WE'RE NOT SO DIFFERENT

I spent time talking with a group of new people this weekend and noticed something interesting in our conversations. No matter the age of the person talking, everyone seemed to be trying to feel relevant to the person they were talking to. I watched twenty-somethings try to relate to an eighty-one-year-old’s stories as if they’d lived through the same moments. I saw sixty-somethings carefully acknowledging what it must feel like to be twenty-five in today's world. Everyone, in their own way, was reaching for connection... trying to find a common thread that said, “See? We’re not so different.” It reminded me of one of the best lessons I’ve ever learned: people just want a point of connection.

“Connection is why we’re here; it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” —Brené Brown

Every gathering you attend probably plays out the same way. The small talk starts... weather, where you’re from, what you do... until finally, there’s a spark. You find that one thing you both care about, and you hold onto it like a lifeline. Sometimes that’s the only thing you have in common, so you talk about it until it’s worn thin.

But what’s really happening underneath all of it is that we’re not just trying to make conversation. We’re trying to feel seen. We want to know that we still matter, that we have something valuable to offer, no matter our age, our background, or our stage in life.

And it doesn’t stop at casual conversations. It spills into the way we create, share, and build things. We do it with our art, our businesses, our stories. Every post we write, every product we design, every photo we share is, at its core, a tiny attempt to connect.

I don't think relevance is about staying current or trendy. I believe it’s simply about being human enough to reach out, share something real, and say, “This matters to me. Anyone else?”

“Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.” — Fred Rogers

This is precisely why social media has been such a dominant force in our current society. People are desperate for connection with others. If you use this to your advantage and show up there in ways that are authentic to you, people will start to find you-- especially now with the way AI is used to power searches and show people new things. It's not an overnight magic bullet. But if you keep speaking about the things that matter to you, slowly but surely your people will start to follow along.

Warmest regards,

P.S. This is exactly why inside our membership, Designed Simply, we focus on creating from a place of connection, not competition. When you build something that feels true to you, you’ll naturally attract the people who connect with it, and relevance will take care of itself.