Tag: Loneliness

At the beginning of April I set the intention to have a face-to-face interaction with each of my 24 neighbors. But as April turned into May I still hadn’t taken action on my challenge. Quite simply, I was scared. Not because I suspected by neighbors were incinerating bodies in the basement, but because I was afraid of violating the unspoken but very real norm of privacy, and the unmentioned, but very palpable code of silence that governed our community. In the face of engaging in a simple, but profoundly countercultural act, I completely froze.

According to sociologists, one of the clearest trends in Americans’ socializing habits over the past few decades has been a marked decline in the frequency with which we entertain in our homes. Could the fact that our attempts to connect happen largely outside our homes—separate from the epicenter of our lives—be a driver of our widespread loneliness? In March, I’ll try to find out.

Project Reconnect?

December 30, 2018

Project Reconnect is about awakening—to my own unmet need to connect and belong, and to the vibrant but latent relationships and communities all around me that are waiting to be activated.

About Project Reconnect

What is it about our culture, habits, and daily lives that makes it so hard to feel connected, enmeshed in supportive community, and whole?

I started Project Reconnect in 2019 to experiment with very personal and local ways to challenge and change the hyper-individualism that has created a crisis of loneliness and social fragmentation in America. As I have reviewed my pre-pandemic writing, I’ve been astonished at how resonant it feels as we look to a post-Covid future.

And so, Project Reconnect continues—under circumstances that make experiencing deep connection feel more challenging and elusive than ever. Today my ambitions are humbler, my approach a bit gentler, and my starting point more vulnerable, more raw. Indeed, what felt like an urgent endeavor in 2019 feels like a burning fire of need in 2021—both personally and collectively.

So join me–let’s reconnect.