Zoomelations

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”-C.G. Jung

Zoomelations

Kari Shea| Unsplash.com | Zooming is a way of life now.

How many hours a week are you on Zoom?

Too many, I’m sure.

We have now spent over a year and a half becoming part of the zoom world. I had a light week this week, only about 14 hours of zoom calls.

But, we are now in an era where we have to do one of the hardest things possible, build relationships over zoom (Zoomelations.)

How can this be done successfully? We can’t shake hands or give someone a high five. No hugs are allowed anymore, and elbow touches don’t do it. So how are we going to do it? Here are a few ideas.

1. After you meet on zoom, you should set up 1–1 calls.
2. Find your shared interests. I am now in an international writing group called Write of Passage. We often have breakout rooms where you get to meet some of the other participants. But, if you are going to have zoomelations, you have to set up a time to deepen your knowledge of one another.
3. When you travel, be sure to meet your zoomelations in person to reinforce the bond. For example, I have a zoomelation in Wellington, New Zealand who I plan to meet in person when I travel there to see my daughter.
4. For zoomelations in different countries, learn more about each other’s countries.
5. Work at it. Relationships and zoomelations take time and effort.

We had a meeting in my church today to discuss whether or not we liked hybrid Zoom meetings and should continue having them now that we can meet in person. As you would expect, we had a few who hated zoom meetings and wouldn’t come to church until we were meeting in person again. The second group realized that the advantage of having an in-person meeting while providing zoom for those who couldn’t attend for whatever reason was significant. A zoomelation is better than no relationship. Now our challenge is how to zoom as a part of our meeting with the least possible friction. But, we are going to proceed.

My challenge to each of you in Write of Passage is to finish. End with at least a list of a dozen people you have met and talked to during the course. Then start setting up zoomelations with as many of them as you can.

“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.” — Hugh Mackay.