I recently bought my nephew the book Dear Boy by Paris Rosenthal and her father, Jason Rosenthal. It’s the equivalent to Dear Girl by Paris Rosenthal and her mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Both books catch your attention right away. They encourage children to be themselves and dream big.
Specifically, in the book that I bought, there is a picture of a group of boys all playing hockey in identical hockey uniforms. The book encourages the reader to make friends with people that are similar to you. The opposite page encourages the reader to make friends that are different from you. It illustrates this by showing a single boy from the hockey team (still in his uniform) in a choir of both boys and girls of varioius skin tones.
On every page of both of these books I thought, “Yes! We need more books like this!”
Keep in mind that no particular book or person is perfect. If you are looking for a book for a child that uses gender neutral pronouns (such as they), you may have to dig a little deeper. Or perhaps the book just hasn’t been written yet? After doing some light research, I found that Paris Rosenthal also wrote Dear Baby, which may be of some help.
But the main point I wanted to make today was about friendship. We are told that in order to be modern and be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking, we must reach beyond our inner circle or community. We must diversify in an increasingly diverse world.
However, if you have trouble making friends to begin with, you might need something less challenging. You can volunteer, join a social group or club, or go to a community event.
Volunteering is an example I would like to expand on. You might volunteer at a local library, because you like to read and want to find a way to give back. Over time, you’ll meet others (both other volunteers and employees) who love reading. But heres the catch: there’s no guarantee that the others will be the same age or race as you. By finding something that you have in common, you will have a chance to diversify as well.
Along the same lines if you volunteer at a local hopspital because you dream of being a nurse or doctor some day, you will most likely befriend an aspiring nurse or someone already in the field. You could make aquaintences (which is always nice) or you could possibly find a life-long friend.
For more ideas on how to make friends check out these articles:
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/new-friends/
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-make-friends-as-an-introvert#takeaway
I think the over-arching message that I’m going for is that you have to put yourself out there. If you try something new, if you go to a community event, or download an app geared towards making friends then at least you’ll know you tried. If you sit at home by yourself you’ll only generate more days of sitting at home by yourself. Therefore, I invite you to be open to new possibilities.
Hope this helps! Feedback welcome!
Best of luck,
Vanessa
Introverts With Depression 