Comments on: 30 Days to a Better Man Day 7: Reconnect with an Old Friend

By: Maxwell Jump

Maxwell Jump — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:24:39 +0000

Unfortunately, letter writing is a two-way street. I’ve found that most people don’t respond to letters/emails very often, and if they do, it’s a short note in response. So, I’ve pretty much given up. ‘Cept for mom! lol

By: Jon Hachey

Jon Hachey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:17:27 +0000

I just mailed a letter to my best friend in high school (haven’t done that in years!). Hopefully I found the right address.

By: Christopher Hamilton

Christopher Hamilton — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:23:18 +0000

Interesting article, sorry I’m joining this late, but I’m just discovering this site.

One thing I’m noticing on the site is this automatic linkage of “manliness” with strict heterosexuality, which I just cannot accept. As a gay man myself, I understand this linkage, but in the modern era it just seems to be artificial and limiting. Indeed, this article refers to “the fear of being called a homo” as a major factor in heterosexual men not connecting with other men in honest friendship. Such a sad state of affairs, but hopefully one that is starting to change. I have several very strong, personally important friendships with heterosexual men (in fact, one straight friend made me godfather to his two sons!) and these friendships are based on shared experience, trust, good humor, and simply being there when a friend needed a helping hand or good right arm. Trust, loyalty, honesty, judgment, discretion…these are not exclusively heterosexual traits. I’d argue they’re traits found in all the best of HUMAN friendships. Rather than focusing on what a person does in bed, maybe the better course is to judge a man by his actions, temperament, and individual qualities. Seems to me that any man can find the friends he needs if he just looks around with honesty and openness.

By: elclinto

elclinto — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:27:29 +0000

I just started going through the challenge, September 1st and it has rocked my world for the better. I’ve been posting my thoughts daily here: http://facebook.com/elclinto.

Per today’s topic, my family and I just moved cross country to reconnect with old friends.

Thanks to everyone who contributes here.

By: Be a Better Man in 30 Days | The Art of Manliness

Be a Better Man in 30 Days | The Art of Manliness — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:47:12 +0000

[...] Day 7: Reconnect with an Old Friend [...]

By: Weekly Link Round-Up: Week 2 of 30 Days to a Better Man | The Art of Manliness

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:27:49 +0000

[...] Day 7: Reconnect with an Old Friend. Hopefully, many of you really enjoyed catching up with an old buddy of yours. I know I did. If you haven’t contacted someone already, use the weekend to give him a call or write him a letter. And then tell us how it went on the Community page. [...]

By: Game Over: How To Redesign Life | The Blog Of Daniel Richard

Game Over: How To Redesign Life | The Blog Of Daniel Richard — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:05:12 +0000

[...] your blog, watching the news early in the morning to stay relevant and ahead of things, or even to reconnect with old friends. Note one thing that is, a milestone goal should have a purpose behind it. Not having one is [...]

By: Trent

Trent — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:48:28 +0000

Jefferson betrayed Adams; many years later, Adams was cajoled into reaching out to his friend-turned-enemy. Adams was a self-important man, yet was able to show enough graciousness and forgiveness to extend his hand to someone who had bitten it.

Of the two, Adams was the better man–and woefully underappreciated and unknown in our modern day. A good start is the HBO miniseries about him (available through Netflix).

By: My soup

My soup — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:03:12 +0000

“30 Days to a Better Man-Day 7: Reconnect with an Old Friend”…

30 Days to a Better Man-Day 7: Reconnect with an Old Friend…

By: David

David — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:50:52 +0000

About Adams and Jefferson: they wrote those 158 letters (a remarkable achievement in and of itself) in the last 14 years of their lives, after they had conciliated following their political fall out with each other. In doing so they each exhibited a great humbleness and forgiveness. Really an inspiring friendship among men and an example that we should attempt to follow.

By: Brett

Brett — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:38:24 +0000

@Fraz-

I think the comparison between Facebook and the old calling card is pretty right on, and a great observation. Because you used to leave your calling card and then it was up to the person as to whether they wanted to make contact with you and have you visit. Although these days, sometimes people “friend” you on Facebook with no intention of initiating a deeper relationship, which with the calling card, would have been a real breach of etiquette.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:06:30 +0000

Lost is a great show.

By: Fraz

Fraz — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:25:58 +0000

@daniel richard: I would argue that you haven’t reconnected with old friends but that you have identified those who are sufficiently interested for you to reconnect with (and I note the smiley, so perhaps your comment was entirely tongue-in-cheek).

Which got me to thinking, aren’t Facebook et al the modern day equivalent of the calling card? A “hey, you should know I’m interested in or care about you” from which one might develop deeper friendships through other means.

By: Daniel Richard

Daniel Richard — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:44:51 +0000

I’ve started to send out a mass sms to everyone in my contact list, and built a website for them to connect with me again. This is a pretty passive way to reconnect with others but the good news is that there’s some replies going on with friends from more than a decade ago. Hence, I’d say that I’ve managed to reconnect with some old friends this month already.

By: Ced

Ced — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:09:52 +0000

just joined facebook, and have found many old friends from grade school and high school