E307: Navigating Loneliness with Special Guest Cindi McMenamin
E307 Introduction
I have been wanting to do an episode on loneliness for about a year now. Thankfully, I found just the right guest to help us navigate this important topic.
Loneliness is something that we all experience or will experience at some point in our lives but it has become a worldwide epidemic in 1st world countries where technology is most advanced. Isn’t that fascinating? Our convenient and favorite tech devices are at the center of this.
In May 2023, the US Surgeon General declared loneliness to be an epidemic, one that affects 1 out of 2 American adults. (wow)
“Loneliness has a way of creeping up on us unnoticed through a series of subconscious and tech-enabled habits that lead us to one day look around and think: where have all my friends gone? Why am I suddenly more of a loner than I ever set out to be? How did this happen?”
How many of you can relate to this? I know I can. Our phones (the adult version of the binkie) are our constant companions and, at first thought, they seem to provide us friendship, connection, and support. But is that REALLY true? How many people today (regardless of age, gender, or political orientation) are more comfortable swiping and commenting than they are striking up a conversation with someone or joining a group with the thought of making some new friends?
True friendship doesn‘t come from your interactions with your smart phone. They never have and I don’t think they ever will.
As we get older, loneliness can strike any of us but I think that men are a bit more vulnerable. Why? Well, so many men had important friendships at work and when they stopped working…..well it just became easier to live isolated than get our of their comfort zone and make new friends. Women of a certain age tend to do better at this they more naturally build community and are often involved in a whole slew of activities, no matter their age. God bless women.
And for men, I think there is a bit of shame involved in feeling lonely. As in you don’t want people to know because, as men, the last thing we want is people feeling sorry for us. But loneliness is nothing to be ashamed of. It is just the Soul‘s desire for meaningful human connection. Something we all crave and need. Human connection and friendships are like the sun. You don‘t need the sun all day every day but we all need SOME or we just don’t thrive.
I‘m starting to rant and my guest today is so insightful on this topic that I want to get to this interview. It’s so good to be back talking with you Basecampers. Let‘s get a word from our sponsor and then onward and upward. Enjoy the episode!
Cindi McMenamin Bio
Cindi McMenamin is an award-winning writer, national speaker ,and certified writing coach who has ministered to women for nearly 40 years. She is the author of 19 books including The New Loneliness, a book we’ll talk about today. Here is my interview with Cindi McMenamin
E307 Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. You can find Cindi at StrengthfortheSoul.com. Thank you Basecampers and we’ll see you around the fire next week.