Alone Together
My brilliant friend and colleague Russ Hughes recently wrote a column about another beloved colleague who, having gone freelance a year or two ago, was discovering the loneliness that comes with working from home. It reminded me once again of the importance of connection.
As the Internet Age has matured, it’s increasingly clear that being connected to everything has isolated us more than we know. Passive communication – through text and captured iphone snippets – strips away much the basic nuance of human interaction. We boast hundreds, even thousands of “friends” but few deep friendships. We acknowledge and reply with emojis and memes, rarely digging down to where our hearts speak from. And the long-term effect on our mental health takes its toll. We feel a sense of isolation, and a reluctance to share our true selves that only reinforces that isolation.
I started the Artist Brain Collective to address the challenges of isolation on creatives. After every workshop or panel, people tell me how grateful they are to be reminded that we’re not alone, that we all share the same challenges. The fact that people express gratitude for encouraging something as simple as basic human contact, communication, and community is at once both heart-warming and saddening. It just shows how starved we are for real connection.
We’ll be opening slots in our ABC Mastermind groups this month and I’d like to invite you. It’s an opportunity to join our community of creative minds – a safe, non-judgmental setting with no agenda and no expectations. Reply to this email for more details. |
