“We Have Become Solitary Creatures”

When my friend said this, I wanted to argue with him.  Surely two years of a pandemic could not alter the social nature of the human being.

But I am afraid we are learning to adapt to a world with less Community in it.

The implications of this, as Johann Hari demonstrates in Lost Connections,  are alarming.

We Need Community

You have seen this for yourself.  Think of the last time you watched reports of a crisis on the news.

During a crisis, people naturally band together.  Strangers help strangers, some even put their own lives at risk to do so.

The feeling of connection during a crisis is so strong that when the crisis has abated, people miss that time.  

Sometimes, like the people whose airplanes were grounded in Gander Newfoundland during 911, they even have reunions years later.  People don’t do this to relive a horrible experience; they do it to celebrate the connections made during it.

We need Community in our lives.

Resilience

There is no question that the pandemic has changed us. The question is; will we allow those changes to become permanent?

We must act now, even while the pandemic is part of our world, to build Communities.

We need to reach out to those who are alone and settling into a solitary life and draw them into our Communities.  We need to use what we have until we have other options.

We Are Community Creatures

Take the time now to learn how to build Community in your life.

Develop the muscles of Community Leadership and build Community in your organization/group.

Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash