Finding Meaningful Connection in a Time of COVID

This year has been a strange one for all of us. Family and social connections in particular have been missed due to the pandemic. Technology has helped that in some ways but video calls just aren’t the same as in person. I wanted to share a few ways my friends have been staying connected in meaningful ways despite these challenges.

One thing we have done is have a weekly game night via zoom using Jackbox. Jackbox is a game system that allows you to play board game type games virtually with friends. It’s not quite the same as a board game night but it does have a similar feel. We have just set a weekly time and anyone in our orbit who is free and wants to join is welcome. It’s a slightly different group each week, which makes it a bit more interesting. Jackbox doesn’t have an unlimited number of games but it has enough to keep them interesting, especially with the group dynamics changing a bit each week based on who joins in.

Embracing outdoor gatherings despite cold weather. Most of our local friends (us included) have worked towards being able to see people outdoors even when it’s cold out. Most of us have fire pits or porch heaters set up. Personally I bought a wearable sleeping bag off Amazon that is delightfully warm (See here). And we have all learned how to make warm alcoholic drinks to share with guests like Hot Toddies and mulled cider/wine. There’s a Norwegian saying that we are really trying to embrace that says “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.”

As a sub-category to outdoor gatherings, we have started having outdoor competitions. The first one we did was the Fall Olympics. It was inspired by one of our friends who loves the olympics and was sad that they had been postponed. We met up at a park pavilion and everyone brought their yard games and some food and we had a picnic and competed against each other. There was an opening ceremony as well as medals for the winners. We all dressed like a country. It was in many ways a very silly event, but who doesn’t need silly right now? On another occasion some friends used tape and cardboard to turn their entire backyard into a 9 hole mini-golf course. We scrounged up enough putters so several pairs of people could golf at a time and made a day of it. We plan to hold more of these silly days in the future, though maybe not in the dead of winter. Even the planning is a lot of fun. We have found the whimsy is good for the soul.

Another thing we have been doing is something we are calling “Ding Dong Dish” which is leaving baked goods, food, or crafts on our friend’s porches for them. With it being around the Holidays there have been a lot of baked goods but one person also made homemade hand warmers for everyone. Another person made Christmas ornaments and let their toddler decorate them. There aren’t really any set rules to Ding Dong Dish, it’s more just a way to let our friends know we’re thinking about them even when we can’t be with them in person. And hopefully it brightens everyone’s day a bit.

If you are a video game fan there are also a number of ways to play video games with friends while also being on voice calls with them. My husband played video games occasionally before but this year it’s become an important way for him to socialize. They use a platform called Steam and sometimes a platform called Discord for this type of thing.

Pranks! But like nice ones. This is a fun way to bring whimsy into this time period of our lives. Whimsy isn’t always appropriate, but we all need a good laugh from time to time and we’ve found pranks to be a good way to do this. For instance, we once hid on a friends porch and used their wifi to cast the song Tubthumping by Chumbawumba onto their TV. Pretty harmless, but we all had a good time. We also have been swapping a ceramic dog statue back and forth with some friends. One such exchange involved our friends baking said dog statue into a cake and leaving it on our porch for us. I am not encouraging mean pranks. Be kind to one another.

Last year, even before the pandemic started here, we decided to do a reading challenge with our friends and it has proven to be another good way to connect with people from a distance. We wanted to encourage each other to read more without making it disheartening for those that don’t read as much. What we came up with is a $5 buy in per person which at the end of the year goes towards Half Price Books gift cards. The gift cards are raffled off and each book you read throughout the year gets you an entry into the raffle. So reading more books is encouraged but people who read less still have a chance. To record all of this we made a google spreadsheet and gave everyone a tab to keep track of what they have read. One thing we hadn’t anticipated was how much fun it’s been to look through other people’s lists. You can see what your friends are reading and talk about books you’ve both read or ask for recommendations. It’s been a great way to stay connected, particularly since the last year has offered so much time stuck at home for reading.

We are still exploring some other ideas, so I may do a follow up post later on if we find some other good ones. I’d love to hear what things you all have been doing to stay in contact with friends and family despite the physical distances. Stay safe everyone!