The New Art of Making Friends and Finding Community Even as researchers find loneliness is epidemic

The New Art of Making Friends and Finding Community
Even as researchers find loneliness is epidemic, people young and old are relearning how to hang out.

Julia Hotz posted Feb 25, 2019
As I wait for my first guest, I wonder what sort of characters would sign up for this.

“This” is LokPal—a local cooking workshop, premised on strangers “sharing a meal and sharing a bond.”

Then Abby arrives, wearing cherry-red lipstick as bright as her smile. As I hand over her name tag and prepare to ask the usual barrage of small-talk questions, Abby makes the first move, deftly breaking the ice with tales of her kindergarten classroom.

Next is Tania, a marketing specialist with the down-to-earth manner characteristic of England’s “North.” She’s followed by Sana, an Indian woman with unending enthusiasm and a penchant for vegetarian cooking. Stanley arrives, and then Doris, two salt-and-pepper-haired strangers radiating a gentleness that makes you feel you’ve known them for years. Last is Alex, whose serious face stands in stark contrast to his neon-yellow jacket and quirky sense of humor.

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More at the link. https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/dirt/the-new-art-of-making-friends-and-finding-community-20190225