Christmas is one of those funny things, isn’t it? It holds so much promise and idealism for focusing on what really matters, and yet it can so easily become a catalyst for becoming anxious over things that don’t.
So how can we be deliberate about what prioritising the genuinely valuable over the simply costly this Christmas season?
A study done in America asked people how many confidants – how many really close friends – they have in their life. 30 years ago researchers asked the same question, and the average answer was three. The next time they asked, it had dropped to zero.
Zero confidants, was people’s most common response.
Modern life steers us towards isolation. We are just so busy juggling all the responsibilities of our lives, that we don’t automatically carve out the margin to nurture meaningful community.
Though we hold in our hand devices that connect us to almost everyone we’ve ever met, there are less and less people with whom we feel truly, intimately known.
I’ve been travelling for work a bit lately, which means I’ve been out of my normal routines, and have fallen into a familiar trap.
I’ve been overconnected. And I can tell it’s hurting me.
You probably know the signs yourself – and how easy it is to find yourself doing it.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We have the power to take control of our connectedness – and not the other way around.
