THE EASY BUT NOT LAZY GUIDE ON HOW TO:

Level Up Your Friendship

Let’s be alone together — and maybe even know each other better after all of this is over.

We’re all in this together. That’s the phrase I keep hearing over and over from public officials, my boss, and at least four people on Facebook each day.

But… are we?

I can’t help but think of the High School Musical song — which makes me such a millennial. The one person I have not heard that phrase from lately is Zac Efron. Where is he, anyway?

We can’t see our friends right now, which means distance could be making the heart grow fonder — or unfortunately we’re going to drift apart faster than Rose’s door away from the Titanic.

Here are a few tips I’m personally trying out to keep my friendships strong.

The “Advanced” level is my favorite, but we’ll start easy so you’ve got a range of ideas!

Level: Beginner

Ask a question you’ve always wondered

This might sound kind of creepy — but I’m thinking more along the lines of “what dog breed have you always been interested in but never adopted?”, or “what was your favorite thing you did when you visited Australia last year?”.

Think about what you don’t know about your friends… they probably have some in return, and you could tell them that you’re doing this on purpose, or not, and see what happens.

But again, please try to keep the creepy vibes to a minimum, and up the curiosity.

It’s as simple as that — send a text, call them — but it differers from just a simple “how are you?” or “how was your day?” because you’re getting specific.

• Use voice texting… you know that annoying thing you hit all the time when you’re trying to press send? Use it to send a longer message with your actual voice (but that way you’re not committed to a phone conversation, you introvert) instead of getting irritated when you have to type something long out!

Level: Intermediate

Write a handwritten letter

Excuse me? Who doesn’t love mail? I’m not talking about your water bill (that just keeps going up, but you’re not even watering your lawn — am I right?) or that random magazine that keeps sending you catalogues even though you bought a Christmas present for your dad from their company once.

I’m talking about a nice, heartwarming card or letter from someone whose name you’d be happy to see on an envelope.

Choose some nice paper, pick your pen, and sit down to write a letter. Picture your recipient getting it in the mail, and while sorting through all of the junk, smiling genuinely as they flip it over and see your name on the back.

A friend once wrote me an “everything I love about you” note and I still keep it pinned on a board in my bedroom, just because it makes me feel really special!

(Note: If you’re worried about transmitting anything, they can also leave it out for a few days before opening it — or, in the ultimate turn of irony, take pictures of the handwritten letter, and attach them to an email — yes, this might sound dumb, but we have to get creative in these crazy times. That way, at least you’ll both have a copy of the letter, so at the very least you’ll remember what you sent them for once.)

Other ideas:

• Have a Netflix watch party
• Play virtual card games together (they have literally everything out there… uno… reverse!)
• Plan a “spirit” day where you all dress up to a certain theme and video chat for lunch or dinner (dress up as “dad”, “emo night”, and “Tiger King” seem to be huge themes right now on TikTok, but don’t ask me how I know that)

Level: Advanced

Send a care package (you can also use Amazon)

For example, I keep buying really dumb things on Amazon, like 5 pound bags of sour gummy worms. Who needs that many gummy worms?

Not me? Or do I?

I legitimately had to hide half of them from myself so that I wouldn’t just apply 5 pounds to my body in the first week of opening the bag.

If I can buy myself 5 pounds of sugar-soaked gelatin worms, I can definitely buy my best friend 5 pounds of her favorite snack as well.

That’s an extreme example, but if you know your friend loves a certain item, now could be a great time to send it to their address — which is great if you don’t have it with you, and you don’t want to pay for shipping or go out and ship it. Hello, Prime.

What happens if you don’t have their address?

• Rule #1: Refer back to earlier in the article and DO. NOT. BE. CREEPY!

“Oh, I’m just building my wedding guest book” — another excuse you probably shouldn’t use but that’s low-ish on the creep index.

Just ask them! Tell them what it’s for! You’re sending them something.

Make a cute little address book — we don’t really have those these days and it might be kind of fun!

Send them a Book of the Month subscription and start a mini-book club…

Honestly, get yourself a Book of the Month subscription.

I was of the camp that I prefer my Kindle until my friend texted me this the other day:

As you can see, I was just going to get a Kindle sample, but it turns out it’s on pre-order and won’t be out for a while.

Then, when I clicked on Book of the Month, I found five other things I wanted to immediately read.

A hardcover pre-order for $5?

I realized I haven’t owned a hardcover book since Harry Potter. Or Twilight?

I’m not sure I should admit that one.

I’m weak, and I did it.

But, plus side, I’m really happy that I can talk to my friend about my book, and we can bring other people over to the dark side with us.

I’ll let you know how I like the one I chose!

What are your favorite ways you’ve connected with friends and family lately?

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