I recently read an article that gave the percentages of  people who had stopped participating in group activities, be it dinner parties, attending church or a place of worship, going on a picnic, or attending club meetings. Overall, face to face socializing has declined significantly. Most Americans are “hanging around the house.” The “Stay at home” orders of Covid have stuck. (1)

I’m one of those Americans who has changed my socializing, at least when it comes to attending group gatherings such as writers’ meetings. I loved it when we were in the midst of Covid and my critique group decided to keep meeting using Zoom. Then my Michigan Romance Writers group went to Zoom, and so did the Florida Sisters in Crime group. It was great, no matter where I was, I could participate (or at least listen) to what was going on. I’ve even been happy that most of my writer meetings are now a combination of in-person and Zoom. With my back problems, long rides in a car followed by a couple hours sitting on a hard chair make going to a meeting in person painful. With Zoom, if sitting gets painful, I can stand, walk around, do some exercises and still hear and see (most of the time) what is going on during the meeting.

It’s great that I have that option, but I’ve lost something.

I’ve lost the experience of sitting next to someone I either don’t know, don’t know well, or haven’t seen for a long time. I’ve lost the time to personally chat with others before a meeting, during a break, or before heading home. I’ve lost those times I carpooled with other writers for an hour or more to a meeting.Those were great times to get to know what the other writers in the car were doing, and on the drive back, we could discuss matters that were brought up during the meeting.

With gas prices high, it’s tempting to stay home and attend using Zoom, but I personally think what you gain from in-person attendance is worth the cost. (Especially if you carpool.)

Writing is a solitary experience, but over the years, I’ve learned a lot from other writers by sharing ideas, techniques, and problems. Nowadays, I do make some meetings that are close-by and I hope I can continue doing so.

Writers are interesting people.

(1) Jeffery A. Tucker, The Epoch Times