Cover Photo and Written By Lilly Fox
We’re Not Really Strangers is a company that is focused on connections with others as well as with yourself. I found this company through their Instagram profile where they post about mental health and prioritizing your best self. Their posts range from mental health reminders to cute little “guides” on how to navigate situations such as letting go.
As I looked more into their Instagram, I found out that the company is actually centered around a card game. This card game is one that you typically play with another person. It’s meant to be a way to become deeply connected to someone through personal questions. There are three levels to the game: perception, connection, and reflection. The first level, perception, has questions about how you and your partner perceive each other. The second level, connection, has deep questions that you answer about your personal experiences. The third level, reflection, has questions regarding what you have learned about your partner and the process of playing the game together. As you “level up” you get to know your partner even more.
I was given the game as a birthday present, and playing it with my friends and family has been really beneficial. The game has allowed me to see my relationships in a new light. The first person I played the game with was my best friend. While we played the game, we were asked questions such as “What’s the most pain you’ve ever been in that wasn’t physical?” We were also given wildcards such as “Maintain eye contact for thirty seconds. What did you notice?” Playing this game with her proved to both of us that we actually know each other really well and truly trust each other. On top of that, it was also just really fun.
I also played the game with my mom. Playing the game with my mom showed me both how similar we are and how differently our lives have played out. One similarity we had was that we have both dealt with issues of perfection. One big difference we had was with our college experiences. While she experienced college on a regular level, I’m currently experiencing freshman year primarily through a screen.
Playing the game with these different people not only allows you to see your partner in a new light, but it allows you to see yourself in a new light. I was being asked questions and given challenges I’ve never given much thought to. It showed me that there are questions I never ask myself, and that there are things about myself I’ve never even stopped to think about.
Based on these thoughts I had about myself after the game, I decided to purchase the self-reflection kit from We’re Not Really Strangers. This kit comes with a pack of 52 questions, a journal, and a pen. When you first open the journal you are prompted to rate how well you know yourself on a scale from 1-10.
This first exercise was something I gave a lot of thought to. I’ve always thought I knew myself pretty well, but after playing the original card game I wasn’t as sure. I personally circled the number six. I then pulled the first card in my deck and began to reflect.
After that initial card I remember feeling like I was pulling back the curtain on parts of myself that I always knew were there, but didn’t necessarily ever deal with. I felt like I was learning a lot about myself, and I was only one card into the kit. I even wrote a reflection on my response to the first card. In that reflection I noted how I wanted to work on certain things and focus more on different aspects of myself. The questions in this kit challenge you to reassess your thought processes and priorities in a healthy way.
In fact, just the other day I had a breakthrough regarding the way I view myself. I was able to really see that as much as I like approval from others and care what others think of me, the most important thing is what I think of myself. If I don’t like who I am, even if others do, is it really a win for me? The answer is no.
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