I can see how this title might be misinterpreted, but don’t worry – I’ve only just started the blog, I’m not about to give it up now! Term is over, degrees are done, and in a very short space of time I have had a lot of goodbyes to make to people and places which have had a huge influence on my life over the past three years. The hardest goodbye, to my house, housemates, and the beautiful city of York is looming ever closer and however reluctant I am, it is something I will have to do.
York Minster at twilight
Lendal Bridge and the River Ouse
The best thing about having to make your farewells is actually seeing more of people. Suddenly people seem to emerge from the bubble they have been living in and they want to socialise as much as possible. I’ve seen more of some people in the last week than I have done in the last year! The worst thing is not knowing when you will see them again. Some people I know will drift out of my life and I probably won’t even realise. Others I will miss a lot, and I intend to make a conscious effort to stay in touch with them, but the further through life you go, the more people there are to keep in contact with.
Nowadays it is easier than ever, particularly with social media, to keep in touch with a vast number of people all over the world. All it takes is a quick scroll through your newsfeed to find out the most important (and not so important) aspects of someone’s life. This is great, and really convenient, but to an extent it does make a conscious effort to stay in touch a bit redundant. Whilst it is nice to keep up with what some people are doing at a distance, others I want to hear about it from them personally rather than “oh I posted something on Facebook”. This, I feel, is going to be the real challenge.
I’m still in touch with quite a few friends from school, having regular email contact with at least two, and then usually meeting up with a group in the holidays. However, this amount has decreased since I first started at uni and I’m not sure how many people (with the addition of my friends at university) it is going to be feasible to keep in contact with. I’m trying not to let this bother me too much. After all, true friends you should be able to go without seeing for ages, but you know they will be there for you when it matters.
Some of the things I’m considering are:
- Setting Skype dates – rather than going out for coffee, which just won’t be feasible if we are in separate places, I could block out some time in my diary to have a regular skype session.
- Write Letters – I know they take more effort, but as a result are less frequent than texts or emails, and they are a lot more personal!
- Mini-breaks – This will all depend on my financial situation but it would be great to have mini-breaks in different parts of the UK (and Europe) to not only see the people I care about, but also get to explore somewhere new!
What do you do to keep in touch with the people that matter?
