The kind of connection that changes us
I’ve been thinking about the kind of connection we feel with people we’ve never actually met. And I know that sounds strange, but if you’ve ever followed someone online long enough, you get it.
Take TikTok influencer Emilie Kiser. I don’t know her personally. We’ve never shared a conversation. But when she lost her sweet 3-year-old son in a tragic drowning accident, the internet wrapped around her. Complete strangers, people who’ve never received a DM reply, shared their grief, their prayers, and their heartbreak… because they felt like they knew her.
They knew her laugh. Her home. Her rhythms. And now, her pain.
And I watched it all unfold, this massive outpouring of love and support, and it stopped me in my tracks. It reminded me just how deeply we can connect to someone’s story, even through a screen.
But here’s the part that really hit me:
If we can feel that much for someone we’ve never met… Imagine what’s possible with the people right in front of us.
✨ The friend who hasn’t seemed like herself lately.
✨ The client walking through something hard and saying nothing.
✨ The family member we’ve been “meaning to call.”
Sometimes we extend more grace, curiosity, and compassion to the people we follow online than the ones we actually live life with. And maybe it’s because we forget, those real-life relationships need presence too.
So what if today, we took a little inspiration from the way we show up digitally… and brought that same energy offline?
✨ Let’s double tap real life.
✨ Let’s “comment” in the form of checking in.
✨ Let’s “share” a kind word, a moment of stillness, or just a few minutes of being truly present.
Because at the end of the day, connection isn’t built on proximity, it’s built on presence. And that’s something we can give freely, right now.
I’m holding this close today, and just wanted to share it in case you needed the reminder too.
With heart,
Barb ❤️
