This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

In March 2020, a few weeks after COVID-19 lockdowns began in the US,

we ask listeners to send us voice memos

about their experiences of the pandemic.

We recently went back and listened to those messages,

each one a tiny time capsule of life in a world under lockdown.

Listeners told us about the stress of trying to find toilet paper and masks.

They talked about the challenge of trying to work over Zoom and more than anything

they grappled with the sudden shocking ways in which their lives had become smaller and

more isolated. I don't know if I could live with myself if I was stuck here and something were to happen to my grandma.

And this is especially a parent when I found out that I could not visit my father in his

independent living facility. My older sister gave birth to her son. We weren't

able to be with her at the hospital, nor have we been able to see him. In those early days of the pandemic, so many of us found ourselves dreaming about what it would be like when we could once again

hug friends and family outside our immediate household. We fantasized about the

moment when we could enjoy going out to a restaurant or a music venue. We told ourselves that we would not take those moments for

granted once we had them back. And indeed the first time I got to see relatives overseas and enjoy dinner out with

friends, it was truly amazing. The second time was pretty great as well. But after a while, that magical feeling inevitably started to fade no matter how hard I tried to hold on to it.

We see this in many dimensions of our lives.

So many love stories end at the We see this in many dimensions of our lives.

So many love stories end at the point at which

great romantic quests are consummated.

Stories that follow lovers past the wedding day

...