The pandemic is restricting. One important way that I’ve been flourishing during the semi-quarantine has been to reach out to friends – by phone and Zoom – both old friends and new ones. Ironically, at this time of social isolation, I’ve made more new friends than at almost any other time of my life. This has been fun, but not really easy, and it’s been out of my comfort zone.
One approach I’ve used has been to contact ex- or old friends, from another time in my life. They are great candidates to become new and active friends. When I called a friend from 40 years ago to wish him a happy birthday, he was excited. It didn’t matter that he lived far away. The time gap melted away.
Through my business I reached out to meet totally new people on LinkedIn. This approach is not just for young people. I chose people if their profiles looked interesting and they were in the ballpark of being my age. Although LinkedIn does not state people’s ages, it frequently tells their year of graduation from college or years of their first job. I did the math.
I used LinkedIn’s messaging capability to ask them a question after I’d connected with them. For those that answered my question, I followed up through messaging additional questions or starting conversations. I invited the friendliest of them to a Zoom meeting, and we now had a dialogue going on. Some of these business relationships developed into friendships.
I’ve also found an entirely different group of people who are candidates for being good friends. These are people I know a little and have liked but have never gotten around to being friends. I’ve recently reached out to a few of them. I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed developing those relationships.
It took some courage to reach out. I was vulnerable to rejection. It reminded me of dating, which in my case happened a long time ago. But through reaching out I found my life partner and best friend, Lucy Rose. We’ve been married almost 55 years now.
Who can you reach out to?