That is, probably, the most important video I have ever seen. A 75 year scientific study that can be backed up with hard data. Successful relationships with family and friends is, by far, the most valuable things that we have.

  • Eq0@literature.cafe
    12·
    3 days ago

    The more I get older the more i think friends are underrated. As teens, with fleeting romances, the friend group was everything. Then more and more people would grow up and stop the friends to make more room for a partner. Now in my 30s I am spending quite some conscious effort to revive old friendships and forge new ones. It’s not as easy as it used to be, but a partner is not everything! It’s just one tile in the mosaic of life.

    • untidy_configuration@beehaw.org
      5·
      3 days ago

      It’s definitely a challenge to navigate friendships throughout the different phases of life.

      As a teen I was naive in placing so much importance on friendships. The experience was totally worth it, but almost impossible to reproduce after that naivety is gone. I think most people eventually learn that friends come and go and stop doing that, especially during the raising kids/making money phase of life.

      In my early 30s, I realized my work buddies weren’t going to remain friends after we stopped working together, and I became nostalgic for the friendships of my youth. I tried to form some new friendships via interest groups, but it seemed as though friendships had become as ephemeral as Facebook friends. Probably a sign of the time.

      Now, in my mid 40s, I am facing an empty nest soon and expect to be able to invest some time into a group and form some new friendships. But it doesn’t help that I live in a conservative area that doesn’t have many intellectual or techy people. I will probably end up driving to a big city for a once or twice a month meeting.

      It can be discouraging, but I think it’s important to keep trying to find people to connect with. Not doing so would be really bad for your health and wellbeing.

      • Chris Remington@beehaw.orgOPM
        3·
        2 days ago

        But it doesn’t help that I live in a conservative area that doesn’t have many intellectual or techy people. I will probably end up driving to a big city for a once or twice a month meeting.

        Soon I will have to be doing the same. It’s a little over an hour drive one way. Do you have any recommendations about how to find an interest group?

        • untidy_configuration@beehaw.org
          3·
          2 days ago

          There is a LUG and an Emacs group in a city 1 hr away from where I live. I’ve been on the LUG’s mailing list for a while. I keep an eye out for blog posts from the Emacs meetup. I found out about these groups a long time ago… not sure how. I used to work in that city.

          You could watch the public library event calendar, or even create your own event at the public library and maybe start a new group with regular meetings. I hosted a Linux Installfest in a small town close to where I live. There wasn’t a big enough turn out (only 2). Running the event in a bigger city would probably have been more successful.