All of the songs referencing the telephone are playing in the back of my head.
“Hey, I just met you, and this is craaazy. But here’s my number. So call me, maybe?”
This week I tried something to help me connect with more people, meaningfully. While this might seem contradictory after I warned of the device last week, here is what I did: I picked up the phone.
And by picked up the phone, I picked it up as it was originally meant to be used. To talk.
Given my busy schedule, I find a great time to connect with people is during my commute (using a hands-free device, of course.) I had conversations with people 3 out of 5 working days (it would have been 4, but I hung up on my sister while driving a rental car on Monday. Sorry, Nicci.).
In two of the instances, the calls were planned. I set time with my friends to connect during my drive. My final call was placed on a whim. I was thinking of someone and wanted to tell her I was thinking of her, and much to my surprise and delight, she picked up on the first ring and we had a lovely chat.
I feel more connected to these people than I did before I placed the call. This practice reinforced that we are all yearning for connection – and it’s only one call away. (You see what I did there? I snuck in another song title!)
How often do you pick up the phone to call someone on a whim?
My guess is way less than you might have done 5 or 10 years ago. We’ve become accustomed to texting. You might not even check voicemail, because after all, if someone really wants to reach you, they can text, right? And now that voicemail is transcribed for you, you don’t even have to listen to the message.
Here is my challenge for you. The next time you are thinking of someone and have something you’d like to say to them, pick up the phone and call.
Let me know who you called this week!
At this point, you’ve been with me for 22 weeks. Nearly half of a year. You may feel like you know me, but I might not know you – and I’d like to. Email me (natalie@smalltownleadership.com) and we can set up a time to chat – even if for 5 minutes!
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