At first I was having a hard time feeling connected to my new coworkers. I found this really perplexing because I knew half the team already (a little bit). I eventually realized that I build a sense of connection and trust with people through laughing and having fun. For me it is all the fun little conversations that happen on lunch or before or after a meeting that allow me to feel a sense of belonging. These are all the “frivolous times” that are cut out of Zoom meetings. I talked to my spiritual director about it (super helpful by the way) and he suggested I talk to Andy (my boss at GOHOP). We decided to dedicate the first 30 minutes of our weekly staff meeting to being our “fun time.” Think of it as the virtual water cooler. I  was put in charge of the fun times, and each week I get people to play a game or tell stories. We have done trivia, charades, and told nostalgic stories. At Christmas I made everyone play a game where they had to try and sell me their hat (see the photo above). We laughed and laughed as each person made their ridiculous sales pitch. It might sound like a poor use of time but it has been these little contrived moments of fun that have helped me feel connected to my GOHOP family.