Last summer I was talking with my friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time.  She was catching me up with her life, and as I asked follow-up questions about one of the things she had going on, she looked at me kind of funny and told me I had commented on her Instagram post about that very thing, so surely I knew about it.  But you know what?  Embarrassing to admit, but I didn’t remember it one bit.  Somehow in the act of scrolling copious amounts of pictures and leaving comments here and there, I had gone through the act of “connecting” but I wasn’t really “connected.”  I don’t think I’m alone in this, I think that type of thing is happening so much more in our world of tech-connecting rather than personal connecting.

There is something so important to the human soul that comes only from personally connecting.  I know that sounds old fashioned, but even talking for real on the phone rather than texting is so much more real and deep in my opinion.  We live in such a fast paced world that we sometime feel connected when really we’re getting more and more disconnected every day.

I’m not saying social media doesn’t connect, because it does and totally serves a purpose.  I have loved learning and connecting here on this blog for so many years.  I love that it connects me with my kids who are far away and with extended family and friends I don’t get to see as often as I’d like.  I love that through the years I’ve been able to feel a real connection with blog readers who make me think.  I love Marco Polo to know what my extended family is up to, I love seeing what friends are up to through their Instagram posts (and generally I do remember most of the things going on:)

But I don’t think we can ever underestimate the power of pushing a little extra to connect with others in a personal, real-life way

I mentioned back HERE that our family goal is “CONNECT” this year…it’s our “one word.”  I mentioned this in my I Am Mom summit talk, and also back in these “7 Motherhood Ideas I love” post back HERE, but one way I love to connect is a good lunch date with kids.  It would be easy for this little tradition to die out once kids hit junior high and high school…just trickier to get them out of school and hustle to get them back in time.

But I love that these girls still want to meet up.  Love looking across the table at this face:

And this one too:

(Oh how I’ll miss that face next year!!)

I’ve been going on this motherhood gig long enough that I realize a good thing when I see it.  And a text from your daughter wondering if you can take her to lunch and your day happening to be able to fit it in is a “good thing.”

Even if you’re still in your workout clothes 🙂  
Lu and I had a great date a few weeks ago too, and I’m so sad because our picture got lost in the process of my phone fiasco (it just randomly died one day). A lot of other pictures got lost too.  Some documenting the most gorgeous rainbow I’ve ever seen among other things.  But maybe it’s better that I don’t have that many more pictures to file and label because I’m drowning in those these days.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Instead I’ll put these pictures of Lucy doing a little bit of connecting herself:

She took in the fact that Claire had kids over to make heart-shaped pizzas on Valentine’s (back HERE) and she carefully crafted her own pizza-making night the evening after.

She is a good connector I tell you.  She lassoes her social agenda quite well.  
And it fills up my heart in this vast world of disconnection.  
Which makes this little quote I want to include a little funny because I took it from a screenshot directly from that tech-connecting-world.  (Yes, there are so many good things that can come from social media!  We just need to make sure it doesn’t take place of the real-life connection.)  This quote came through on my friend’s instagram and I had to screen shot it because it made me think:
I’m re-writing part of that here to emphasize how beautiful it is:

“Connect with people who make you feel deeply.  

Connect with the moments that bring tears to your eyes.

Connect with the things that make your hands shake, embrace the things that make you aware of just how lucky you are to be alive.  

Please, just connect — because beautiful things are vanishing each and every day.  

Do not let your heart become one of them.”
–Bianca Sparacino
Yes, connection is what it’s all about.  
And I believe the talking, being-with-each other, PRESENT kind of connection must be sought after and fought for more than ever in this world of ours.  The hugs, the drives, the calls, the bedtime tuck-in, the after-school-chats, the moments basking in beauty “being there” with no computer or phone anywhere in sight are what will bring us the most happiness in life.

2 Comments

  1. In general, I agree with all of the above. But maybe you also forgot about your friend's thing, because you seem to have a bazillion friends (running into friends everywhere you go) and it must be impossible to remember everything.

  2. Hello! I've been reading your blog for years and love it! Just wanted to say I'm a software developer and read your previous post about switching over to wordpress. Let me know if you wanted any assistance. I would also suggest google photos for you! It's an app that works on iphone/android and automatically sends any pic you take to the cloud so you'll never lose them and it's free. I like it because you can search your images. I searched "couch" the other day looking for pics of my couch and it found all the pics I had that have a couch in them. Also has facial recognition. Just like sharing tech hacks 🙂

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