, this has been nice perspective for me. And, on the downside is, you know, you're alone. Alot of my friends who live in New York all decided to kind of spread out.”
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOUR SEX LIFE?
“You know, it's hard. You wanna be safe. You know, so, I think maybe, I've only hooked up once throughout this whole thing, and it was somebody that I knew really well and we were very cautious. And it wasn't even right off the bat, it was like I think in July or August. And it was just, we both were talking about it, and we both just kinda needed it, we needed some sort of connection, because that's what I think I've really lost throughout this is just having connections.”
“But I think too, the benefit of this, I've learned to like myself more in this. You know, I'm much happier and more comfortable in my skin for some odd reason. I'm more bold to try newer things. I've had this kind of enlightenment too. It's like, things are not as vanilla. I'm now into a little bit more interesting things.”