If you've been feeling lonely / isolated lately, and you're lacking the time/energy/spoons to do something like joining a club or an activity, a low effort / stakes / spoons thing to do to connect with people more is just taking pictures of cool / neat / pretty things you encounter in your day to day life and sending it to your friends / family / associates with a little caption about it.
I learned this from my cousins after they moved abroad. It was their quick, easy, low stakes method of reconnecting / staying connected with family, like if they went for a bike ride by a lake taking a picture and sending it to us like "went for a bike ride by the lake today and the lake was so pretty!".
When I'd been feeling pretty isolated because a chronic fatigue condition was making going out and socializing too exhausting for me, and one of my cousins sent one of their messages, it was a big lightbulb moment like "hey wait a second, why don't I just do this to stay connected with the people I've been drifting from since this chronic fatigue condition has been keeping me from spending as much time with people as I'd like?" and I did.
I'd take pictures of wildflowers and send it to people with a little "look at this cool wildflower I saw today, it smelled so good", and doing this with cats, and birds, and whatever cool or pretty or interesting things I'd encounter during my day. Maybe sometimes doing this with interesting dishes / culinary projects, you get the drift.
I'm not saying it was a complete replacement for actually going out and spending time with people, but it was amazing how much of a difference it made in how isolated vs connected I felt, and subsequently the difference it made in my mental health.
It might seem like a really obvious thing to some, but if you're struggling with the types of ailments that can lead to isolation, either physical or mental, it's incredible how easy it is for "obvious" solutions to escape you. It's low effort, low spoons, the majority of people like seeing or hearing about cool or pretty or interesting things, and it says "hey, I'm thinking of you and you still matter to me" without having to come right out and say it.
blakekathryn
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