We may be holed up in our isolation spaces for four months now—doing our best to stay safe and sane, turning back to domestic craftsmanship, setting up small online businesses to make ends meet—and as much as we think we are doing better at adjusting and becoming used to the ‘new normal’, our longing for connection still stings, cuts, and hits hard day by day.
Checking in with someone you hold dear and near through calls, text, or chat is one way to let them know that you care. Communication is our way to feel less lonely and more connected, especially in this challenging time that requires us to physically distance.
As we deliberately plunge into this ‘better’ normal, why not move beyond “how are you doing,” and go for a deeper and more sincere conversation? Why not take part in prejudice-free exchanges we have been shying away from?
Now, more than ever, is the perfect time to scratch the surface to actually see the authenticity of our relationship with others and ourselves. Starting with these questions that invite levity and prompt more serious reflection.
But remember, it is important to listen deeply before and after you ask. You must also remind yourself that you are asking out of genuine curiosity and not obligation.
Questions to strengthen connection and maintain relationship cohesion:
1. How are you taking care of yourself today?
2. What surprising thing have you been stocking up on (that isn’t toilet paper)?
3. What’s a story – from a book, a movie, an article, a conversation – that you’ve been gripped by recently? Why did it capture you?
4. What habit have you started, or broken, during the quarantine?
5. Which specific place in your neighborhood are you most looking forward to visiting once this is all over?
6. What’s the easiest part about the quarantine?
7. What are some things you have realized that you don’t really need?
8. What’s something you own that feels useful?
9. What problem—either yours, or something more global —do you wish you could solve?
10. What’s something that you miss that surprises you? What’s something that you don’t miss that surprises you?
11. Which member of your family/ friend group have you been thinking about the most during this time? Why?
12. What’s the most generous act you’ve seen recently?
13. What’s the last thing you experienced that made you laugh, or cry?
14. What times of the day or the week are hardest?
15. What’s giving you hope right now?
16. What’s the best thing that happened to you today?
17. How do you want this experience to change you? How do you think it will?
18. What do you hope we all learn or take away from this experience?
A deeper and stronger connection with others and ourselves is one of the things we will take away from this experience. How do these questions spark a healthier and sound conversation with others and yourself?
—alike.com.ph
REAL PEOPLE, REAL STORIES. WE COVER PERSONALITIES WHO ARE WORTHY OF MAKING THE HEADLINES. PROFILES, LIFESTYLE, CULTURE, ARTS, LITERATURE, ENTERTAINMENT—TELLING STORIES THAT MAKE US FEEL AND CELEBRATE LIFE. WE ARE ALIKE. FOR STORY PITCHES, PERSONAL ESSAY, LITERARY, AND ART SUBMISSIONS: EDITORIAL@ALIKE.COM.PH
FOR BRANDING AND MARKETING, VIDEO PRODUCTION, AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT — COLLABORATE WITH US: MEDIA@ALIKE.COM.PH
