Laura Dinan Haber has served as a reSET Board Member since 2018, is the Innovation Program Manager at Naussau Re, Organizer of TEDxHartford, and Co-owner of Reclaimed Engraving. 

In a world where we’re always on, how can we engage in a meaningful way – virtually?

You’ve likely attended hundreds of Zoom/Teams/webinar meetings, toasted your computer screen during themed happy hours, raised your digital hand to ask a question, changed your background to reflect a location where you (actually) want to be, forgot to mute yourself … the list goes on.

We’ve allowed people to enter our lives in ways that seemed unimaginable just a few short months ago. Ask yourself if you would have welcomed (all of) your colleagues into your home, to take a seat at your kitchen table as you sip your fifth cup of coffee and talk business. Likely not. Yet here we are. I’d offer you a cup right now, but I haven’t figured out how to actually pass it through the screen quite yet.

The days have changed from when we’d leave our homes, in our finery, with anticipation of the event that lay ahead. Who will be there? Did I remember my ticket (jk it’s saved in my Apple Wallet)? What food will be served? Who will be seated next to me, etc.?

Since we aren’t currently engaging in person, let’s talk about the other options we have to engage and entertain ourselves and others.

There’s our old friend the blog, there are vlogs (which sound like something that needs a prescription), as of a few weeks ago there are reels (Instagram’s response to tik tok), tik tok itself (I see you dancing), there are stories, posts … content options galore that stare you in the face each day, hour, minute, second. Begging for eye-share. And we haven’t even entered the realm of virtual and alternate reality technologies.

Content. Content. Content. Computers. Phones. Apps. Virtual. Digital. Dependent on the internet. The question begs to be asked, how can we connect in meaningful ways? While I don’t have all the answers, I have a few ideas to share.

Unplugged:

• Send a handwritten letter, note or postcard. Take a few minutes out of your day to put pen to paper. You’re sending a piece of yourself to someone in a way that an email will never be able to replace. Added bonus – you’re helping support the US Postal Service.
• Pick up the phone. Seriously. Actually pick up the phone and call someone. Shut the computer, remove distractions and connect with the person on the other end. Think about the last time you received a call just to see how you are doing… it’ll make someone’s day and the world needs more of that.
• Send a book. Whether it’s an e-book or physical book, sending ideas worth sharing is a way to provide information/an escape. I belong to a ‘Relaxed Book Club’, the premise is to read what you want, when you want, but to share the stories that resonated the most. It creates shared conversation and an unplugged method of escape.
• There are a multitude of ways to connect while being unplugged from technology. Share yours in the comments below!

Plugged:

• Not sure about you, but it seems as though we are operating in a ‘cameras-on culture’. While this can be less than favorable (especially if you’ve rolled out of bed 2 minutes before a meeting), cameras can be a great method to connect. The ability to see facial expressions and body gestures is helpful. Not to mention, what grandparent doesn’t enjoy FaceTiming with their grandchildren? There are so many uses – family interaction, connecting with residents in nursing homes and health facilities, reading to children, and teaching and learning, just to name a few.
•  Interacting through group games. Virtual Bingo has been a Friday night staple amongst a group of my friends, their friends, their parents, and 100+ spanning from CT to CA. I’ve met new friends, enjoyed dressing to fit the theme (who doesn’t love a costume contest?), and given myself something to look forward to each week.
• Edutainment. The number of educational entertainment options on the web grows daily. From Masterclass, local museums, drive-in concerts, artist Q&A to colleges and universities, now is the time to learn a new skill or at least research options. I was planning to brush up on my guitar skills back in March… good things take time. Most options I’ve seen have had a community angle that promotes engagement with others participating in the same course.



If you’re like me, you’re exhausted yet intrigued. My ask to you is to send that postcard, make that FaceTime call and put a smile on someone’s face. With everything fighting for brain-space and eye-time, it is up to each of us to decide how to best engage with the content, and more importantly, how to engage with others, in a meaningful way.