Connections are something that have become even more important with the onset of COVID-19 and all its far-reaching “side effects.”

When most of your family and friends are outside of your “bubble,” connecting with those loved ones can be challenging. They can also be a straight-up blessing.

I’m blessed to have a circle of soul sisters that I connect with regularly - some even more regularly now via video calls than before these “Covid times” in person.

The Ya-Yas

Take, for example, my Ya-Yas (inspired by Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). Pre-Covid, we met up about once a month. Since this all started, we meet almost every week on video calls.

Wine glasses or water bottles or coffee mugs in hand, our Sunday afternoon calls are casual and fun, and yet we don’t shy away from serious stuff.

Connecting in this way has brought us even closer as our 18+ years of gathering continue to accumulate.

Tina and Me

Then there’s my soul sister Tina, who I’ve mentioned with some frequency on this blog. We’ve shared some major adventure around energy work, essential oils, channeling and more.

We started weekly video calls in Summer and they are epic. Sometimes I feel as though we could record them for my podcast, because we talk about all the things related to the metaphysical. Some of the information and insights that come up through our conversations is eye-popping.

That’s isn’t to say we don’t talk about the more mundane human workings of our lives. We do. It’s just that for the most part, our unwritten, unspoken “agendas” seem to hone in on the delicious energetic and spiritual aspects.

I love it.

Compass

This circle, which includes two of my Ya-Yas, used to meet in person once each quarter and through monthly phone calls during the other months of the year. Now, we’re relegated to monthly phone calls, and an occasional video call.

That works for us, because we’re used to listening over the phone. We all went through a training that led into group conference calls where we learned the art of listening and holding space for other women.

While our conversations can be casual and silly, our 13-year (and counting) history through that training is more likely to result in us baring our deepest and darkest to each other.

We’ve witnessed each others’ “suck holes” when life (and ego) take us on a joyless ride. We’ve supported each other to work our way out of those suck holes without trying to fix anything.

Compass is sacred medicine for me.

Family

Aside from occasional texts, occasional posts in our private family Facebook group, and occasional phone calls, family contact has been necessarily minimized. And that’s because our family gatherings are in-person events with a lot of people - anywhere from 20 to 60 depending on the event.

So, when my cousin Tammy texted me Thanksgiving week and suggested we do a video call on Thanksgiving Day, it was a lightbulb moment - a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moment. I mean, it could be considered an obvious solution to connect. Right?

We met up at 1:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day, and while Tammy and I wished more could have attended, we figure we did well considering everyone had less than 24 hours notice.

It was fun. It was silly. It was heartwarming. It was like a big hug from the heart of our family tree. For all it was an abnormal form of gathering, the connecting itself felt completely and awesomely normal.

We’re already planning our next gathering in lieu of our annual family Christmas party - the biggest event of the year for us. We plan to have our sing-along and simply enjoy being together in a shared space. I so look forward to it.

Such a blessing

These connections are such a blessing. They each, in their own way, fill my well and support me to appreciate the possibilities of the time we live in. And while that appreciation is imperfect because I am, after all, human, it serves me deeply.

Here’s hoping you’re finding ways to create and enrich your own connections.

Blessed be.