Do you sometimes yearn for the days of yore when there were more personal connections and less technology?
I feel we can all benefit from tucking away our devices now and then...and revisiting some past enjoyments.
1. Play cards. Years ago, my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bob got together with their next door neighbors, weekly, to play cards. Both couples would alternate hosting in their North Bergen, NJ homes...and they did this for years. It was a wonderful way for them to stay connected, and do
something fun while they were enjoying their conversations and simply being together.
It's just as easy to replicate this activity today with your spouse, your neighbors, or other
friends. Maybe once-a-week is too much for today's busy schedules, but an occasional card game could be a fun, nostalgic way to catch up with each other.
You can use a regular deck of cards
to play Rummy, or Pinochle. If younger kids are playing, Go Fish allows flexible player numbers and it's an easy card game for all ages to learn.
Uno is another
popular, easy, fun choice.
2. Break out the board games. When my sister and I were growing up, we'd always play board games, like Life, Scrabble, Clue, Sorry, Trouble, Monopoly...I could go on and on.
I was just thinking that it would be fun, next time we're together, to revisit these!
I also remember playing Trivial Pursuit, when I was in my teens, with my friends. None of us had phones to keep us occupied or distracted. Our attention was on the game and each other. Those were fun times.
Breaking out the board games is just as easy today as it was back when.
3. Storytelling helps to
keep our memories alive and kicking. Enjoy bonding over the "do you remembers?" and "what was that saying of Gran’s?’" Older relatives can be a goldmine of such stories. Pull out old photos as reminders.
4. Page through old photo albums. Speaking of old photos, what better way to revisit the past than to page through old photo albums?
5. Make something...with your hands. When was the last time you made something handmade by knitting,
crocheting, woodworking, or sewing? Relive that creativity with skill swaps and group projects with your better half, your children, friends, and/or family members.
Final creations could be
given as presents or donated to organizations in need, such as blankets from knitted squares for a pet sanctuary.
Today's technology is wonderful, of course. I certainly don't yearn for the days that we didn't have it. But now and then, it's fun to power down. Even if it's for just a few hours...doing so
allows us to slow down, experience a more focused connection with others, and to enjoy an activity we enjoyed in the past and have perhaps not done in quite some time.
