Loneliness and Isolation
Tonight, we consider two sets of three questions: three about us, and three about others to help us think about loneliness a little differently, and maybe develop some strategies to help!
Quick Note from Joel:
We’re here building an emotionally healthy corner of the internet for Absolutely Everyone. Every Monday, we open up a discussion thread in our Discord server, usually with something to meditate on, and some questions to discuss. We’re going to try posting them here with a link to the Discord discussion if you’d like to hop in and participate!
If you spend any amount of time on the internet interacting with people on the internet, it’s not long before you realize how isolated and disconnected most of us feel. The internet promised us more connection than ever before - it’s baked into the core value proposition of the entire thing. But somehow, most areas of the internet which are supposed to foster connection, leave us feeling more and more disconnected.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart,
and bring me out of my distress.
Psalm 25:16-17
It’s worth acknowledging that many of the people here in Hope Digital, feel, or have felt lonely and isolated. For some of us, it’s been a significant struggle in our lives. As we build an emotionally healthy corner of the internet, we are going to find more and more people who are searching for someone to - as the psalmist said, “be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted”.
Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Finding community, finding connection is the easy answer. But, often times isolation isn’t an easy problem. The nature of some people’s experiences or roles make it risky to open up enough to not be lonely. Other times trauma has damaged people’s natural ability to connect. And sometimes, loneliness spins us into a cycle of bad choices that leave us more lonely and more isolated than we started.
So tonight, we consider two sets of three questions: three about us, and three about others to help us think about loneliness a little differently, and maybe develop some strategies as a group to help tackle it!
First, I want you to think about these three questions - but don’t respond to them on the thread unless you feel comfortable:
Have you ever felt isolated and alone?
Do you see any shifts in how you act or interact with people when you are feeling isolated and alone? Do any of those shifts increase or decrease your feelings of isolation?
What kind of things break you out of periods of isolation?
Now, lets think outside of ourselves - after all we’re building an emotionally healthy corner of the internet for Absolutely Everyone.
Do you know someone who you think feels isolated and alone? (Don’t name them)
Do you see any shifts in how they act or interact with people online which may correlated to feeling isolated and alone? Do any of those shifts correlate to isolating them further, or increasing the connection with other people?
What kinds of ways can we individually or as a community throw people a virtual lifeboat when they’re feeling isolated and alone?
If you’re already on our Discord server, click below for a direct link to the discussion!
If you aren’t, and want to join our Discord server, click below to join!