Dear First name / friends,

I hope you're safe and healthy and eating a delicious biscuit. Don't have a biscuit? Well, you deserve one. Here's an easy and excellent recipe. I made 'em last night and they are dang diggity delicious.

This week I'm sharing a bundle of resources for making new friends and finding magical moments of connection. Two big challenges people say they've been facing during this pandemic are:

1. The loss of pleasant and random conversations with strangers, like we used to have at coffeeshops. 

2. Not knowing how to make new friends when you can't leave the house.

I've got you covered. 

Here's a bunch of truly wonderful ways to do both of those things while staying home (really, please stay home). Just remember: Having a one-off shared moment of connection is different than building a friendship. Building a friendship is gonna require continued attention and lots of repetition. 

So go forth and have fun — and if you want to create a friendship with someone, be brave and say so. If the other person says they want to be friends too, then practice being a champion Follow Up-er Who Doesn't Take The Occasional Cancellation Or Delayed Reply Personally.

Answer the call

If you want to have long, meandering, heart-opening, mind-expanding conversations with a stranger somewhere else in the world — on a phone call, not video — try Dialup (formerly known as Quarantine Chat).

A recent Dialup user said, “Remember that feeling when you were a kid and you just talked to other kids on the playground? Well, this was exactly like that.”

Get a penpal somewhere else in the world

Postcrossing is a project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world. That's real postcards, not electronic. It's easy, free, and a fun way to meet someone very far away (that you might visit one day in the After Times?). I used to do Postcrossing and really liked it. My favorite was my pen pal who lived in The Hague. Just remember, if you're in the U.S. and you're sending postcards internationally, you can't use a regular postcard stamp. International letters and postcards cost the same amount, $1.20.

You can also try out Global Pen Friends, where you can pick a new pen pal according to age, gender, and continent. You can see a mini profile of your new pen pal before you get matched, and voila, you write to each other. 

Get an incarcerated LGBTQ pen pal

For people in prison, receiving letters helps remind them of their inherent value while locked in a system that can be dehumanizing, especially for those who are LGBTQ. If you're called to try this out, make sure you first read this article that shares things to keep in mind such as the importance of being willing to make an ongoing commitment. Then sign up at Black and Pink Penpal.

Or, get a general prisoner pen pal through writeaprisoner.com.

Get a digital pen pal

The app Slowly lets you be a pen pal from your smartphone, instead of snail mail. You choose an avatar and match with someone that shares your interests. Then you write in-app letters to each other. Check it out at slowly.app

If you know someone who would love to hear about these goodies (and surely you do), send this message to them! :)

Know about something else that's worth sharing? Reply and let me know and it might make it into a future newsletter. Till then, enjoy those biscuits.

XOXO,

Kat