Listen: Rewilding Loneliness
Paulé Wood, one of the co-initiators of Rewild Salish Sea, just did a talk on loneliness at the 7th Annual North American Rewilding Conference. So many people are saying they feel separation, they feel loneliness.
More than half of U.S. adults say they’re lonely, and of course, holding identities or factors outside of the default narrative increases loneliness. For instance, if you’re a queer, neurodivergent, single parent of mixed race, the factors of loneliness get much more acute in navigating the spells of modernity.
So-called "developed" nations have the highest rate of loneliness in the world. When we think of rewilding, it's often the romanticized vision of the rugged, capable individual in a pristine forest. However, long-term feelings of loneliness and social isolation can reduce cognitive skills, such as the ability to concentrate, make decisions, and problem-solve. In the face of increasing authoritarianism and populist xenophobia, all we really have is each other in the day-to-day context we’re in.
Some of the antidotes to loneliness included:
Create and support third spaces, like makerspaces and libraries
Get yourself outside, even just to your backyard or a local park. Fight disassociation and ground yourself with physical activity. Physical exercise outside at least once a week = 50% decrease in risk of mental unwellness
Move your body as you can, sing with people, cook and eat meals together. Cooking and eating together has physical, mental, and emotional benefits past nutrition. Music and dance ignite hedonic brain networks, giving rise to action, emotion, and learning.
Regain the muscles of social stamina that might have atrophied in the pandemic lockdowns. We’ve somewhat lost our ability to be in discomfort or disagreement with each other, which is necessary to build robust, mutual ties. We will only rise together.
Check on each other, hang out together with no agenda, make things (even badly! especially badly!)
Rely less on social media for your social and communication needs and text or call people and directly invite them to do something with you.
Get to know people who are not like you. Go meet those neighbors you’ve been avoiding (yes, those neighbors). Find common humanity and ground where you can, and navigate away from disagreement unless you can hold space for each other and feel mutually heard. GO SLOWLY and build stamina and trust together We will only thrive in climate collapse together
Paulé Wood (they/them) has a background in Human Centered Design and has been professionally designing complex systems for two decades. A practitioner of de-armouring and Northern European ceremonial and personal magic, they are the co-initiator of the community organization Rewild Salish Sea, part of the Rewild Alliance.
Sign up to receive updates about next year’s conference at www.rewilding.com
Selected reading list on Rewilding Loneliness:
UCLA Loneliness Scale
https://artemciy.gitlab.io/loneliness-scale/#/
People with an R-UCLA score of 44 and more can be considered "officially lonely." The total score ranges from 20 to 80. Higher scores indicate higher loneliness. The most commonly used categorization is the following: 20–34 denotes a low degree of loneliness, 35–49 a moderate degree of loneliness, 50–64 a moderately high degree of loneliness, and 65–80 a high degree of loneliness.
Articles
Almost a Quarter of the World Feels Lonely
Gallup, 2023
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/512618/almost-quarter-world-feels-lonely.aspx
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community
Office of the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, 2023
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Social connection can transform our whole health and well-being
Office of the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Current Priorities
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/connection/index.html
Whoever Starves Least, Wins: Behind the making of Alone, the most genuinely perilous show on television.
Vulture, Nicholas Quah, Aug 16, 2023
https://www.vulture.com/article/alone-tv-show-history-channel.html
The Lethality of Loneliness: We now know how it can ravage our body and brain
The New Republic, Judith Shulevitz, May 12, 2013
https://newrepublic.com/article/113176/science-loneliness-how-isolation-can-kill-you
The Loneliness Epidemic Persists: A Post-Pandemic Look at the State of Loneliness among U.S. Adults
The Cigna Group, 2021
https://newsroom.thecignagroup.com/loneliness-epidemic-persists-post-pandemic-look
The importance of greenspace for mental health
BJPsych Int., Jo Barton and Mike Rogerson, 2017 Nov; 14, (4): 79–81
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5663018/
Wendell Berry on Solitude and Why Pride and Despair Are the Two Great Enemies of Creative Work
The Marginalian, Maria Popova, Dec 17, 2014
https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/12/17/wendell-berry-pride-despair-solitude/
To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World: Pioneering Psychotherapist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, the Loneliness of Mental Illness, and the Healing Power of Believing in a Person’s Inextinguishable Inner Light
The Marginalian, Maria Popova, Feb 9, 2017
https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/02/09/frieda-fromm-reichmann/
A 'Minister for Loneliness' is a sticking plaster for the ills of neoliberalism
Open Democracy, Peter Coville, Jan 22, 2018
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/minister-for-loneliness-is-sticking-plaster-for-ills-of-neoliberalism/
Endorsing Neoliberal Capitalist Ideas Connected to Loneliness and Reduced Well-being
Mad In America, Zenobia Morrill, Mar 10, 2021
https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/03/endorsing-neoliberal-capitalist-ideas-connected-loneliness-reduced-well/
Neoliberalism: Political Success, Economic Failure
The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner, Jun 25, 2019
https://prospect.org/economy/neoliberalism-political-success-economic-failure/
The Loneliness Pandemic: the psychology and social costs of isolation in everyday life
Harvard Magazine, Jacob Sweet, Jan-Feb 2021
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/12/feature-the-loneliness-pandemic
The terrible loneliness of growing up poor in Robert Putnam’s America
Washington Post, Emily Badger, Mar 6, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/06/the-terrible-loneliness-of-growing-up-poor-in-robert-putnams-america/
The History of Loneliness
The New Yorker, Jill Lepore Mar 30, 2020
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/06/the-history-of-loneliness
How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain
Quanta Magazine, Marta Zaraska, Feb 28, 2023
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-loneliness-reshapes-the-brain-20230228/
The Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow’s Hierarchy (of Needs)
Resilience, Teju Ravilochan, originally published by Esperanza Project, Jun 18, 2021
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-06-18/the-blackfoot-wisdom-that-inspired-maslows-hierarchy/
An investigation of simulated and real touch on feelings of loneliness
Scientific Reports, Volume 13, Nicholas L. T. Gray & S. Craig Roberts, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-37467-5
The power of social touch: How a loving caress really can ease anxiety
Washington Post, Richard Sima Feb 9, 2023
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/02/09/social-touch-calm-anxiety-loneliness/
How The Lord of the Flies is a Myth and a False Representation of Humanity
Ray Williams’ blog, May 24, 2021
https://raywilliams.ca/lord-flies-myth-false-representation-humanity/
Alternative views on Darwin and “survival of the fittest”:
Survival of the Fittest
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest
The Beauty Puzzle
Radiolab, Feb 8, 2019
https://radiolab.org/podcast/beauty-puzzle/transcript
The Good Show
Radiolab, Oct 24, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKRV0UX9dBM
Podcasts & Shows
What Our Cities Are Missing (Third Spaces)
Andrewism, Sep 6, 2023
https://youtu.be/MD_CMrCpBMc?si=yMBC0z9uCvyrJpS4
Dr. Vivek Murthy on Loneliness and Connection
Brené Brown, April 21, 2020
https://brenebrown.com/podcast/dr-vivek-murthy-and-brene-on-loneliness-and-connection/
How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain
Quanta Science, February 28, 2023
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-loneliness-reshapes-the-brain/id1021340531
Why You Can’t Stop Watching Survival TV
Outside Podcast, Jan 20, 2023
https://www.outsideonline.com/podcast/survival-tv-alone/
The 'Quiet Catastrophe' Brewing in Our Social Lives
The New York Times Ezra Klein Show, Apr 18, 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-sheila-liming.html
Books
Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World
Vivek Hallegere Murthy
Harper Wave (2020)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1141994283
Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
John T. Cacioppo, William Patrick
W.W. Norton & Co. (2008)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/181139570
Bowling Alone
Robert D. Putnam
Simon & Schuster, New York, NY (2014)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1052624197
A Biography of Loneliness: The History of an Emotion
Fay Bound Alberti
Oxford University Press (2019)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1090174746
The Lonely Crowd
David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, and Reuel Denney
Yale University Press (2020)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1147855287
Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone
Eric Klinenberg
Penguin Books (2013)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/859846457
Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time
Sheila Liming
Melville House (2023)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1359918199
The Lonely City: Adventures In the Art of Being Alone
Olivia Laing
Picador (2016)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/905685639
Un-Lonely Planet: How Healthy Congregations Can Change the World
Jillian Richardson
New Degree Press (2019)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1123216306
Lost Connections: Why You're Depressed and How To Find Hope
Johann Hari
Bloomsbury Publishing (2018)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1031339761
Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How To Think Deeply Again
Johann Hari
Crown (2022)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1266207771
Humankind: A Hopeful History
Rutger Bregman
Little, Brown and Company (2020)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1156319324
From What Is To What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want
Rob Hopkins
Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction (2019)
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1097959859
Please leave your suggestions in the comments below!
