During the
course of the Covid pandemic, many people have felt disconnected. I’ve been
thinking about the concept of feeling connected, and of the many connections
people make. Obviously, romantic chemistry can spark an instant connection, but
I’m talking about platonic friendships we form.
I have always felt a bit out of step
with the rest of the world. When I was growing up, I was painfully shy.
Painfully. I did always have friends, but just a few, and I’m told I can be a difficult
person to get to know. When I became a teacher, I discovered that I needed to
be able to string a few intelligent sentences together when I met someone, a parent
for instance, and I learned to, well, fake it. Not that I’m a fake person. I merely learned to make conversation with people I
As for friends, I still only have a few I consider close friends, and I'm very private. I appear to be more comfortable around people, but I am still very shy and I feel out of step in a world to which I dance to my own tune.
Every now and then, I meet someone with whom I just click. Some believe that these are people we knew in past lives or even in Heaven before we came to live on Earth, and it's just a case of one soul recognizing the other one. I have a friend who is a therapist, and she maintains that it just means the person reminds us of someone we already know and like or with whom we've had some positive experience.
Whatever it is, it’s funny how we
feel that connection. I met someone who advertised on Nextdoor that her husband
was thinning plants and that anyone who came by could have some. I’d admired
this yard since I moved into the neighborhood , so I showed up. I discovered they are both delightful, generous
people. And the woman, my friend now, loves mysteries as much as I do, so I’ve
been invited to join her mystery book club as soon as they start meeting again.
We discovered we had a lot in common. Funny how we connected.
Some of my best friendships have
started out that way. Some random meeting. I met a woman who is now a dear friend of mine when she came to speak
to my Sunday school class. We started chatting via email and went out to lunch
a couple of times before Covid shut us down. We text regularly and she’s
been a source of laughter and support to me these past few months.
I’ll always be shy, I think. I just
can’t help it. But I hope I continue these friendships I’ve formed for many
years to come. Even during the stay at home I’ve felt our connection and it’s
kept me from feeling isolated.
Have you ever made a friend easily
and quickly from some random circumstances? Leave an answer in the comments
below.
