friends — Dallineation

Lent 2026 Day 29 - We Need People

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:07:21 +0000

One of the things I chose to abstain from for Lent was Twitch – both streaming and viewing other streams. But it has cut me off socially from good friends I enjoy interacting with there, and it occurred to me during a sleepless night last night that I'm feeling socially isolated.

It doesn't help that, in addition to taking a break from Twitch, I deleted my Discord because I don't trust the company anymore. So I've been trying to seek out other online communities on IRC, Jabber, etc. but not really finding any that click with me.

I plan to reengage with Twitch before Easter while trying to be careful about not using it as mindless entertainment or background noise.

But I also realized: I have no real-life friends that live near me. My only IRL social interaction is with my family and my church community. I love my family dearly, but we need friends, too. And I love my church community, but I don't interact with them much outside of church meetings – with the exception of occasional visits in their homes as part of my leadership role, which I absolutely love.

Online friends are great, and I have met some genuinely good people that way, but electronic interaction is no substitute for in-person interaction.

We need people. And I need to make more friends in real life.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 156) #faith #Lent #Twitch #family #friends #loneliness #tech

I Miss People

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:01:43 +0000

If there's one thing I miss about Twitch whenever I take a break from it, it's the people – other streamers and viewers that I have gotten to know over the last couple years. I genuinely enjoy interacting with them and I miss those interactions.

They are, of course, no substitute from “real-life” interactions with family, friends, and others. But I'd like to think that at least a few of my Twitch friends are authentically themselves online and that we'd get along swimmingly if we were ever to meet in real life. I once met in-person with a streamer friend of mine and, though our time together was brief, I felt like we could have talked for days.

I also recently left a Discord server I had been a part of for about five years and, while leaving was absolutely the right decision for me, I do miss interacting with many folks there, too.

So I think I just need to find other ways to interact with people around shared interests. Probably in real life, if I can.

There's always a risk with relationships and human connection. People will let you down. They will hurt you. Yet we need people. And good people and good relationships can make the risk worth it.

I've been thinking about picking up the clarinet again and getting into a local music group – a concert band or orchestra, maybe?

Or maybe trying to start a local club or group around an interest of mine. A Linux user group? A minimal tech group?

I dunno. I just think I need friends in my local area. I know many good people from church, but I don't really communicate or get together with any of them regularly outside of church meetings and functions.

I'm just being reminded that Twitch has not only been a fun creative outlet, it's been a social outlet for the past couple years, as well.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 125) #Twitch #friends #community

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Sat, 13 Mar 2021 23:20:27 +0000

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friends — Dallineation

Lent 2026 Day 29 - We Need People

I Miss People

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