What is emotional connection?

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What does "emotional connection" mean? Is it more than just mutual discussion of feelings? Not understanding this phrase has been driving me crazy, please respond.

It can mean a lot of things, but at the simplest level, it would mean feeling happy when someone else gets excited about their special interest, or feeling worried if they suddenly felt ill. It means an emotional resonance, but the idea can get really complex and people can expect a lot out of an emotional connection.

What if the person with the special interest doesn't know or care that I'm happy? Or the sick person doesn't know or care that I'm worried? Does that still count because I thought emotional connection had to involve at least two people somehow sharing their emotional experience.

I understand it to mean a bond that exists between two people in which they experience mutual trust, understanding, acceptance, appreciation, approval and affection.

The process (it seems to me) generally starts with two participants feeling listened to and understood by one another, (often the two have something in common to begin with, a shared interest or belief). The connection part happens over time if sharing from a basis of mutual respect continues in a way that is deeply comfortable for both people.

Well I rarely get a strong emotional connection with people my age. But I met this new friend whom I developed a strong emotional connection with right away and I believed that the feeling was mutual. However, once he got to know me a little better and experienced my Asperger's-related quirks and flaws, he lost interest in being friends with me. I'm trying to patch things up with him, but I haven't had any luck yet. However, I can always hope that I'll eventually change his mind in the future.

If I want to communicate with someone, then I make the communication my responsibility. Yes, though, emotional connections take two.

I think there is a difference between the experience of instant rapport with someone recently met and the experience of strong emotional connection (which is more complex and takes time). Emotional connection is a bonding process over time, as we gain trust and reveal more and more of our selves.

If your former friend has lost interest in being friends with you, it might be best just to let him go, or you will expend emotional and psychological energy which you could direct to meeting others who may be more congenial for you. Power and positive input has to be fairly evenly balanced in good friendships, and it's pretty unlikely to happen with someone who rejects your friendship at an early stage.

Well you might have some good advice there. A mental health counselor whom I used to visit for my Asperger's and whom I have been seeking advice from to solve my problem has given me the same advice. However, there is a relatively good chance that I might behave similarly toward somebody else whom I developed an emotional connection to, whether as a friend or as a romantic interest. So I really want to work out this problem with my new friend in order to develop normal social skills. This new friend was quite congenial toward me when we first met, but he didn't and still doesn't understand my Asperger's and how it affects my behavior. And I didn't really understand him, even though I thought that I did. I know that expending this much energy toward him is emotionally unhealthy, but not being able to work things out with him would be even more emotionally unhealthy. Another thing is that in the future, my new friend and I might work together. So at least for that reason, it would be a good idea to try to make up with him.