Memories from our session archives

Loneliness: Do our existing structures nurture us or numb us?

This session tackled an emotion we all experience at some point in time — loneliness.

We watched a spontaneous street interview in a European city, exploring questions like:

  • How have global events shaped us?

  • What’s the relationship between being vulnerable and being in community?

  • What does it mean to feel truly present and alive?

Silhouette of a person standing alone, their long shadow in front of them.

There was so much… laughter!?

I definitely didn’t expect so much humour.

"A few minutes with the group and I just feel very at ease"
Beatriz

Stories from guests 💬 

A dimly lit room with a screen displaying a city street scene. The room has chairs, tables with candles and bottles, creating a cozy atmosphere. Handwritten note below the image reads, "Loneliness: Do our existing structures nurture us or numb us?"

This session surprised everyone.

We laughed a lot – sometimes from discomfort, but mostly from genuine moments of connection. It was wholesome and unexpectedly light, even while talking about heavy things.

Framed artwork titled 'Stories Across Borders,' yellow candles, and scattered stickers on a white surface, with soft lighting creating shadows.

We talked about “being dead inside” feeling like the default in modern life.

The conversation kept coming back to presence:
stepping away from autopilot,
questioning what we stand for,
actively seeking connection
instead of waiting for it to find us.

Person sitting on a brown chair, writing on a small note card with a pen, wearing khaki pants and a black wristwatch, with crossed legs and a colorful rug underneath.
Person sitting on a brown chair, writing on a small note card with a pen, wearing khaki pants and a black wristwatch, with crossed legs and a colorful rug underneath.

And then someone noticed: in all our brainstorming about what makes something a “safe space” or what makes us feel connected, love hadn’t come up.

Not once.
That realisation sat with us.

Why was love missing? Maybe we’re all still healing. Maybe we’re still figuring out what unconditional love even means.

Four pieces of paper taped to a beige wall with black tape, each containing handwritten notes and ideas about concepts like safe space, conforming, connected, and lonely, with small blue sticky notes on two of the papers.
Four pieces of paper taped to a beige wall with black tape, each containing handwritten notes and ideas about concepts like safe space, conforming, connected, and lonely, with small blue sticky notes on two of the papers.
Two people looking at a wall with writing that says, "We have to actively seek community" in a dimly lit room.

People shared that the session itself felt like a safe space.

There were so many little moments of feeling seen and heard.

Resources got passed around (Khalil Gibran’s poetry, books on untethering the soul) as we found common ground in our vulnerability.

Vintage poster featuring a sailing ship on stylized ocean waves with a pink lotus flower in the foreground, a distant hillside with trees and a castle-like structure, and the text "VINTAGE GIBRAN" at the top and "The Prophet" at the bottom.
Book cover with yellow background, titled "You Are the Happiness You Seek" by Rupert Spira, with subtitle "Uncovering the Awareness of Being" and a quote from Deepak Chopra.
Book cover of "The Untethered Soul" by Michael A. Singer. The cover features a small horse running on a beach with a cloudy sky in the background. The text highlights that the book is a number one New York Times bestseller with more than three million copies sold, and includes the tagline "the journey beyond yourself."

Thoughts we were left with 💭 

Move away from the automatic and actively work on presence. Practice being in the here and now.

Our tolerance for ‘the other’ has shrunk.

We must let go of guilt to shed old patterns.
(We all could use a little therapy.)

Start looking inwards – that is where learning begins.
There is great value in knowing what you stand for.

How we might “banish” loneliness:

  • Purpose through acts of service

  • There’s a reason you exist.
    Find it so you feel less lonely?