Where Do You Go When You're Lonely?

I just read an opinion piece in the New York Times called "The Life Span of Loneliness." It was accompanied by a video of people from all walks of life discussing what their loneliness feels like, why they feel this way and the ways that make them feel better, less lonely. I'm reminded about what I wrote in the last entry about connection. Why are we so disconnected?

I wonder, what holds us back from true and meaningful connection? It's clear that loneliness is an epidemic in this country (read: another article published in April, 2023 headlines, "Surgeon General: We Have Become a Lonely Nation. It's Time to Fix That.") but how do we change it? Where should it begin?

I'm going to make a suggestion and I want you to really think about this. Being a part of a community seems to be the common denominator that everyone is missing in this video and in the subsequent article. Isolation seemed to be the culprit to the people who spoke about being lonely. And so a good cure to it is to find a community. From my personal experience, I can say that joining up is always a good way to sock it to loneliness. And my decision to join something almost always has a volunteerism component to it (although not always). But that's what I enjoy the most. I like to join in to help the world to be better or to help a group to do better. It must be the teacher in me.

But that isn't the only thing I've participated in. I've also attended several different churches, a singles group when my first marriage ended (and yes, we really did have fun!), and currently, I'm part of a support group for people who are caregivers to a cancer patient (more on that later). And you know that each group has impacted me in its own way, all in a positive way.

Here's your challenge. Join up. There are several fantastic places where you can search for interests or opportunities to join a community. One of my favorite apps is meetup.com. It's a great place to find people with similar interests. But that is only the beginning of the story. When you find a group that interests you, then you have to (bravely!) take the next step: join the group and show up to an event.

You won't regret it. It's a great way to hammer back at loneliness. Go get 'em, Tiger!