For spring break year, my family embarked on an epic southern road trip to look at colleges (daughter), take in NBA basketball games (son), and eat barbecue and ice cream (mom). My wife (and I) just wanted the togetherness of our family, especially since our daughter’s college search has made us acutely aware that she won’t always be a daily presence in our lives. With my work on social connection, I was thinking about both our family’s togetherness and how the cities we visited shape social connection for their communities. This shaping clearly matters for the degree of community, and I tried to capture bits of each place in the postcards below.

We face a lot of inertia around creating connection. This inertia can be social, logistical, or emotional. The first step toward overcoming this inertia and having more connection is often simple: a quick text, deciding to show up, or actually meaning it when you say, “How are you?”

Is Valentine’s Day about love or anxiety? As a school kid, giving out cards to the whole class, I dread Valentine’s Day. Then, as a young adult, the pressure around Valentine’s Day and the risk of rejection just made me even more awkward. Even as I got into long-term relationships, I was worried I would get everything wrong. Perhaps it’s just my distressing experiences, but I think it’s time to revisit the real emotion we celebrate on Valentine’s Day.

I had high hopes for a quick start to 2024. I had plans. I was rested. The craziness in my life was only at a ‘7.’

As my family prepared to head out for a First Day Hike, I began admitting that I wasn’t feeling great. My throat was sore. I felt a little achy. My morning coffee just wasn’t doing the trick.

I stumbled through our three-mile trek, came home, and collapsed in bed for the better part of the next three days. The flu had thwarted my grand aspirations for a strong start to 2024.

So, here I am, on January 4th, making a restart.

The morning after Christmas, Scott and I had breakfast. It was a chance to step away from the frenzy of the holiday and have a needed moment of quiet conversation. We talked about volition and what the Word of the Year should be for 2024. We decided on resolution.

“Best of” and “of the year” lists are starting to be published. This year, the Oxford word of the year is "rizz," a word I did now know. According to my children, this word means sex appeal. They were unsurprised I was unaware of it. Apparently, it’s a shortening of the word charisma with a touch of spice added. Merriam-Webster chose "authentic" as its word of the year over rizz and a few other candidates. Maybe, authentic rizz is the theme of 2023 with the continued ascent of Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and Beyoncé. At least these three seem like famous people I might want to spend time with. But, I have a different choice for word of the year: apricity.

“Fast Car,” a song written by Tracy Chapman in 1988 and rereleased this year as a cover by country star Luke Combs, won the 2023 Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. I loved this song when it debuted 35 years ago. I found it to be a compelling story of a young woman trying to escape the complex, reinforcing factors that create urban poverty. Combs’s version, which turns Chapman’s folk-rock version into a twangy, country edition, shows that I should also think about this song as a rural anthem. This song’s renewed popularity demonstrates how poverty has changed in America.

When I finish a really busy stretch of life, I have a feeling of withdrawal. I feel aimless, maybe a little sad. I miss teetering on—and sometimes falling over—that edge of being overwhelmed. Which makes me wonder: is free time bad?

Recently, I had the rare chance to share a meal alone with my 16-year-old daughter. I know these moments of one-on-one conversation are precious with teenage children, and I try not to squander them. As I asked about her life, she mentioned being stressed about an English quiz. She had missed a couple of classes because of being sick, and one of the terms on the quiz was one she had never seen before: cognitive dissonance. Not only did I feel empathy toward her, but I immediately felt cognitive dissonance myself.

Spotify recently announced that, among Gen Z, the most popular search term is ‘sad’. One of their most popular playlists is "Bummer Summer." I love sad music (shout out Jason Isbell), but what does liking sad music actually mean? And what might Spotify’s pronouncement mean for us as a whole?

I am fascinated by the phenomenon of social contagion, where emotions or behaviors spread through networks of people like an infectious agent. A recent study of students and phone use shows how the misery of phone use is contagious.

A recent study in Nature takes on the insidious problem of our cynicism. The authors title the paper and define the problem as “The Illusion of Moral Decline.” Despite tons of data showing that the world is getting better and better, we are not happier, especially in economically developed countries. The gap between the world’s progress and our perceptions is what the four studies in this paper examine.

Don’t tell my wife, but I’ve been reading the “36 Questions That Lead to Love” in the New York Times. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Honestly, I was thinking about loneliness and the challenges of making friends, and I happened upon this article.

Last week, my son got an ‘F’ on an English assignment. He confessed this to me as he got into the car after sports practice. At first, I was disappointed, but it ended up being great, let me explain:

In a just-published study comparing physician and Chat GPT responses to medical concerns posted on the internet, the responses from Chat GPT was 10 times more empathetic.

Man, do I hate the first half mile. I’m a regular runner and yet, even when I’m in shape, that first half mile is rough. But, once I get going, I feel better; and I definitely feel better once I’m done.

Because of my hatred of drive-thrus, I’ve been fascinated by the evolution of Starbucks…

“There’s no bad weather; only bad gear,” my Icelandic guide said to me as we struggled against 20 MPH headwinds on a subzero day.

The common thread between these two recent chapters in the COVID-19 Pandemic—and much of the pandemic overall—is that we struggle with uncertainty.

…the goal shouldn’t be just joy or achievement, but also the sharing of an experience, no matter how it turns out.