As we champion being a friend, making real connections and spending time creating shared, in-person experiences, we want to reflect on what that means for many people. Many of us have rich family and friend connections however, there are many who have work colleagues, networking acquaintances but no real friends. Mark Gaisford from Kent in England highlighted this in a recent video titled “I have no friends” which he said is “a scary thing to admit”.
Mark is the founder and CEO of a UK based recruitment company. He explains how he knows a lot of people but it’s all through work. He said he has many amazing work colleagues but confesses to missing the connection of real friends to go out for dinner or long country walks with and to “talk about any serious stuff with”.
Admitting he’s not even sure how to make friends, he joined a meet-up group and shared the experience of meeting new people. What started as a nerve-wracking excursion, turned into a night of fun. Mark happily continued “I wouldn’t necessarily call them friends yet, but I hope they will be in the future”.
Mark’s vulnerability in sharing this video has sparked an outpouring of commenters also confessing loneliness. In this age of constant connection, loneliness is increasing; we’re quick to snap, video and voice note but making real-time to meet is scarce.
In a follow-up video, Mark shared a meet up with his new friend “Joe” where they shared a good night over a “pie and a pint”. They conversed about their feelings while creating a real connection. Mark finished the video encouraging others to develop meaningful friendships saying “our digital friends seem like the real thing but do you know what? Nothing replaces genuine human contact”.
Watch the videos here:
You can follow Mark Gaisford on LinkedIn.