From: The Wall Street Journal
What to Expect When You Reconnect With Friends in Person
Ready to see your friends again?
The process may be more complicated than you think.
Many of us haven’t seen even our closest friends for more than a year. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and it can be overwhelming to think about where to start.
While we’re excited about these reunions, it helps to manage our expectations: Some friends may have had a harder year than we knew and may need support just as we’re ready to move on from the pandemic. We need to brace ourselves for conversations that may take significant mental energy, at a time when our emotional bandwidth is already running low. And we should be ready to address hurt feelings—“Where were you?”—on either side.
“We’ve all been through so much. We’re all so raw. And there is a strong sense of longing,” says Marissa King, a sociologist and professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management, who studies social networks. “This combination makes for a really emotional reconnection.”
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Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Wall Street Journal
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