Where did my friends go?

I’m thirty years old and have less friends than I’ve ever had.

It’s not entirely hard to see why, as this happens to most people as they get older.

Or does it?

How can we have so many friends as we grow up, and then suddenly find ourselves with so few that we can count them with our fingers?

Maybe even with just the fingers on one hand.

One reason is that when we’re in school, we’re constantly surrounded by our peers and in a social setting where it’s easy to make relationships.

But even now, kids these days in school will tell you that the amount of real friends they have are little to none.

However! When I was in 6th grade, I had some of the best friends I’ve ever had.

We hung out in our classes, at recess, lunch, on sports teams, sleep overs on the weekends, our church’s youth group, and…any time we weren’t face to face?

We were talking on our phones.

Our NEW flip phones that recently hit the market and were now readily available.

Texting? It was a thing, but cost $0.10/text and $0.25/photo text.

Social media? Just getting started, but also not a thing that most parents at a Christian school let their kids on.

(Sorry not sorry MySpace, I never knew you.)

Our only real option to connect with one another when we weren’t face to face was to talk on the phone.

Just how our parents and grandparents grew up and lived their socially fulfilled lives.

We created deep, meaningful, and lasting relationships with one another that took us through life’s ups and downs, the challenging and yet exciting times, to even just fun, silly, and pointless conversations that were only a few minutes long.

We listened, we talked, we felt heard, we felt seen.

My parents thought it was weird that I had all my friends’ numbers memorized.

For me though?

I knew it meant I could be connected with them at any moment, wherever I was.

I just needed a phone.

How about now though?

Our lives have turned to very few moments of getting to connect with family and friends.

Just about everything has turned to texting and direct messaging on social media sites.

It can feel like we’re constantly connected with others, but the sad truth is that this is not the case.

We can have hundreds of followers, be constantly messaging friends, sending memes and reels, posting about our lives through photos and stories…

And still feel empty and unfulfilled.

Like we’re alone and completely socially isolated.

The status of our mental health as a society?

The worst it’s been—with many feeling completely stuck, and unsure of how to get out of it.

Sound familiar at all?

This is why I decided to create ConnectCall.

ConnectCall’s inception began with the idea of having a call scheduling app.

Of course, you don’t actually need this to jump on a call with someone.

But, will you take the steps to message your family and friends to figure out when they’re available to talk?

Probably not. And I’m right there with you.

Most times, I feel bad asking to take someone else’s time since many of the people around me are living very busy lives.

But if I had a way I could send a pre-written text and we could figure out the logistics in one click?

The first hurdles to connecting with my family and friends would be taken down.

My relationships, your relationships, and collectively our lives all together would begin to improve.

Let’s look at how this will work ↓

ConnectCall is built with a call scheduling feature where you can easily send a text message with your calendar link to your contacts.

Your contacts can choose a time from your availability that works for them, and get a time to connect booked.

From there, you’ll see your upcoming calls in the app and have the ability to jump directly on the call with them.

It sounds simple, but I know it will be impactful.

More than you can imagine.

Even just a few minutes of hearing the personal voice of someone close to you can turn your whole day around.

→ Which brings me to say that we’re getting ready to beta test ConnectCall, so make sure you’re signed up as a tester if this interests you.

I’ll be creating more posts to walk you through different elements of the app, as well as share more about how you can improve your mental, emotional, and physical health with what we’re bringing you.

Hope to talk soon! 😉

Michael

—

Leave a comment directly on this post when you’re subscribed, or reach out to me via email at [email protected].