Friendship and social connection matter because social isolation is as harmful to people as other well-established risk factors in life, like smoking and obesity.

Friendship and social connection help us in all aspects of our live, including includes our identities and sense of purpose.

Being well-connected with family, friends and colleagues is a major factor in health and survival. Our sense of wellbeing and happiness, to a large extent, is dependent on the quality of our relationships, but it goes further : “The quality and quantity of individuals’ social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.”

Social connection binds us

We are a social species and we rely on others to help us in all aspects of our lives. This includes our identities, sense of purpose, recognition and many of the subtler aspects of our development, as well as more obvious and practical factors. As our increasingly individualistic lifestyle in the West reduces our dependence on others, it also deprives us of the reciprocal demands and benefits of our relationships.

In the UK, according to a 2010 survey by the Mental Health Foundation, 10% of people often feel lonely, a third have a close friend or relative who they think is very lonely, and half think that people are getting lonelier in general. Similarly, across the Atlantic, over the past two decades there has been a three-fold increase in the number of Americans who say they have no close confidant

According to a report published by The BMJ in February 2022, US researchers estimated that around a third of the population in industrialised countries experience loneliness, and one in 12 people experiences loneliness at a level that can lead to serious health problems.

Taking care of our relationships may well be the most neglected aspect of our collective lives, whether at home, at work, or in the community. But it’s also the easiest to do something about, if we take a little time to connect meaningfully.

"Train your mind to look for your successes. They are happening all the time, you just have to look for them."
"We only develop greater resilience when we are deeply emotionally connected to other people."
"If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right".
"Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should, nor that you have to".
"Simplify your life and work to be content. That will create the space for you to notice the joy. It's always there if you look."
“Personal Change Begins In The Imagination. You Have To Imagine It Before You Can Become It, Whatever ‘It’ Is”