As you may know, I’ve been digging deeper into Johann Hari’s Lost Connections in the past few weeks.  I love his work – but this one is just depressing… 

At least the beginning of it is.  I found myself feeling quite hopeless as I read through the research and interviews he conducted for the book.  I can some up the first 200 pages for you.

We are a mess.

As a culture.  As society.  As a world.  We’re a mess.

Now, as a Scot, he used much more colorful language to describe what a mess we are in, but for the sake of professionalism, I’ll keep it more appropriate.

The first 200 pages are pretty depressing – realizing just what a mess of anxiety, depression, and addiction the human race has evolved into.  But there is HOPE – at least that’s what the book says.

But as I read his hopeful solutions #2 and #3 this week, I became even more DEPRESSED AND HOPELESS!

Why – because the solutions are HARD!  They take work!  The solutions are not the little blue pill you’re being sold in every other commercial during the nightly news!

Sometimes it seems hopeless, because I’m not sure human beings want to engage in this level of work – especially when the billion-dollar marketing industry is telling us it is far easier to take a pill to solve our problems!

But… You.  Since you are reading this – YOU give me hope.  Thank you.  Obviously, since you’ve read this far, maybe you are a little more interested in doing something different.  Thank you for being the hope in the world.

So let me give you this – here are his solutions from Lost Connections.  If you want to go deeper, definitely read the book – or connect with me, you know I’d be happy to chat about it.

Solutions, or “Reconnections” for our lost connections:

1. Connect to other people – we are far to isolated, even in our world of “social” media and instant access to each other
2. Social prescribing – not just connecting to others, but engaging in meaningful acts with them.  He shares a beautiful story of a depression clinic that offers “therapeutic group gardening” that has produced better results than most medications.
3. Reconnect to meaningful work – we struggle in our society to do this.  Too many of us feel like cogs in a machine.  We can do better.
4. Reconnect to meaningful values – I’ve got a few thousand pages of logotherapy works that support this.  You could start with Man’s Search for Meaning.
5. Find sympathetic joy and overcoming the addiction to the self – this is a fairly heavy section – but in the final analysis, it’s really all about doing for others, engaging in self-transcendent work, which may also be the solution to #3 above
6. Acknowledge and overcome childhood trauma – not just “Big T” trauma, but many of us endured “little T” trauma in one form or another throughout our lives; even from parents, guardians, or family that may have been trying their best, sometimes they make mistakes and it leaves a mark.  Acknowledging that, and overcoming in it, is a path to more meaningful health.  See last week’s comments from Elisabeth Lukas for more on that.
7. Restore the Future…  that’s almost laughable after the year we endured.  But maybe it’s more hopeful – it can’t get any worse, right?  Well, maybe it can.  But even if it does – we all have the opportunity to CHOOSE how we face it.  We can use adversity for growth, or we can let it crush us.  You, those of you that choose growth, health, achieving through suffering – you give me hope.  So, again, thank you.  And, if I can be of service in your continued growth – I’m here to help.

Take care.  – Dan