Play We’re Not Really Strangers. Trust Me.

On October 21, 2021, I went to hang out with my friend Alexa, who is a student at Boston University. The plan was to grab Domino’s and play the card game We’re Not Really Strangers. 

If you don’t know, WNRS is a card game with three levels of questions to ask the other player. The first level is “Perception”, or how you view the other person. This allows you to make assumptions about the other player and see how well you can read each other. Level two is “Connection”. This is where things get deep. There are questions ranging from “What’s been your happiest memory this past year?” to “What’s the worst pain you have ever been in that wasn’t physical?” Finally, level three is “Reflection” where you summarize and review everything you have learned about your partner, as well as yourself.

So we broke out the Domino’s and started playing. Once the game was coming to an end, Alexa and I stumbled across a card that read, “If you could prescribe me one thing to do for the rest of this month, what would it be and why?” We decided to change this for the next week, rather than the next month. The nature of this question shocked both of us as we struggled to think of tasks for each other. I prescribed Alexa to find one minuscule good thing every day. Even if it was the worst day of her life, dig deeper and find at least one positive. It could be your friend reaching out to say hello, or even just seeing a pretty flower on the ground. Alexa prescribed me to lay down and really listen to three songs every night: One song I haven’t listened to in a while, one new song, and a song I enjoy the lyrics of.  If I’m being honest, at first, I thought to myself I’m never going to commit to anything. And I have never been happier to say I was completely wrong. 

Every day, I found myself making time to listen to these three songs. I would then text Alexa my daily choices, and she would respond with her positive event of the day. This task gave my day a sense of structure as well as something small to look forward to. I would go about my day in excitement wondering which three songs I would end up choosing that night. This experience also made me feel closer to Alexa. We began talking every day, not just about our daily assignments, but we would go into the depth of our thoughts and our days. It also caused me to think of her more in general. I would continuously see objects that reminded me of her, which increased my mood overall. This also provided a healthy outlet to express myself to my friend through music as well as a small escape from the stress of college. 

After the week was over, I wanted to get Alexa’s thoughts on the past week. Alexa shared that “through the daily exchanges with Liz, I got to reflect on the small positives that happen everyday, and get to know more about a great friend’s music taste. It was a lot of fun and something I wouldn’t have done with anyone else. It also helped me find more little wins in my days.” 

Overall, this past week has given me so much joy and stability, as well as strengthened the bond between me and a close friend. I would not have traded this experience for the world, and hope to indulge in more daily assignments and goals with Alexa in the future!

I also encourage you to do the same :)

• card games
• friendships
• self care