Connecting with People After the Holidays
The holidays are over, the new year toasts are done, and everyone is, for better or worse, back to the daily work grind. When we all go back to the day-to-day, it can be hard to remember to connect with your friends, families, and partners.
When the holiday season is upon us, we have lots of parties and events to attend, not to mention incredible dinners, that give us easy opportunities to connect (or reconnect) with people we enjoy. But what can you do when those parties are gone, but you still want to stay connected? Or perhaps you reconnected with someone over the holiday time and you’d like to keep that flame going.
To help you figure out how to stay in touch and not let yet another year pass you by (because you blink and poof a year is gone!), we curated some of our favorite tips for staying connected with those you care about. Have some of your own ideas? Please share in the comments!
Have better conversations
Keeping connections going all starts with having better communication. This is especially true if the friendship or relationship you want to nurture is long distance. Communication is key! And TED Talks are a great way to get at the heart of how to communicate better.
We really like the TED talk on 10 Ways To Have A Better Conversation. It gives some simple and concise advice for those who may need it.
If you think that staying connected on social media or with other devices might be enough to nurture your relationships with family members, the next TED Talk might change your mind. Sherry Turkle tackles the all-too-common feeling of being connected, but alone.
Having awareness of connection
Connecting with people is about much more than simply sending a short text every day or so. To really connect and nurture our relationships with friends and others, we have to express and be open to a great deal of vulnerability.
This excellent article from Harley Therapy gets at the heart of it all. They talk about checking in on trust, empathy, and provide readers with some easy ways to make sure they are really connecting with others.
Keep the social events going
If you miss the holiday parties, then take the initiative to host a game night! Keep the social activities going long after the holiday season and start a monthly game night or potluck. And if you want to give people the opportunity to connect with you, or other attendees, set out How Do You See The World? and let people ask and answer the questions. Designed to help people connect with themselves and others, the game is sure to nurture connections well into the new year.