My classmates from the all-girls high school that I have attended as a teenager, are going to celebrate our 50th birthday next weekend, as almost all of us are turning 50 this year. They are getting together for a sleepover at a nice and cozy little hotel. I would love to be there with them, but I am a little too far from my hometown. But I think that this is a wonderful example of connecting and embracing each other.

Because with the help and encouragement of technology, human beings are becoming lonelier by the minute. People find it is easier to communicate with friends and family through the screen of a phone or tablet. Because it takes time and effort meeting with people in person.

People eat by themselves, drive by themselves, travel by themselves, and even feel uncomfortable letting someone into their lives in an intimate level in fear of losing the comfort and safety of their individualized, custom made bubble.

I want to believe that this is just a phase and more and more people will eventually start to realize that this is neither enough nor healthy. Sharing moments with like-minded people make those moments worthwhile to experience. Whatever we share grows. Emotions expand, memories form, joy and happiness arrive into minds of everyone who witnesses the event.

This is exactly why we need to get out of our caves more often, socialize with people, meet with friends, visit with family, go for a drink with colleagues. We, humans, are social beings, and loneliness is not in our nature. We need each other to live a more fulfilling life. Let us not hide in the shadows, but shine bright like a diamond…