Can you believe it’s been three years now since the pandemic hit us all really hard?
With all of the restrictions that have been in place (and in some places continue to be in place) many people are craving true connection. Humans are social beings after all…and isolation is just not sustainable for mental, emotional, or physical wellbeing.
Connection with family, friends, meeting new people, heck just being able to walk into a restaurant without a mask and having the smiling host greet you and show you to your table … it all sounds like such a treat.
Thankfully we are finally seeing hope that this dark period of our lives might have a light at the end of the tunnel.
Many are still a long way from things being back to normal and that craving for connection still weighs heavily on many people.
Being that February is known as the month to celebrate love and it’s also heart health month, I thought I’d share a few insights that have worked for me to ease my craving for connection … I call it “Sharing my Heart”.
Every Wednesday I pick a friend that I have not done a good job of staying in touch with, someone who I really like, but somehow life got in the way and we drifted apart. In some cases it might be just for a month or more, while in other cases it might be years, sadly some are 5 or even 10 years since we connected.
I send them a simple text, or email, or Facebook message, something like:
Hi Friend, How are you?
When they reply, I say “One thing Covid has done is make me realize how many friends I took for granted and because we could always connect anytime, we never did! You are one of those people in my life that I just loved spending time with, but haven’t connected in ages. How about we each grab a drink or coffee this weekend or jump on a zoom call together and hang out for the evening or for an hour … you up for that?”
If they agree, we schedule it and make it happen. Sometimes a few of us jump online together, sometimes it’s just me and an old friend catching up.
I have rekindled so many relationships from this simple exercise; it has been the absolute best part of this ridiculous pandemic.
One of my friends was having a real tough time being in lockdown with her spouse, and she sent him this same message and actually did a zoom date with him from another room where they both opened up about their feelings and frustrations! It sounds crazy I know, but she claims it may have saved their marriage!
If you are craving connection too, I encourage you to go through your phone contacts and pick 1 or 2 or 10 friends and share your heart, it will help with both your mood, your sanity, your connections … and might just brighten your friends day/ week/life too.