This week Kevin and Niseema talk about that other pandemic, Loneliness. In the 1970's only 11% of Americans reported feeling lonely. That number has more than tripled to 36% of all Americans, including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children. More and more people are expressing their feelings about loneliness yet we still can't seem to find the language to talk about it.
How do you react when you hear someone say the words, "I am lonely?" Do you feel overwhelmed, burdened, that you must do something for the person? If you can learn to bear and sit with your own loneliness, you learn that you don't have to solve someone else's.
In the second half of the show, Kevin and Niseema do an exercise that makes talking about loneliness as routine as talking about the weather. Ending your loneliness can be as easy as telling somebody about it.