OPINION | More is less? How much has our lifestyle changed?

Publisher’s note: Mari Rodríguez Ichaso has been a contributor to Vanidades magazine for several decades. She is a specialist in fashion, travel, gastronomy, art, architecture and entertainment, a film producer and a style columnist for CNN en Español. The opinions expressed in this column are solely his own. Read more opinion pieces at cnne.com/opinion.

(CNN Spanish) — A reflection: today I was talking with my friend Gladys O, who lives in Madrid, and it is curious how the pandemic has affected us in a very similar way even though we live on two continents, very far from each other.

And, interestingly, these changes even include eating habits!

Gladys no longer likes things that she used to love (like chocolate!), and I like less and less things that I used to love every day! At the moment, Japanese food is the only one that “satisfies” me, and if I see an avocado toast (toast with macerated avocado) it will give me an attack. And before they fascinated me. Fried things hardly appeal to me, and I haven’t eaten a beloved croquette for months!

We also commented that we do not feel the slightest desire to have fun at parties or gatherings where alcohol, loud music, laughter and a “party” atmosphere abound. What a bore! Just the idea of ​​a party like this makes me bristle. Although I never really liked them much, not even at 20 years old! And speaking with much younger friends, they tell me that exactly the same thing happens to them. And so they told me when I made this reflection on Facebook and Instagram. The key to all the comments? More is less.

Many of us have changed –and without missing them– customs and routines that used to entertain us a lot. And we prefer simple things and sottovoce. Go to museums, read, and watch series on TV, instead of going to the movies or the theater. And “shopping” has been replaced by shopping online! (Hello Amazon?).

It is very interesting to comment on this, because my friend Gladys and I have been very sophisticated women, very “traveled” and with many interests such as fashion, travel, books, lovers, trendy places and fun gossip. In short, the confinement due to the pandemic, the fear of getting sick (neither she nor I have had covid, luckily), the many cares, the masks, the vaccines, etc., etc., have undoubtedly changed our lives. Not for “bad” but for “different”! For a new normal, more personal and deeper. And maybe even better?

And in my case –without losing my interest in beautiful things and my great interest in everything human– I have narrowed my circle of life. And I share only with a small and very special group where, of course, the family is number one.

I wanted to share this… I don’t know if anyone else feels this way…