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In this depressing and disturbing time in which we live, a happiness injection is required. Our mom had a great phrase she employed about “always having something to look forward to.” She used that to stay active and engaged.
 
Looking forward to an event or activity is about finding a form of pure joy. Something that motivates you, gets your mind firing down neural pathways that excite and energize you – a happiness injection, if you will.
 
Something we have heavily lost these past three pandemic months is personal connections. Many of us are still working. Others have lost their jobs or gone remote. Regardless of your work situation, those friendships and family relationships where you laugh, tell stories, joke around, listen to the people you care most deeply about has fallen away. We aren’t -- for the most part anyway -- seeing friends face-to-face to catch up on the good times.

We can talk on the phone, text, email, Snapchat or Tik Tok away, but it’s not the same. Full human interaction requires seeing body language, a give and take, visual cues, listening to tone of voice and active listening. All those are best done in-person.
 
This need came up recently as an issue when our younger daughter got off a Zoom call with a group of friends. She came in afterwards and said, “I can’t believe how much I miss my close friends.” I get it.
 
She’s working locally and living with us while she waits for her first full-time job to start, so she has left college, is isolated from those she’s grown closest to, and doesn’t have the same outlets for fun she had a little over a month ago. When she got on that Zoom call, the pure pleasure of talking with those you know well and have great friendship relationships with where you can be totally YOU became overwhelming apparent to her. “I miss them so much,” she said.
 
We all miss those people in our lives. More so right now. Probably because we need them in our lives now more than ever.
 
I’ve been fortunate to have two happiness injections the past two weekends, one when our son came home for Father’s Day and we were able to play some golf, hang out and just catch up on life. Another was a wonderful friend for almost 40 years, Carl.  He will hate me for writing this because he is a private person, but it must be said.
 
He’s a happiness injection in my life. He is a voice of sanity in a world gone nuts. He makes me laugh. He is one of the best storytellers on the planet. He grabs your full attention, easily laughs at himself and some of the goofy things he’s done over the years. How can you not be happy when you know you’re going to be able to see each other and catch up on your respective lives.
 
Our meetings never disappoint. They aren’t what I project beforehand either since expectations that our imagination envisions never connect with reality. The world is always different than what we fantasize.

But I do receive an injection of friendship happiness. Repeatedly over the years. And I can’t thank him enough for all those times, the total blast to explore our so-very-different worlds yet still connect, share, console and look FORWARD to the future because there’s still wilderness to explore.

Here’s to you, Carl. Keep injecting the happiness.

​No, this column is not about taking a break by the coffee cooler. It’s not about killing time talking to your buddies or getting a caffeine jolt to pump up your day. It’s about the return of some semblance of life the way it was 11 weeks ago, and the changes that have occurred and how we adjusted. And perhaps will continue to adjust in the weeks and months ahead. The new normal, as the cliché goes.
 
Our church, which follows directions for the Southeast Diocese of Wisconsin, had been deferring to the larger body in terms of their weekly broadcast available during the pandemic in lieu of meeting face-to-face. This past week, our specific parish rejoined the movement forward by broadcasting live via Facebook. Later, we Zoomed coffee hour.

So, we joined the ranks of the online meeting community for connecting, staying in touch, worshiping, chatting, catching up with others, seeing faces we hadn’t seen in a while. All of which is good. Except it is different from being “with” each other, and your reactions are not the same.
 
I was eager to watch and hear the service. And also eager to see who would join the coffee hour.
 
The service went off decently. The volume wasn’t quite high enough even with your speakers turned to the max. And there were a few connectivity glitches where the image stalled, waiting for the electronic highway to deliver the data to return images and motion to those of us watching.
 
Both of those were somewhat distracting and a reality we face in the oncoming months as more companies and individuals choose to use any of the array of visual online tools available to hold meetings. An advantage is you can spread your message deeper and wider to others. A disadvantage is that distractions can turn off the attendees.
 
The Zoom coffee hour came afterwards and proved to be satisfying in a different way than our normal post-service conviviality. Typically, you grab your food and drinks, find a table and sit with a few other individuals to catch up on the week. You chat a bit. Ask a few questions, hear about what’s going good or bad from someone, share some thoughts or insights.
 
The difference online was that you saw everyone, and anyone could weigh in at any time to the full group. That made the morning more engaging and focused to me. You had the person directly in front of you on the screen to focus right there on what they had to say. You do have to wait for the delay if you want to speak or add something to the conversation, but that’s small drawback and forces others to listen fully to what you’re saying, so that’s ultimately an advantage. Everyone was polite. Everyone had something to say at some point or other.
 
It’s just one small piece of what we face the with “new normal.” Of all the predictions hovering around, that is one you can bank on: Things will be different.

We will adjust. We’re an adaptable species. We’ll learn new things (like operating technology), while old habits may fade away. There will be good, bad and indifferent consequences, depending on your perspective. I hope and pray that our human connections stay intact and thrive.