Welcome back!
In today’s topic, we will be discussing the lost art of connecting. We live in an age where were are more connected, but that doesn’t mean physicallly. We can be on the internet 24/7, yet haven’t had face to face contact with more than a couple of people. Therefore, it makes sense that even though we have more avaiable tools for connecting with others via social media, we still feel lonely and isolated. Why is this?
In a article written by Laura Entis, show that loneliness has risen in the past few decades and poises the theory that we are more lonely than ever because we don’t grow up with generations surrounding us. Centries ago people lived in the same village and grew up with generations of people around them. (Entis, 2016, para. 12). Today, we have relatives and friends living all around the world. Friendships are formed and replace more easily than ever with social media. So how can we connect again?
One of the ways we can connect to each other more is to be passive about having face to face interaction. Try not to Skype or call, but actually meet in a time and space. We are meant to have physical interaction with others, to see and touch each other. When we are texting or emailing, we don’t have the opportunity to see the other’s persons reaction or hear their voice,. This is why even though you are active in social media you cannot really get to know a person.
According to Dr. Solomon, we can even have small moments of connecting with others though engaging in conversation in any activity we are doing. For example, if you are in line in Starbucks, try to have a conversation to the person in front of you. Or if you are taking public transportation, don’t pull out your phone, but instead try to talk and connect with the people around you. Doing these small acts can be hugely beneficial. “The small talk, the one-minute conversation in line with somebody at Starbucks, the glance across the train when you make eye contact and smile at someone – these moments of contact are micro remedies,” she says. “It reminds us that we’re part of something bigger, we’re connected, we belong.” (Usher, 2018, para. 10).
The second way that you can connect to one another is through making technology work for you. While it is nice to have face to face interaction as much as possible, this cannot always happen. When I was in school, I did a mini research on how long-distance relationship are different than geographically close relationships. Though I didn’t have as much survying that I would have liked, it seemed that the long-distance relationships fared better than the geographically close relationships. This is probably due to the fact the that people in the long-distance relatioship know it will take some effort to stay in touch, while friends you see everyday do not need this effort. Since we have the tools at our disposable, let us use them wisely. Skpe with a friend who you haven’t seen in awhile. This is almost like seeing them in person. Another thing that you can do is to face time them. Really do anything you can to actually see their face, as this will help you connect with them more.
Lastly, writing a letter can be a form of connecting. This isn’t the same as tweeting, instagraming, or emailing. As with all of these you cannot add your personal handwriting. Handwriting is very personal. This is why letters from our ancestors can have a very powerful meaning to us. Even though we are unable to see them or talk to them, what they have written in those letters is almost like a piece of themselves. I personally love writing to the friends I love that I cannot get in touch with as often as I like. I know that even though they can’t see me, seeing my handwriting is almost like me talking.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you have any more suggestions on how to be more connected with your family and friends and people in the world in general, let me know in the comments below.
Have a great day,
Alyssa
Works Referenced:
Entis, L. (2016, June 22). Chronic Loneliness Is a Modern-Day Epidemic. Retrieved June 25, 2018, from http://fortune.com/2016/06/22/loneliness-is-a-modern-day-epidemic/