Social Wellness As A More Serious Topic

We’ve been cut off from extended families and close-knit communities too long in America (and much of the world.) That’s having serious consequences.

One way people are meeting that need is discussed here:
www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2023-03-02/social-wellness-startups-offer-emotional-support-circles

The way I’m meeting it is my idea for the Tribe!

Quotes from article:

~ Rice describes Peoplehood as “a connection product,” noting, “People don’t have the scaffolding and the structure that they need to be able to practice [social health].”

That’s slowly changing. A new generation of for-profit group gatherings hopes to remedy what’s been dubbed the “loneliness epidemic” — or “the friendship recession” — by serving people’s need for real and meaningful social networks.

~ “It’s so weird to us that there is nothing that’s really sitting between everyday life and crisis,” says Cutler. “This is a training ground for us to be more socially healthy … a missing support system, for lack of a better term.”

~ Nearly 60% of U.S. adults feel lonely, and young adults are twice as likely as seniors to be lonely. Almost 80% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 report feeling lonely.

There’s quite a precipitous fall in what we would call social capital in the United States. For some, it isn’t that they don’t have enough friends but rather they aren’t satisfied with the level of social engagement available.

The acknowledgment of mutual interdependence — which requires vulnerability — isn’t a well-established part of Western society, says Murphy. “So people, especially men, are more and more reluctant to talk about their feelings.”

Basically, a bunch of capitalists have figured out that they can sell better social connections for a price… SO glad I don’t have to do that! I hope that our created community “thing” actually works to help all of us not struggle so much individually or as smaller family or couple units.