For anyone that has bothered to read my posts, you know that I am struggling with coming out of isolation. I had cut myself off from virtually everyone except my wife, two kids, brother, and a cousin.
I am getting back into the swing of things and start working on associating with my local veteran groups and getting back out in public more. However, I want to start touching base with old friends and family again. I am just not sure how to open that door though.
Reflecting on the days gone by and remembering my childhood with cousins and other family members is something I love to do often. I would love to recall those memories with them now that I am getting older. They have families, many of them grandchildren, that I would love to hear about. They have been living lives that I have been missing out on and it pains me to know this.
- Would they want to hear from me?
- Why haven’t they reached out to me?
- Why do I want to reconnect with this person?
These are questions my inner demon often asks me to make me feel uncertain and uncomfortable about reaching out to them. I do know that re-establishing and maintaining relationships is supposed to be an important part of my emotional well-being moving forward. So there is that aspect too.
One fear is that after some time, there may no longer be a connection with them anymore. I may realize we had a short time together and share only a couple of fond memories that have faded with time for us both. That is okay though, because I guess it is just natural for people to just grow apart over time. I wonder if we will still have a strong connection again like we used to have when we were connected regularly before. Will we have grown apart and gone in different directions in life that make us so incompatible that we can no longer stand each other? I hope not.
There is also the possibility they may have similar reasons to me as to why they haven’t reached out and it doesn’t mean they do not want to connect with me and start reflecting on our memories together and even making new ones.
On the other hand, there may be a real connection that is missed with many fond memories. They may also have the same feeling and wish to re-connect as well. They may have been waiting for me all this time and wish to reminisce about old times together as kids running through the woods, or as Marines drinking beers overseas and making fools of ourselves…damn Yanks!
The other thing I ponder on is if I should share with them why I lost touch in the first place. The answer I believe is yes. Recently I have found that being upfront about one’s past is one of the most freeing feelings there is. I think apologizing for losing touch with them would be helpful as well. I do worry though if they will not be responsive and how that will make me feel. It may hurt a little at first, but I should not take it personally because like all of us anymore, they more than likely lead busy lives. There is also an awkwardness that time creates to reconnecting that is hard to explain.
Another issue that concerns me is the divisive nature of social media today, most of my family and old friends I have connections with are on Web2 social media, like Farcebook. Being that it is the nature of social media today that it feeds such divisive behavior, I wonder if I can even reestablish connections with someone if I even have a couple of differences with them. I know years ago those small differences like politics and stuff would not have mattered, but now they can be deal breakers online.
I know I am always willing to listen to different opinions and perspectives, so reestablishing these connections with people on my part should not be a problem. I just hope others feel the same way. I have always found that getting to common ground will be the best way forward with those that seem to struggle with some of my beliefs or stances, so we will see.
The one thing I would like to do is plan to start reaching out to people. I would like to plan to reach out to at least one person per day that I haven’t communicated with in a long time. Maybe making a list, reach out to them via phone, text, Farcebook, or other means. See how things go and let nature take its course. This should be manageable, and even if not, I can always adjust to it. Maybe I can even do more each day, who knows.
I often think about starting to collect some memories and record them for my kids and possibly grandkids in the future. I think reflecting with these friends and family would be a great opportunity to collect these memories for a personal notebook to share with the kids down the road. I would love to create something that would be more of a lasting piece of history for future generations.
Well, I do hope you were patient enough to stay with me thus far through my rambling tonight. I started working on this post in the morning and finally finishing it up tonight for posting tomorrow. By the time you read this, hopefully I have reached out to my first family member or friend and started reflecting on our time together. Maybe I might even share some of those discussions here.
Thanks.
Joe
Note: Image source Canva.com
100% of this post’s rewards goes to the @vetfunding account which supports veterans worldwide on Hive. Don't forget to invest in CAV token to help Veterans around the world get their needs met.
There will always be reasons to not do something. Our impulses will most likely even tell us we shouldn’t even consider it.
We do it anyway when we want to make progress. Sneaking a toe over the line into the game is easy when we are not solely focussed upon winning the championship.
If you can keep it simple (not have to box it up into an editorial project and memoir for example) and enjoy the process, much of the rest has a way of taking care of itself.
I will repeat insensitively to stop taking yourself so seriously (as I constantly tell myself) and keep it light.
“I am just making time to touch base with friends I have lost direct connection with for 1 reason or another.” Open-ended question.
It is as much about them as it is you and some won’t be in the right place to reconnect. Don’t let it deter what you are going to do.
Our connections with other organisms in the universe, friends, plants, cats, is our only real purpose for existing. So have fun existing!
Yeah, I plan to keep it real simple and just take somenotes for things that stick out in a notebook or in a Word document or something. Nothing fancy. Nope, not taking myself too seriously at all, just sharing my usual daily and weird thoughts and reflections. My "demon" is what wants me to take myself seriously.
You and me both brother.
Great self therapy! Always a good idea to reconnect (unless it the ex wife!) I've been putting together a lot of memories for my children, things I wish my parents and grandparents had done for me. I still use Facebook sparingly and share almost nothing for a few of those friend and family who are living in the past still, social media is a huge double edged sword. It's causing so many unnecessary rifts in the country and the world brother!
Well, I don;t have oen of those ex-wife thingies, but I understand why one might not want to reconnect possibly😀. Definitely agree about the rift "social" media is causing.
You don't want one of those thingies, bad news....
No, I am happy with the one I've had for 30 plus years now.
Good for you! You must have chosen wisely brother!
!PGM
BUY AND STAKE THE PGM TO SEND A LOT OF TOKENS!
The tokens that the command sends are: 0.1 PGM-0.1 LVL-0.1 THGAMING-0.05 DEC-15 SBT-1 STARBITS-[0.00000001 BTC (SWAP.BTC) only if you have 2500 PGM in stake or more ]
5000 PGM IN STAKE = 2x rewards!
Discord
Support the curation account @ pgm-curator with a delegation 10 HP - 50 HP - 100 HP - 500 HP - 1000 HP
Get potential votes from @ pgm-curator by paying in PGM, here is a guide
I'm a bot, if you want a hand ask @ zottone444
I did for sure.
the technology and means of communication these days are truly advantageous, although the rise of social media does form quite the distraction, especially to the younger generation, when it comes to actually getting out and making a more personal approach to connections, hope every day becomes manageable and meaningful. thanks for sharing your article about this 😌
https://d.buzz
I think social media can be a great tool for communication, but on the Web2 side it is abused by the companies who own the platforms and force feed people content that is in the best interest of advertisers and not for critical thinking people.
One thing is for sure... The Larger a Family Grows, they Further apart they become... I now have Relatives, I'm not even aware of... Childhood memories are always great to hold onto...
That seems to be my family now. Yes, those memories re great to hold onto.
I would want to re connect, so why not the ones in your past. Send them a copy of this blog , they cannot say no.
Again honesty is best !
Veteran love is everywhere and you did your share. This was on Newark airport
That is a really good idea. I have already reached out to a cousin on FB messenger. waiting for a response.
That is a neat wall at the airport. Nice of them to honor veterans in that way.
Congratulations @coinjoe! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 3000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
Thank you.
That's great @coinjoe! We're impressed with your progress on Hive! Keep going and reach your new target!
You received an upvote of 5% from Precious the Silver Mermaid!
Please remember to contribute great content to the #SilverGoldStackers tag to create another Precious Gem.
Thank you.