“Rememberthat time we made the six-hour drive to Sunday River ski hill and it took twelvehours to drive back in that huge snow storm?” 

I was recallingthis recently with a friend with whom I shared this unexpected and unwelcome experience after a two-day ski trip in Maine. On return, as we crossed the Canada-U.S.border in St. Stephen, the border officer looked at us as if we were daft tobe on the roads during the blizzard. It was daft, but there are fewopportunities to stop between Bangor, Maine and Saint John, New Brunswick.Especially in early winter, when many seasonal properties are closed. Once onestarts on the journey, one is committed. 

This remainsa memorable experience for me and my friend Paul. Shared experiences like thesecreate bonds, break down barriers, and can provide laughs for years.  

Furtherbelow I’ve provided a gift article about a school crossing guard who builds experiencesand community connections.

CreatingShared Experiences

My sister Janetmaintains a blog titled Carefull Connections (https://carefullconnections.blogspot.com/) focused on supporting people,especially family, with memory and cognitive issues.  The lessons apply much more broadly. In thepost linked below she writes about creating shared experiences, and how weoften later joyfully recall these. Drop her a message at the blog if you findthe content useful.

Any of uscan remember often silly, but often significant, events that happened with afriend or family member.  We’ll usuallystart sharing those stories with “remember that time …”  It’s difficult to encounter such experiencesin an online environment.

 https://carefullconnections.blogspot.com/2023/01/connecting-in-visit.html

BuildingCommunity and the Role of Social Media

Is socialmedia effective in enabling us to form community? I believe it is somewhateffective and helpful, but not a substitute for face-to-face communication, andnot for conducting difficult conversations.

The articlebelow professes that “social media is the refined sugar of social interaction.”That’s about right, isn’t it?  And toomuch refined sugar is unhealthy for humans.

Face-to-facecommunication requires skills that are difficult, and likely impossible, torefine online.  Online communication isconvenient, but not a substitute for face-to-face, which is more complex andnuanced, and requires a listener to process tone, vocal quality, facialexpressions and body posture. 

Perhaps thesedays people lack confidence in their ability to manage face-to-face socialinteraction. 

See https://theconversation.com/why-our-screens-leave-us-hungry-for-more-nutritious-forms-of-social-interaction-142019

Maybe SeriouslyUnhealthy?

In a similarmanner, too much online communication can be unhealthy for humans.  Studies are available that document InternetCommunication Disorder (ICD).  Thepassage below is from the abstract of a 2016 academic article

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-59883-001

“Online communication applications such as Facebook,WhatsApp, and Twitter are some of the most frequently used Internetapplications. There is a growing amount of individuals suffering diminishedcontrol over their use of online communication applications which leads todiverse negative consequences in offline life. This could be referred to asInternet-communication disorder (ICD)”

ACrossing Guard Who Builds Community Connections

Please enjoymy gift article from The Toronto Globe and Mail about a crossing guard who turnsa cold intersection into a place of warm connection.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/ed62f13db6b8f227d6585f7e68e07fff92b35a03f48ff37120f1c7e6ff76930b/2ODYK6S3LZCFRAXCINRKK2LKL4/