Mary and Max ( via GIPHY )<\/div>\r\n
Andrew studied humanities at college, while I studied medicine. Despite this we still have pretty much in common, such as, Andrew is fond of writing short stories, and I contribute to a certain magazine in my spare time. Besides, both of us are very into movies, music and learning new languages. We talked about movie plots, bands, urban planning and sensitive topics like politics in our first few letters. I enjoyed myself talking with him through Slowly, but at that time I didn\u2019t expect that he\u2019d change my life in some aspects before long.<\/p>\r\n
Andrew lives in Moscow, so it takes 20 hours for our letters to travel. I\u2019ve enjoyed the process of waiting, and I\u2019d feel cheerful to see \u201cone letter is arriving<\/em>\u201d, as it\u2019d come as promised. Though my life was still screwed up, I finally had something to expect every day! One day I had fights with my parents again, and my dad cursed me in hell on the phone. I felt so wronged so I couldn\u2019t help write what had happened in the letter. In for a penny and in for a pound, I decided to unburden myself to him for all the secrets that I\u2019d been holding out on everyone I know in reality in the following letters. For instance, I hated my parents and never felt any love for them, I suffered serious depression, I tried to commit a suicide by jumping out a running car, I entered a top university where I screwed up my life. Much to my surprise, Andrew could felt for me, for he had gone through what I was experiencing. He also had suicidal thoughts before and he told me how he\u2019d managed to get rid of them. I also took his advice about ways to deal with my parents, and it worked. Besides, he shared his funny experience of going for a therapy, and both of us laughed for a while.<\/p>\r\nI\u2019ve been a vain person for more than 20 years. I\u2019m very good at telling lies and hiding myself from others<\/b>, because I have cared too much about what others think about me, and I\u2019d embark on a journey of self-doubt due to even the slightest remarks. I\u2019ve always paid way too much unnecessary attention to my dignity and pride, as a result I\u2019ve been proving myself to everyone and I didn\u2019t permit any kind of failure in my life. However the truth is, my being much too sensitive was a failure itself and it has been the source of all that\u2019s been plaguing me, which I didn\u2019t realize until I met Andrew on Slowly. I took off my mask and for the first time I ever tried to be honest. <\/b>Andrew was like a shrink, he always gave me constructive suggestions that had worked fine. Gradually, I felt that I had the ability to defeat my depression and I didn\u2019t rely on medicine that much anymore. The plot of \u201cMary and Max\u201d came true in a way.<\/p>\r\n
But there was still one thing that I concerned. June is the pride month, after carefully asking Andrew\u2019s attitude towards gay people and knowing that he had been helping one of his friends who\u2019s gay in reality, I finally rested assured that bold to come out to him. Soon my concern melted away, as he took it with pleasure, and encouraged me as always. God! I felt so grateful, so lucky to get to know him! I immediately bought the \u201cbest pen pal trophy\u201d stamp in the store and pasted in my next letter.<\/p>\r\n
Inspired by this amazing experience, I started my first attempt of writing a long novel in Chinese, where Andrew acts as the prototype of a character as I have designed. He has also been giving me ideas, helping me construct the plot and finding out logical errors through our letters. I\u2019ve regained my passion for life, and again I began looking forward to the future as I would do when I was a kid.<\/p>"},{"id":3327,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/rebecca-telluride-acm96\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/rebecca-acm96.jpg","nickname":"Rebecca Telluride & ACM96","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec Singapore & \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 United States","featured":false,"summary":"It wasn\u2019t!! :) We talked as easily in real life as we did in the app, wandered around the mall...","content":"I joined Slowly in August 2019, the summer before my senior of college in the United States. I still remember when I was introduced to it \u2013 at the mall back home in Singapore with one of my friends whom I had known since I was ten. The way she described it, \u201can app where you can meet people all over the world,\u201d sounded sketchy at first so I was skeptical despite my love for letter-writing. However, she talked more about the app\u2019s cool features and that, coupled with her status as a long-time trustworthy friend of mine, sold me on the app.\r\n\r\nI downloaded the app, made an avatar and started writing letters. I read the bios of every single person I have messaged on Slowly. So when I read the bio of ACM96 (his name is actually AJ) I was like ooh someone in California! The United States is so big and it was nice that someone identified which state they were from, and the bio itself made him seem pretty approachable and friendly. Also, pretty much everyone I knew from California, I knew through school so I thought it would be interesting to know more Californians through another platform.\r\n\r\nOur conversation started, and kept going on and on! I learnt that he was also from the Los Angeles area (where I go to school) and we talked about a lot of things. What we talked about in around 40 letters (excluding texts outside Slowly) cannot possibly fit into here, but our conversation highlights included me failing my California driving test three times, discussing bad fashion in Singapore, AJ working at Target and then going to Navy bootcamp, and other miscellaneous things like school.\r\n\r\nWhen I returned to LA after summer break (but before school started), we enjoyed the letter delivery time dramatically decreasing from 3 days to 40 minutes. We also met up at a mall in LA County! I was excited but a little nervous\u2026I had never met someone I had previously only known online before. I kept recalling cybersafety presentations from middle school and thinking \u201cOmg what if it\u2019s awkward\u2026that would suck\u2026\u201d but\r\n\r\nAs you can guess\r\n\r\nIt wasn\u2019t!! :) We talked as easily in real life as we did in the app, wandered around the mall and ate dessert at Dippin\u2019 Dots where I requested the Dippin\u2019 Dots guy take a picture of us holding our phones with our Slowly avatars. We continued to talk after that (though more slowly given that school had started again for me) and video called in February before he left for navy bootcamp!<\/strong>\r\n\r\nToday (over half a year later) we still talk and I am hugely grateful to my friend from back home and the creators of Slowly for bringing such an amazing experience into my life! I had always thought pen pals (or maybe friends initially made through letter-writing) were a thing of the past due to modern technology favoring instant connection and communication. However, I think Slowly has harnessed the best parts of modern technology to allow for the gradual cultivation of meaningful friendships. If I have any advice for people using Slowly (which is probably the vast majority of people reading this), it is to be enthusiastic and as talkative as you can comfortably be! The more you write, the more others can reply, the more you all can learn about each other, and all these interactions can lead to wonderful friendships! Big hugs to everyone and I hope you all receive letters that make you smile :)"},{"id":6261,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/amiaaaa\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Amiaaaa_Slowly.png","nickname":"Amiaaaa","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded Philippines","featured":false,"summary":"This app and the people here help us to give us hope, strength, and confidence, they change us little by little.","content":"It was the 23rd of April when I installed this app. I was bored at the time, so I searched for an app in the Play Store that I thought was nice and pretty cool. Until I saw this app and installed it. I first explored its features and chose people to send my letter to. It wasn't easy for me to make the first move especially since I didn't know what would happen next. Then I encountered that it took a long time to send the letters I sent to different people, they didn't send at the same time, it took a few hours or days before they received the letters I wrote for them.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, only one person wrote me back a letter, the others still haven't written back for me until now. But, it's okay because even though I\u2019ve only been on this app for almost three weeks, the number of letters I received from different people from different countries already gradually increased. It feels so good to receive a letter and I know you know that feeling because you have already felt what I am referring to. Honestly, I wanted to delete this app before but I convinced myself just to wait. As I waited for a letter from them, I thought of challenging my patience with this app. But, I don't expect that as I challenge my patience, I will meet and have real friends here. Because of them, I am gradually changing for the better bit by bit and gaining even more knowledge about various things that I did not know before.\r\nFurthermore, I\u2019m really grateful to those people who built SLOWLY. Because of this app, I have witnessed the wonderful changes of the people here, especially my friends and others like me who have social anxiety. This app is great because it allows introvert and extrovert people from different countries to converge their\/ our paths. This app and the people here help us to give us hope, strength, and confidence, they change us little by little. Apart from the ones I mentioned, this app also helps to further enhance our ability to communicate and speak using different languages.<\/blockquote>\r\nFor me, installing and using this app was the best decision I've ever made. Writing letters is time-consuming, but I never regret about spending my time here. This app allows everyone to have a good relationship with different people from different countries without basing on their appearance because it doesn't require and it doesn't force us too to reveal all our real identity and information if we don't want to.\r\n\r\nFor those people who are reading this now who have not yet found a real friend, just wait until you find them here. Don\u2019t lose hope and never give up, okay? Do not forget to always think positive. Just in case you meet people who will judge you, don't mind them and just start to normalize encountering people like them, you don't deserve those people. However, we have to accept the fact that not everyone can understand us, but at least there are still a lot of people who can cheer us up and help us be the better of ourselves someday. Also, I hope that you guys will have a great experience here and will have awesome best friends.\r\n\r\nBy the way, do you often break down? If yes, just always remember that everything happens for a good reason. Be strong! Don't forget to try your very best to build your confidence. If you'll overcome all your problems in life someday. Don't forget to not hesitate to help those people who need your help too. Fighting! Just trust yourself and the process as well.\r\n\r\nThat's all I can share and advise for all of you. I know it's pretty long, so I am really thankful if you spent your precious time reading this.\r\n\r\nHave a good day or good night rest everyone! Stay safe and take care always!\ud83e\udd17\ud83d\udc96"},{"id":1269,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/ritas\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ritas.jpg","nickname":"RitaS","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddfc Taiwan","featured":false,"summary":"Our every letter was long as a short essay and very interesting...","content":"I first wrote to him last December if what I remembered was correct. We wrote a few letters then he disappeared. I didn\u2019t think much because this happened all the time.\r\n\r\nThis January, he came back! He said that he had something to deal with (personal issues) so he hides from the social media for a while. And then we wrote so many letters since then that I can\u2019t even remember how many. We shared everything to each other, the craziest things we had ever done, the upcoming movies, the trip, the love story, the sad things, the politics, the music taste....everything!!! Our every letter was long as a short essay and very interesting. I\u2019m a Taiwanese and he is a Brazilian so our letter needs about two days for delivery. But it\u2019s worth a wait! It\u2019s so much fun reading his letters. I think we can be constant friends forever.\r\n\r\nThank you so much Slowly for letting us know each other!"},{"id":5774,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/shawnthepaul\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/ShawnthePaul.png","nickname":"ShawnthePaul","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddf0 Sri Lanka","featured":false,"summary":"Take it Easy, Best friends are hard to find because it'll be worth the wait.","content":"Forever Grateful \u267e\ufe0f\r\n\r\nFrom a very disturbed, confused and broken soul who couldn't understand the existence of his own soul and the existence of the spread of a virus, to a Human being who appreciates the value of friends, family and life, Slowly made me realize it all and I will be eternally grateful.\r\n\r\nIt was a typical Saturday Evening as i was stuck at home just as every other teenager was. Fuming about what's going around themselves, talking to themselves about if's, but's and maybe's. Questioning everything and never figuring out an answer out of every question which comes out of their lips. It was the new life. Don't even bring up Digitalized Education. I know we all have fumed at least once in our lifetime about who started this thing called 'Examinations' and 'Education'. Who thought Online Study was the next best thing then?\r\n\r\nIt's been over an year of holding hands with slowly. I don't have words to describe how much I adore this app over my socials. The simple fact of making an effort to write a letter to a stranger starts in the very first letter itself. Whoever who has started a conversation knows what I'm talking about. The effort you put into writing your first letter just so that you can get a reply and the notification you get when Slowly indicates that the person is sending a reply is simply one of the best feelings for any teenager.\r\n\r\nI'm a very impatient person in reality, got worse with Slowly because of the quality of people who use this app. Literally every person in here is very kind and helpful. I'm pretty sure the Creators of Slowly should be Angels because there's no way any human could come up with such a simple yet out of the box and intelligent idea for an app. \"This is definitely it, Chief!\"\r\n\r\nI have many friends on my list, each with their own personalities but all having one thing in common, Gratefulness. Grateful for Slowly. Because it was written in the books of God for all of us to step into this beautiful world while darkness surrounds the earth. I genuinely cannot imagine what could've happened with myself if I didn't come across Slowly in the first place.\r\n\r\nA content creator of myself and who ever who is in the same field knows how hard, complexed and overwhelming life gets. Slowly makes me forget it all and focus on who I am and why I should be proud of myself for what I am and what I have become. A Beautiful Mess. Thankyou to Slowly \u2764\ufe0f\r\n\r\nAs one of my Slowly friend said on her letter.\r\n\"Be the change you wish to see in this World, You have what it takes. Just trust in yourself like I trust in You\"\r\n\r\nShoutout to my cute and lovely friends from Slowly, I love you all!\r\n\r\nForever Grateful for Slowly and its Creators. By far the best Entrepreneurs I've come across.\r\n\r\nA little note to anyone new to Slowly : Take it Easy, Best friends are hard to find because it'll be worth the wait \ud83d\ude43\r\n\r\nBe the reason that make others Happy! Stay Safe Everyone \u2764\ufe0f"},{"id":2267,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/japanblossom\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Japanblossom.jpg","nickname":"Japanblossom","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 United States","featured":false,"summary":"As a teenager who has grown up in an age defined by technology and social media, I did not think I would like having to wait days for a single response.","content":"School had just ended, and I was looking for something to fill my spare time. Over the summer, I often feel disconnected from my friends because we are all too busy to see each other, so I knew I wanted a program that would keep me occupied and social. I turned to the App Store for advice. Lo and behold, Slowly popped up in my recommendations. At first, I was skeptical. As a teenager who has grown up in an age defined by technology and social media, I did not think I would like having to wait days for a single response.<\/strong> But I was bored and desperate for social interaction with someone other than my family, so I sent out a few awkward letters.\r\n\r\nI did not expect much, but a few days later, I checked my phone, and I saw the red notification that signified a message had arrived. Even without opening the letter, I was excited. The wait made the letter all the more rewarding. I read the message, laughing as I scrolled through their words. Despite living in countries miles and miles apart, we immediately hit it off. Inspired, I began reaching out to other people my age with similar interests and passions.\r\n\r\nSince I currently take Mandarin classes in school and dream of becoming fluent, I even sent messages to teenagers from China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. To my utter surprise and delight, they all responded. None of them criticized me for my lackluster Mandarin writing abilities. Rather, they all expressed happiness at being able to help me practice my skills, and many even asked me to teach them English. Through Slowly, I was able to have conversations with native Chinese speakers for the first time, and I gained a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and life.\r\n\r\nEven though I am back in school now and I have less time to spend typing letters, I will never forget the impact Slowly has had on my life. I still check the app every day, eagerly tracking letters with the map feature and counting down the hours until they arrive. I am proud to say that my Mandarin has definitely improved<\/strong>, and I have been able to talk with teenagers from Senegal to Switzerland and Hong Kong.\r\n\r\nMost importantly, Slowly enabled me to break out of my introvert shell.<\/strong> Without it, I would never have been able to meet these pen-pals that I am now proud to consider my friends."},{"id":2413,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/a-i-diagiamini\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/aidiagiamini.jpg","nickname":"A.I. Diagiamini","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf1 Chile","featured":false,"summary":"Just as I made sending letters through Slowly a fundamental part of my routine, I also learned to listen to my penpals.","content":"The first time I downloaded Slowly was over a year ago, when it was featured in the App Store. Although I found its premise interesting at the time, I put it aside because I was busy with other projects in my job and daily life.\r\n\r\nIt wasn't until August of this year, when I was mired in a severe depression due to family matters, that I decided to jump from 10,000 feet without a parachute and create a profile as the request of a psychologist I was seeing back then. I admit I didn't know what to expect at first because I've always been a complicated person to deal with: either people ignore me as if I were a piece of furniture or they freak out over my explosive temper and my habit of not sugarcoating things \u2014 the latter are deadly sins in an oversensitive, cynical society like ours. The first person who contacted me was from the Philippines. Then letters began to reach me from Lithuania, India, Vietnam, Turkey, and so on. Most, if not all of those users vanished over time, making me think that all the effort I put into my letters was for naught. Since I'm a person who believes both in reciprocity and results, I tend to get frustrated pretty easily when my counterpart bails out or doesn't care enough to keep the ball rolling. You can\u2019t tango on your own, after all.\r\n\r\nBut a few of them welcomed me with open arms and gave me a chance, something most real-world people weren't kind enough to spare.<\/strong> They come from all walks of life, from a myriad places like the United States, Colombia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Africa, and Taiwan. We began to talk about everything your can think of: our countries, our customs, our jargon, the trips we've taken or plan to take, and even what we love and loathe. Most were amazed that Chile was such a varied and contradictory melting pot, from its ten different climates from north to south to its varied gastronomy to its position related to other countries. Ever heard of the so-called \"Tricontinental Principle<\/em>\"? Yup, we created it. I wouldn't go as far as to say \"the sun never sets in Chile,\" but we come close in our very own special way. Another big boost was learning they accepted me despite having Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, a cross I\u2019ll have to carry for as long as I live and that insists on sabotaging my efforts to communicate normally with others.\r\n\r\nJust as I made sending letters through Slowly a fundamental part of my routine, I also learned to listen to my penpals<\/strong>. We also shared problems, doubts, and frustrations with a world that goes too fast, that doesn't think before taking a step, and has made zealotry a priority over understanding we can be different, messy, and don\u2019t deserve to be cancelled for our opinions. I saw several of their stories were similar to mine, which enabled me to cope with my own frustrations in a more efficient way. When you've been through a minefield most of your life, when you\u2019ve been the target of envy and bullying, trusting others is awfully hard. However, these wonderful people on the other side of a phone\/computer screen threw me a rope allowing me to escape from the maws of despair.\r\n\r\nExchanging letters with my penpals not only has a therapeutic effect on my tormented, ever-tense soul. It has also allowed me to share with them my greatest passion \u2014 writing prose. I'm an amateur novelist, and my \"opera prima\" was published last May under the same nickname I use on Slowly. Their reactions upon learning about that facet of my life were extremely uplifting, and I gladly shared with them the details of my creative process. The service has also helped me keep my skills sharp when not working on plans for novels or short stories, something I also appreciate. The only unhappy party on all this is my keyboard, who has been waving the white flag for the last three months because I tap its keys as if I was playing the piano.\r\n\r\nI know I\u2019ve written way too much and you're probably bored out of your mind at this point, so I\u2019ll close my story with one final thought: \u201cSlowly can save your life.<\/strong>\u201d And you know what? That might be an excellent title for a future book."},{"id":1811,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/alicia\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alicaaaa.jpg","nickname":"Alicia","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec Singapore","featured":false,"summary":"I even woke up as early as 5am in the morning, to reply his letter, so that we could utilize every hour of the day, and make 2 cycles within the 24 hours!","content":"The bloom of digitalization and modern technology has brought countless conveniences to human lives, drawing near the distances of thousand miles and one step nearer to smart living. As how contradicting it may sounds like, it also created the invisible gap between humans. How often you make new friend in your daily life?<\/strong> Have you ever tried talking to a total stranger you met while commuting, the guy that sat next to you on the train, the barista girl that served you every morning or maybe the neighbour from your estate? People are glued to their electronic gadgets and many of the times compromised the little human interactions they experiencing daily, missed out the opportunities to meet new friends new people.\r\n\r\nSlowly has been a great platform for me. A mundane, boring introvert whom is a littleee too shy to open up and speak to others in real life, but deep inside would like to make some new friends to share about her interest and little moments life.\r\n\r\nIt all started back in end November last year. I was aimlessly scrolling my Playstore, and I bumped into this - Slowly: Connect to the World! Curiosity has led me to hit on the 'install' button, and all I could say, it's the best decision I ever made.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe whole app design is way beyond adorable. The avatar, the minimalist inspired portal, and the stamp collection! After filling in my 'About Me' self introductory, I left my phone aside without much anticipation. And you know what, within hours, I've received a couple of penpal invitation and a few letters coming to my way!\r\n\r\nWaiting kills. This really hits me while I'm waiting for my letters from my pals. Various from their location, some reaches my end within 30 mins, some took about 3 days. The wait is painful but it's the source of joy as well, which you will never experience via instant messaging. Writing a letter brings out the 'formality' and to make every minutes of waiting worthwhile, you will tend to squeue in as much as possible, so that the receiver can feel your sincerity and the joy you sharing with them.\r\n\r\nSomething really cool about this Slowly that, it's really safe for its user. Not only the two way photo sharing request is required, there's also photo quotas set for every 12 hours so that the whole objective of nostalgic writing can be preserved! As there is no profile photos featured, it encourages the friendship that focus purely on interest and common topics, without being influenced by the appearance factor, which many of us might found guilty with!\r\n\r\nBeing 6 months on Slowly, I've met plenty of penpals across the globe. Been through being double ticked (letters read and ignored), penpal deleted his or her account out of sudden and also one or two weirdos. Having said that, I also found one of my best friend in life on Slowly!\r\n\r\nHe dropped me a letter back in December 6, 2018. It's obviously an auto-match letter. (Can't thank Slowly enough for this arrangement!) At first, my impression of him wasn't a very good one, as he's wrote in a very flat and reserved manner. You can't really feel much of his emotion in his letters.<\/strong> We normally took 2 or 3 days to reply each one's letter, till one day we found out that we both shared the same taste in music. And since then, we discovered more and more similarity: common movie preference, same life goals, common values in life, ..... I can continue the list till tomorrow! We started writing to each other everyday, and as of today, we've passed the mark of 125 letters<\/span>! And more letters to be counted.\r\n\r\nOh, did I ever mentioned that we're actually about 2600km away from each other, it takes 8 hours for one letter to reach, at least 16 hours for waiting time for me to receive his letter after mine being sent. On some days, I even woke up as early as 5am in the morning, to reply his letter, so that we could utilize every hour of the day, and make 2 cycles within the 24 hours!<\/strong> It's a little crazy, I know, but these are the little silly moments that spice up our daily life!\r\n\r\nOf course, we could have take the easier route, exchange our social contact, and stay connected via instant messaging. But we decided not to, and stay put with current stage till the day we met! No doubt, we haven't have any planning toto meet up anytime soon, I'm sure when we do, we will instantly click, and continue be the life support for each other!\r\n\r\nSometimes friendship do come in the least unexpected way, if only you willing to give it a try!\r\n\r\nThanks Slowly!\r\n\r\nA.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nP.S Note:<\/em>\r\nAs of this story being published, we've actually crossed the 500 mark of letters exchanged!<\/em>\r\nA special shoutout to my best slowly pal, S.<\/em>"},{"id":2988,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/elzzzamars\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/elzzzamars.jpg","nickname":"elzzzamars","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 Ukraine","featured":false,"summary":"Of course, sociophobia didn't go anywhere, but it became easier to live with it.","content":"Once upon a time there was a girl. She really wanted to make friends, but her strict parents wouldn't let her go anywhere. They were sure that there were criminals and thieves at every turn. After school, they told her to go home right away. And because of this, the girl had problems with communication, classmates did not understand her, and there were no friends at all. Over time, the girl grew up and became shy and uncommunicative. At university, the situation improved slightly, but eventually she was expelled for truancy. It turned out that depression was not considered a valid reason not to go to lectures.\r\n\r\nTime and again she tried to get a job, but already at the interview stage it was clear that it would not work. She started cutting herself thinking it was all her fault; there was no one to talk to and ask for advice. The feeling of needlessness consumed her day after day. She decided not to leave the house, believing that it would be easier. Random encounters on the Internet did not lead to anything, because in instant applications to find friends, they usually look at the face, figure, skin color and sex.\r\n\r\nBut one day, among a bunch of similar messengers, she found Slowly. Cartoonish avatars, postage stamps and a leisurely exchange of letters immediately won her heart. It had never been so great for her to get to know other people, their habits, culture and everyday life. Are they really interested in texting with me? - thought the girl. It's like waking up to a long nightmare of misunderstanding and resentment. She began to recognize herself in others, to understand her own and others' emotions.<\/strong> Of course, sociophobia didn't go anywhere, but it became easier to live with it.\r\n\r\nLet her express her sincere gratitude for helping her find herself. You are the best. \ud83d\udc9c"},{"id":2240,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/nov03\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Nov03.jpg","nickname":"Nov03","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\udde9 Indonesia","featured":false,"summary":"And since that, we never contacted each other because he doesn't want to give me a false hope.","content":"The first time I am using this app is solely purpose to find a soul-mate. I even write on my profile before that i want to have an international relationship. And then I began to wrote letter by using Auto match. And *pop* one day a replied letter arrived from this man (Initials P), he piqued my interest because he so open minded and he really has a charm that make me attracted to the way he talk in the letter. We exchange answer & question in each letters, we would share what we like to do in the future or what in our mind of future like. We exchange letters for 1 month and change to Whatsapp. We would chat everyday, day and night, video-call & voice-call for hours.\r\n(We live in a different country with a difference of 5 hours).\r\n\r\nI began to develop this romance feeling towards him, because i was never treated this way, he always make me laugh, we talk all about things, but turns out he only see me as a friend and no more. And since that, we never contacted each other because he doesn't want to give me a false hope.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI never regret meetings with him. I know that my feelings for him was real even though i never met him in real flesh.\r\nNow, I am still using Slowly, but not in mindset finding a soulmate. I just want to have friends all over the world.\r\n\r\nFor Mr. P,\r\nIf you ever read my story, knows that i will always like & love you.\r\nI support you in your every way, and i hope you will be happy.\r\n\r\nAnd for Slowly, thank you for make me able to meet with this amazing man, and because of you, i am started to learn new languages.\r\nDanke sch\u00f6n !\r\n\r\nBonne journ\u00e9e\u00a0 \ud83d\udda4"},{"id":7574,"permalink":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/story\/hoyjudy\/","img":"https:\/\/slowly.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/hoyjudy_slowly.png","nickname":"hoyjudy","subtitle":"","country":"\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded Philippines","featured":false,"summary":"I wrote in my bio that I would be returning in December...","content":"Slowly Friendships As A Lifetime Lesson\r\n\r\nBeginning\uff0d I was always nervous about talking to people. Though I am confident in my writing skills, I always think I am not a fun person to talk to. At times I would even make a bet with myself that the person I am talking to would only last a day.\r\n\r\nBut through Slowly, I learned how it takes time for people to show their real selves. And even realized that I was the same!<\/strong> I learned more about the differences of the people around the world but also discovered the things we have in common.\r\n\r\nThat is why I am so glad that I met people I would feel the most comfortable talking with. What I like about Slowly is that it gives people the chance to dive into their minds deeply and actually say what is deep within.<\/strong> What they really wanted the person on the other side of the letter to know.\r\n\r\nMy regret\uff0d College is around the corner and the pressure is getting to me. No matter how much I enjoy writing letters to my friends, I had to stop. I felt like I had to focus every inch of my attention on my life. And so, I left Slowly on August. I can recall I wrote in my bio that I would be returning in December. I never did.\r\n\r\nValue of friendships\uff0d More than a year later, I finally decided to return. I felt the need to talk to someone and spend time on my social life. At that moment, I wondered if I would be seeing my friends' letters, which I never expected because the moment I left Slowly, I was thinking \"Maybe our friendship does not really mean much to them\".\r\n\r\nI opened Slowly and saw that nothing much changed. However, there is the familiar feeling from when I used it as my safe haven. But then I felt nervous. Why would I be, right?\r\n\r\nThat was when the names of my friends flashed through and saw that all of them sent me letters.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhat breaks my heart more is when I read the messages and see, \"Cannot wait for your reply!\", that was from my friend whom I always exchange songs with at the end of our letters as we agreed for fun on the beginning of being pen pals.\r\n\r\nAnother message says, \"It's December!\". I know. Someone waited for me.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI left a lot of friends and I regret it. A lot of realizations hit me. The letters are alternative to actual interactions but the feelings are real. I thought I would not be sad, but then, I can recall those times that these people I exchange letters with were there when I was afraid and not prepared of talking to people in person.\r\n\r\nSlowly taught me the most important lesson of treasuring people in your life. Never take them for granted. Some of them are willing to be one of your \"for lifers\" if you had just made efforts on making them want to be one.\r\n\r\nNow, I know, it is with me to reestablish the connections I failed to keep and to also make others feel the warmth this app made me feel."}]}