One of the ways people are reducing social isolation is by connecting on social media…
A very effective way that I have found to reduce that isolation is not high-tech, but it is high-touch, and that’s to write personal notes to people.
Sometimes it’s just a note telling them that you are thinking about them and sometimes it’s a note of thanks or gratitude that I have towards them.
That gratitude note is extremely important for a few different reasons.
First, when you are handwriting a note it involves a different part of the brain than if you’re just pressing on a key, therefore it’s processing it in a different way.
Second and related to that first point, is that handwriting a note of thanks to someone takes longer than firing off an email or a text, that means that you are in that state of gratitude for a longer period of time while you are handwriting it.
Third and very importantly, there’s a physical manifestation of that gratitude. It’s something that both of you can touch and hold before you send it off to the recipient, the person you want to have that note, and then when they receive it, there’s something tangible there, something they can touch and reflect on and see the time and effort that you put into it, and see the pens of paper that you used to communicate that note of thanks or gratitude towards them.
So those are all reasons why these notes are extremely important, even if you are not feeling social isolation by the way, sending gratitude notes to others may come at a time when they are experiencing that and you never know when that will be, just at the right time.