Fear of talking on the phone

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted this quote on her instagram and I thought to myself:

"From all the quotes out there, this is the one that truly  

defines her."

She is an adorable friend and she will always be there for me but if you try to call her don't be surprised if she doesn't answer the phone. It sounds like a contradiction, but you better send her a message saying "Pick up the phone, this is URGENT!". 

I know her since I was six years old. Back in the 90s, I remember calling her at home and she would pick up the phone easily. Somehow, mobile phones made her avoid phone calls and replace them for any textable form available: messages, emails, whatsupp, viber... anything really!

Back in 2012,  I developed a weird phobia: talking on the phone! I hated it. Why was I feeling cold sweats all over my body everytime the phone rang? 

 I faced this phobia when I took a part time job which implied talking to costumers on the phone. My voice was so shaky and unsure in the beginning. The conversations were short, as short as possible. I couldn't wait to turn off the call. Until I finally confirmed the saying "practice makes perfect" and suddenly, as time went by, the conversations became more and more natural,  I was even able to make jokes, to judge people's mood based on their voice tone and to adjust my speech according to that. I was able to read people's voices which was the only thing I could rely on.

I think we're really losing people skills by overusing mobile phones and by avoiding real interaction with each other. This truly scares me. There´s a thousand articles about people who avoid phone calls.  I agree that answering a phone call can be distracting, those who make the call might believe that because everyone has a phone these days, then everyone should be 24 hours available to answering it. This might cause a little bit of anxiety. I also believe that writing an email or a message is faster and more efficient. I have a million reasons to prefer emails over a phone conversation but I am happy that I faced my stress about answering phone calls. The most adorable message I got these days was from this old friend of mine who said to me: 

"Lilly, you know I hate to talk on the phone, but given the stress you're going through and the situation in general, please, don't hesitate in contacting me if you need to talk! I promise to answer your call!" 

I was not expecting this message from her, but I found it so touching and lovely. 

Time to say: 

"A friend in need is a friend indeed"