It was as if the sheer awkwardness of virtual interactions created a usefully high bar: If you wanted to stay in real touch with someone, you had to really work for it and they did too.
As a result, the connections were richer, more purposeful, more explicitly meaningful because we both had more skin in the game.
Once you are on FaceTime or Zoom or Skype, there are fewer places to hide than in real life.
All that forced vulnerability can result in some true breakthroughs in intimacy.
I’m not going to pretend virtual communication is not inferior to the real-life kind.
It totally is! I want to see my friends and loved ones in the flesh!
I want to hug them and go out to dinner with them and get them to order the thing I want to try so I can steal a bite.
But there is a sense of structure and intentionality to how I find myself showing up in my friendships now that I hope to preserve.
How about you? Have you felt any silver lining benefit to virtual life? Let us know in the comments!