Remember your elementary school bestie? You likely imagined growing up together and living on the same street. Forever. Then, reality struck and you realized things would turn out a little (*lot) differently than you planned.
The reality is, through the various journeys of life, we sometimes lose track of friends in the chaos of change. So how can we keep these people in our lives even as moves, job changes and general life messiness pulls them farther away?
Recently, HuffPo offered some solid advice: vow to email each other once a week, no matter what. This not only keeps you close, but is a great way to reflect on life as the years fly by.
This is a totally sound idea, but we have another thought: why not embrace the ever-giving wonders of tech instead? Video chat sessions via Skype or FaceTime are an excellent way to make distance from a friend seem exponentially closer. And this isn't just conjecture—science totally backs us up!
Turns out, we're biologically hardwired to pay attention to faces. Studies show that even those blind for years are attracted to faces after getting eye surgery. Plus, it's much easier to pick up emotions in someone's face than in a cryptic email, and to share excitement and support. There's a big difference between:
"Hi Giana, I'm doing well. I'm super excited about my new straightener."
And
"OMG Marissa! Your hair looks amazing! What did you do?" "Thanks!! I just got a new straightener! I'm in love!"
Letter writing, phone calls and emails are all awesome ways to stay in touch—but as long as we have the technology to up the ante, we should take advantage of it. We may not be able to live on the same street as our long-lost childhood friends, but we can live on the same computer screen.
(Plus, video chat is apparently how Beyonce and Lady Gaga communicate. And if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us!)
Image: See? Look how happy she is to videochat. Courtesy of, ThinkStock
