TL;DR -- I'm making a DOCUMENTARY! 🎥 🎬

TL;DR -- I'm making a DOCUMENTARY! 🎥 🎬

(Some additional tea 👇🏼)

If we’re in one another’s orbits, it will probably be the least surprising thing you hear today: my documentary topic is Social Health.

Social health, you say?

Yes, you heard me correctly!

Social Health.

It’s a thing!

A very important thing, IMHO ;)

And if I have my way, there will come a time where the phrase “social health” (originally coined by the World Health Organization back in the 40’s🤯 ) will be as familiar, researched and resourced as the other two pillars of human health and flourishing (physical health and mental health.)

There is still SO MUCH I am figuring out about how to tackle this topic in the most helpful and effective way, but there are two things I do KNOW:

1.) It’s never been more critical to prioritize social health because we’ve never been this socially unwell before. (Particularly Americans.)

We’re in the midst of what the former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. And we’re not just talking about extreme cases of old cat ladies who can’t leave their homes because their front doors are blocked by stacks of newspapers from the 80’s.

No, the type of loneliness we’re talking about here is much more pervasive and common than that.

So much so, that it’s becoming our new normal.

In 2025, there are more Americans who are suffering from loneliness than those who are not.

(Btw, the definition of loneliness is simply the “psychological pain that occurs when there is a gap between the intimate relationships and support systems that we have and the ones we need to thrive.”)

One thing I know for sure is that, Houston, we have a problem.

Something else I know:

2.) The research is remarkably compelling around the impact of social health on our longevity, physical health, and fulfillment. The fine folks at Harvard who conducted the longest study on human longevity and flourishing found the quality of our relationships to be the most significant predictor of how long we will live and how happy we will be.

AND YET, we often don’t treat it like that.

We have SO MANY BIZARRE IDEAS about friendship and relationships that need to be debunked and re-created.

Meanwhile, we’ve designed an entire culture that doesn’t contribute to supporting social health.

BUT.

It doesn’t have to be this way!

Systemic loneliness and disconnection aren’t unavoidable or inevitable parts of being a human.

And you know how I absolutely, positively know that?

I’ve spent a good chunk of my life being pretty lonely (although no one would have been able to see that from the outside) and thinking that was just normal life.

AND I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life travelling, living, building, working, and making friends all across the world. I have had the remarkable gift of being invited into existing, longstanding communities and creating them from scratch, and have experienced a deep and rich sense of community and social health along the way.

And through this journey, I’ve identified six principles that seem to be present in the communities that provide people with a “dense network of support” that creates resilience against loneliness and isolation.

I found these six principles being lived out in an actual village in Uganda. But also in urban communities in Ethiopia and India. And in the normie suburbs of Sydney and Seattle and Kansas City.

When I’ve encountered a group of people who would say, yes, of course, life is hard, but I generally (not always of course! We’re not shooting for perfect. We’re shooting for healthy norms.) feel like I have the relationships and support I need to navigate life’s challenges and enjoy life’s gifts, these six principles are usually at play in some way, shape, or form.

And here is the excellent news: These principles can be prioritized and lived out in a modern, mainstream American context.

No, you don’t have to move to an actual village in rural Africa or live off the grid in some fringe political commune in the desert to experience the benefits of “village life.”

You can drive a minivan, have an Apple+ subscription, and a job (with a 401(k)!), and build your life with social health as a primary priority.

Prioritizing relationships and social health to the same degree that we prioritize many other things may seem radical to us here in America, but I’m telling you it’s really not 😁

What is quite radical, from both a global and historical perspective, is what is quickly becoming “normal” in America.

And in an 80-minute (give or take) film, I hope to condense 15 years of living and researching and joining and building communities and share these six actionable (not rocket science!) principles and show you an example of how they can manifest in an otherwise pretty “mainstream” American context.

Not because I have it all figured out (um, I don’t. If you’re looking for a guru, move along😁 ) and certainly not so that you can (or feel like you should) “copy” this particular manifestation of these six principles. But so that maybe (just maybe!) this small offering will spark your imagination and give you some tools and ideas for taking the next step in your own life towards social health, community, and connection. Without, like, blowing up your entire life and living off the grid 😜

Lastly, I won’t be able to make this happen without, well, my community. (I’m looking at you, 👀)

There is just so much I haven’t figured out yet (um, most of it), so it feels vulnerable and V OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE to bring you into the process this early on, but I am committed to bringing you along for the ride.

Now, LET’S MAKE A MOVIE, shall we?

Thank you for being here. It means the world to me 🫶🏽