A fellow editor suggested this topic and I took to it immediately! Reclaiming friendships is something that I’ve actually been really buzzed and happy about recently. Life has brought on many changes that have resulted in me narrowing in on what in my heart of hearts I’ve always wanted and strived for – connection and community. It sounds like the greatest cliché – but by golly it’s true. I feel like a hallmark greeting card saying friendship is the fabric of life, but I’ve found that for my life, it truly is!

So what do you do when you’ve estranged yourself from your friends or when you’ve let life get so hectically frantic, that months, maybe even years have gone by since you’ve last spoken. What about friendships that are almost at the slipping away point – how do you salvage those? Here I’ve collected 10 simple, very doable, and immensely joy-filling ideas to help you stay connected in the busy worlds we live in. Try them and I promise you’ll feel better for you and so much closer to your friend.

Quick yet meaningful
1. Send a “hey, how’s it going? Just thinking of you and hoping to brighten your day” text on your cellular phone.
2. Forward an interesting article/quote/video to a friend with a quick “thought you might like this” note.
3. Drop a cute card in the mail to an unsuspecting friend.
4. If you find an article in a magazine or newspaper a friend might find interesting, tear it out and mail it to her/him.

Helping each other live the good life
5. Commit to having a home-cooked meal with each other twice a month
6. Commit to telling each other about one fun out the box activity you each did that month. (Having to tell each other about it will make sure you do it:))
7. Find a central coffeeshop and meet up to catch up once a week at a designated time.

Staying Connected
8. Set up a group blog to keep your friends updated on your life or to keep each other (as in a group of friends) up to date.
9. Send each other travel deal emails as much as possible and dream up great weekend getaways. (The more you dream and think about it, the more likely it is that eventually, your schedules and lives will coincide and you’ll be able to take that fantastic trip!)
10. Become Netflix friends! This may sound silly but on Netflix you can keep a track of what movies you each watch and share and compare interests. It’s a fun, great way to stay connected!