Rabbi Sharon Browse. [applause] >> So, I want to share with you today how a somewhat obscure ancient ritual changed my life and became my moral and spiritual north star through this time of so much heartache and division and uncertainty and pain. In the early 2000s, we launched EAR, which is a Jewish community that was inspired by the moral mandate to build a more just and loving world and dedicated to re-imagining Jewish life through intellectual and spiritual curiosity, piety, and irreverence, joy, and de ...

Aimee Barnes examines how societal expectations—not singlehood itself—create loneliness, stigma, and self-doubt for many adults. She argues that the real issue is a lack of belonging and validation in a world built around couples and families. Her message: wholeness isn’t earned through partnership, but recognised in ourselves. Aimee Barnes is a life coach, facilitator, and trainee psychotherapist with a background in learning and development. She is the founder of Ganbaru, a wellness and education practice ...

[applause] This is my dog, Milo. He's a perfectly happy dog as long as he gets cheese, playtime, belly rubs, and a spot on the couch. If we dropped him off in the wild, he probably wouldn't do too well.Not because he's weak, but because that environment doesn't support his needs. This is true of most animals, including Milo's ancestors, the wolves. In a healthy ecosystem, wolves are social animals, just like humans.They move constantly, regulate stress through connection. They raise their young together. No ...

If you think rich, individualistic societies are the loneliest—think again. Surveys repeatedly show the loneliest countries in the world are in Africa, with Madagascar often ranking near the top. Why? https://t.co/7SxuKvlKJz https://t.co/RJp7qPwMZu ...

Hey everyone, this is Sheena from AP1. Like many high schoolers, I'm a typical fan girl and my ultimate dream to see my idols offline. And a few months ago, I was trying to get this lottery of my favorite idols concert.I even started my own clicking speed training camp, but I failed. Desperate and exhausted, I did the only logical thing for a heartbroken teenager in 2025. I made Chad GPT play the role of my idol and then started nagging about how I should stop liking them, spending money and time since even ...

When the Trump administration revised the dietary guidelines for alcohol consumption, that raised new questions about whether booze helps Americans connect. This stems from a press conference earlier this month in a comment from Dr. . Meett Oz who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.He said, "While people should refrain from drinking, alcohol can have a social benefit and that may help combat loneliness." >> We do know that drinking is bad for your physical health. That's not really conteste ...

Loneliness is the painful mismatch between expectations of social connection and what happens in reality. Which country is home to the loneliest people? The answer might surprise you https://t.co/VP2y1YqlTQ ...

Core Argument - The report posits that human conflict stems from a deeper struggle between the survival drive (self-protection) and the connection drive (openness and trust), both essential for well-being [1] - The brain prioritizes survival, triggering fight-or-flight responses to both physical and emotional threats, leading to disconnection [1] - Disconnection is detrimental to health, impacting the immune system, blood pressure, and increasing risks of heart disease, dementia, and depression, comparable to smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day [1] Relational Dynamics - Relationships consist of "you," "me," and "us," each with needs that must be balanced; imbalance leads to relational issues [1] - Societal disconnection manifests as political sectarianism, dehumanization, and the inability to hold differing views without animosity, harming individual and collective well-being [1] Solutions - The report advocates for interrupting cycles of disconnection through curiosity (understanding others), compassion (recognizing and responding to suffering), and connection (prioritizing the "us") [2][3] - Choosing connection involves leaning towards love instead of survival, fostering health, friendship, and collaboration [3] - The report encourages choosing curiosity over judgment, compassion in action, and protecting the "us" in relationships and communities [5][6]

Social Impact & Well-being - Highlights the prevalence of loneliness, stating that one in five people lack close friends and one in four experience regular loneliness [2] - Emphasizes the detrimental effects of loneliness on emotional and physical health, including increased anxiety, depression, weakened heart, and shortened lifespan [2] - Underscores the positive impact of friendship, noting that close friends contribute to increased happiness, health, and longevity [2] Barriers to Friendship - Identifies mobility as a barrier, with many adults living in different cities from where they were born [2] - Points out busyness as a significant obstacle, requiring approximately 50 hours of meaningful contact to develop a casual friendship [2] - Notes cultural neglect of friendship in favor of romantic relationships, evidenced by the lack of songs and resources dedicated to friendship compared to love [2] Qualities of Friendship - Defines a friend as someone you can talk to, depend on, grow with, and enjoy [3][4][5] - Stresses the importance of mutuality in friendship, involving a balance of giving and taking, seeing and being seen, hearing and being heard, knowing and being known [11][12] Call to Action - Advocates for treating friendship as a vocation, emphasizing its importance comparable to other significant roles in life [7] - Encourages prioritizing friends over screens, suggesting that the average person spends 5 hours a day watching streaming video, indicating a need to re-evaluate priorities [9] - Promotes embracing the risk of mutuality in friendships, highlighting that true friendship involves mutual vulnerability and sacrifice [10][11][12]

Loneliness is a mounting crisis for the elderly. Here's how some are using generative AI to combat isolation: https://t.co/uwu00VTJ6y ...