My First Visit to the US as an Expat
I have been back in the US for a week and it feels surreal
On Monday, I got back to the US from Germany for the first visit with my daughter Atlantis since my move.
It is really good to be able to see her after the time apart. We have always had a close relationship, and being 1000’s of miles away has been difficult.
Now, I have a month back in the US to spend time with her, and visit old friends. It feels a bit surreal to be back here, and see how much life has moved on without me since I have been gone.
Everyone has their own lives, and they have all grown and changed in the space since I have been away.
Life moves quickly, and I don’t think we always realize how quickly as we get caught up in our day to day activities.
The time we have with our loved ones is precious
Making time for the people who are important in our lives is a crucial part of making sure that those relationships can last. This is especially true across a vast distance.
But the older we get, the more entrenched in our own lives, the more we have a tendency to let our friendships fade. It is an unfortunate fact of life that so many of us get involved with our own families and lives that we grow farther apart with time.
It is important for our mental health, and the enrichment of our lives, to make time for friendships as we get into middle age and onward. Having friends is like having the family that we have chosen, and those relationships can make us mentally healthier and happier.
Recent statistics show that people have less friends now than in the 1990’s and that the show “Friends” that we grew up with would seem unrealistic today, because most of us don’t have that many close friends who we see on a regular basis.
According to the New York Times,
For years, friendship in America has been in decline, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Three decades ago, 3 percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters they had no close friends; in 2021, an online poll put it at 12 percent. About a year into the pandemic, 13 percent of women and 8 percent of men age 30 to 49 said they’d lost touch with most of their friends.
This is such a sad state to be in, where we don’t have as many close relationships, or ties to the community as we once had.
Now, with the rise of the internet, we can make friends across the world and connect with like minded people everywhere with a few clicks of the keyboard.
But, are we losing something by losing our relationships and our community? I hope that you are making time for the people that you love in your life, as I am with my daughter and my friends here in the US.
Hold the people you love close, cherish them, and be grateful for all the relationships that surround you. They truly are precious.
I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, my lovelies, and that you get to spend some quality time with the people in your life!
All the best,
Nicole Dake