As I have entered my 30's, I've begun to get angry when the subject of loneliness, and an alleviation of loneliness is brought up in coversation. The platitudes of the loved grow so thin in my mind, so tired. In war we cannot understand the other side, and often in love (all is fair). There is a confusion of satisfaction, of love, of spiritual satiety. Ironic emptyness when viewed through the lens of suffering. Why is that?

Some of us are loved, while others not. For whatever r

… Continue

I heard about, but until recently, I did not see this research finding that loneliness spreads in social networks (http://bit.ly/7acLSS). The article is based off of a study that was done on thousands of individuals in Framingham, Massachusetts since 1948. It was also mentioned in the PBS Emotional Life documentary, if any of you all saw it.

In any case, the study suggests that loneliness is contagious up to three degrees of separation: a friend of a friend of… Continue

I was watching a new PBS series that came out this week called "This Emotional Life" (highlights here: http://bit.ly/68Rl6p). I haven't finished watching it yet, but the first of the three episodes deal with "Family, Friends, and Lovers." As I was watching it, it reminded me a lot of this very basic fact that has been argued in the scientific community for some time now: there is a very basic need for humans to connect, as basic as the need to eat, or sleep, or… Continue

well, what else is new? watched a show on happiness tonite...intriguing...but it didn't tell me anything i didn't already know....most people are only as happy as their social interactions, in fact, they did a great research study on how happy you are in relation to the people in your life, not just your immediate family and your friends, but their family and their friends and their family and their friends and their family and their friends, ad infinitum...and the research shows that you truly… Continue