Real Connections

Last updated on February 14, 2012

Nine years ago, I moved overseas. It was my first time living alone, the first time being more than an hour from family for more than a few days. Being an introvert by nature, with a tendency towards shyness, leaving alone was no hardship. All my life, I’ve had a few close friends, people who I trust and who trust me. As I’ve lived in each place, I’ve met lots of people. Some I’ve considered friends, and others family. Now I have family of my heart around the world: in India, China, Israel, Nepal, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, St. Lucia, Canada, Japan, Mozambique, Sudan, etc.

Last week, I made a TED Talks style presentation to my students about what matters. I talked about the importance of real connections, and the challenges of building them. I talked of choice, purpose and effort, dedication, caring and commitment and how all of those come into effect when the world is your “home” and your “family” is spread out. I showed screenshots of conversations in Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, iMessage, Skype and expressed the challenges of maintaining meaningful relationships despite long distances.

All the world continues to flatten, and as more and more of us develop a third culture, building real relationships that transcend time and distance is of even greater importance, yet more challenging. When I talk of real relationships, I mean those that stir the heart, engage the mind, affect your life. How do you do it?