By Steve Moran

I’m not quite sure this is a senior living article or even a leadership article, but I feel compelled to pen these words.

As human beings, we are happiest when we’re connected with and engaged with other human beings. It’s better than any luxury hotel, magnificent meal, exotic travel, movie, concert, or museum — better than anything else.

Thanks to social media, technology, and more recently AI, we’re being seductively lured into believing we can be happy with enough stuff, enough experiences, and enough technology. In truth, those things are doing major, irreparable damage to our souls.

The Turning Tide

I had four experiences over the last week that suggest we’re turning the tide. That we’re figuring out that in-person human connection is the most important thing. That we’re saying no to social media, no to technology, no to AI — at least when it comes to living good, productive, happy lives.

The Train Man

If you’ve ever considered taking the train for fun, the first couple of weeks in December are the time to do it. Fewer people, and both passengers and train personnel are more relaxed. But as always seems to be true, trains still run late.

I got to the departure station in Minneapolis heading to Milwaukee about 30 minutes before departure, which stretched to more than an hour. I was waiting, kind of browsing my phone and people-watching, when a guy close to my age sat down next to me.

He engaged me in conversation, and we shared life together for the next 30 minutes. Pretty soon, someone else came along and joined the conversation. That lasted until it was time to board. It was way better than our devices.

The Neighborhood Party

I live in a small, dead-end neighborhood with 25 homes. Several years ago, one of our neighbors threw a little Christmas party that we attended, but hardly anyone else came. It was kind of a bummer.

When I saw they were doing it again, I knew we would go as a neighborly obligation, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. This time, everyone showed up, and it was an amazing couple of hours of human connection.

Life Savings for a Diner

I came across a lovely story that may or may not be true about an older woman who liquidated her entire life savings to purchase and revitalize an old diner in an effort to save human connections. It’s an easy read that will fill your heart.

Norman

Again on Facebook, I read another story about Norman, a 73-year-old hospital parking attendant who started saving parking spots — not for the important people, but for people who were in crisis. As the story is told, he transforms the lives of so many people at a time of immense need.

Again, I have no idea if the story is true. I suspect not, but it doesn’t really matter. It will feed your soul.

What This Means

Both stories have resonated powerfully with vast numbers of people, and this is true because we’re discovering something crucial: the things we’ve been lured into thinking will make us happy fill time but empty our souls.

We’re waking up. And that makes me hopeful for humanity.