Staying in touch
I find staying in touch with friends difficult at times. It's something I dislike about myself and I am trying to change. It's not as easy as it might sound. Most of my friends live in different cities many hours away. I rarely talk to them and it's only when they come back home for holiday or I get a chance to visit them that I see them in person. I don't really use social media and I don't particularly like phone calls or text messages because I find they make it hard to have a good conversation. With both of them, way too often the main focus of the conversation is to have a conversation and you end up silent, trying to think of a good question to ask next. I feel like the missing piece is something to do together. Seeing the same objects and hearing the same sounds gives you a lot to talk about and you can slowly trail of and find yourself in another though adventure with people care about. This is the reason why recently I have started to play video games again. I jump into a call with my friends and we play for one or two hours. While playing we talk about our lives, what we have been up to and about what's on our mind. Of course just as much time, if not more, is spend strategizing and there still is the occasionally silence, too. But it's not an awkward we-have-to-talk-to-each-other-because-we-are-on-the-phone-right-now-and-who-knows-when-will-talk-next-silence. It's quiet because we are concentrated. And because those few short awkward seconds, when you talk to someone you haven't seen in a while, have long been forgotten. You feel comfortable in their presence and there is no pressure to talk. This is probably not as big as a problem for most people and my solution is not unique at all. But it helps me to spend quality time with people I love and that's what counts :D
PS: If there is a person in your live you value but you feel like you reach out to them enough, now is as good a time as any.
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