Welcome to Day 10 of 31 Days of Connection! Find links to all the posts on Day 1. And remember to click here to get the posts delivered right to your inbox!

Connecting By Phone

How do we connect with others when we’re not meeting up in person? These days using the phone has become almost obsolete. It’s so much easier for most of us to email, text, or use social media to message or contact somebody. I’m guilty of it myself and tend to make very few phone calls as they take up more time and there’s less control over the message (I might forget to mention something on a phone call or say it as clearly as I could in an email.). So why mention connecting by phone when we have so many other methods available? Using the phone involves the voice and that matters.

The voice is an amazing thing – we speak; we sing; we laugh; we cry out. We cannot convey in written form what we can with the voice. Voice communicates more than words can. It includes pitch, tone, and emotion. We recognize voices and even when we don’t know a person’s voice, we assign a voice to their writing. I had always read the posts from one of my blogging friends with a certain voice assigned in my head, as we had never met or spoken other than online. I was so surprised when I finally spoke to her on the phone and she had a lovely Southern accent! It changed the way I read her words from then on and it was so nice to be able to better understand her words in her actual voice.

When we hear a voice over the phone, it’s familiar and makes us feel like that person is almost right there with us. That creates a stronger connection than just the written word. Sometimes talking on the phone is outside of our comfort zone and it keeps our world safe and happy by only texting or messaging. Some people feel more valued, loved, and comforted by hearing a friend or family member’s voice over the phone. It’s worth stepping out of our comfort zone once in a while to make somebody else feel important and to strengthen our connection.

Day 10 Daily Connection Challenge:
Call a friend or family member today instead of texting or messaging them! Within the next day or two, call somebody that you haven’t spoken to (other than in writing) in a long time and see how you feel after connecting by phone rather than by email or letter.

Thank you for joining me for Day 10 of 31 Days of Connection! Are you finding the daily challenges helpful? Let me know in the comments. See you back here for Day 11.