10 questions for the socially anxious turkey table

Everyone I talk to, I mean really talk to, is admitting that they are feeling some kind of way in this liminal pandemic moment. We’re opening back up. We’re not opening back up. We want to open back up. We sort of actually don’t. We forgot how to socialize with a wide variety of people or in larger groups, so it all feels heightened—like waking up from a nap and being violently thrust into a brightly lit room of smiling, chatty people.

So as you head into a no doubt strained, jubilant, confusing, refreshing holiday, here are some questions to bring with you…

This food is dope! What’s been your go-to comfort food this year?

What part of the before times are you realizing you’re sort of relieved to be rid of?

How are you approaching your work these days?

Who are you missing the most lately?

What’s your favorite little spot to hang out in right now?

What’s keeping you up at night?

What show did you start watching because everyone was talking about, but you actually didn’t like? What show lived up to the hype?

When’s the last time you laughed super hard?

Who has surprised the shit out of you this year?

Good luck out there!

And some of my fave people on asking better questions:

Anna Sale, host of Death, Sex, Money and author of Let’s Talk About Hard Things:

Krista Tippet, host of On Being, in her book, Becoming Wise:

“Questions elicit answers in their likeness. Answers mirror the questions they rise, or fall, to meet. So while a simple question can be precisely what’s needed to drive to the heart of the matter, it’s hard to meet a simplistic question with anything but a simplistic answer. It’s hard to transcend a combative question. But it’s hard to resist a generous question. We all have it in us to formulate questions that invite honesty, dignity, and revelation. There is something redemptive and life-giving about asking better questions.”

Erin Lane’s “A Loved One’s Guide to Questions to Avoid this Holiday Season”