LAUREN GONZALEZ

From the moment I wake up, machines run my day. Smart devices manage everything from making my coffee to paying my bills and even parking my car. I scroll my friends’ lives on social media, worrying more about the perfect photo caption than actually enjoying the moment. And anytime I reach out to a company for help solving a problem, I’m met with Greg the chatbot. I’m more efficient than ever, yet somehow infinitely more lonely, adrift in an increasingly online world that insists on reducing me to an avatar version of myself in the name of easier marketing.

But we aren’t machines yet. We’re still capable of fostering and enjoying moments of real connection – we just have to remember how. In a time when there’s an app to make anything and everything accessible on your own terms, free from the mess and chaos of actual in-person interactions, we need each other more than ever. As inconvenient and uncomfortable as it may feel to seek out human-to-human connection, this is precisely where the magic is – the growth, inspiration, fulfillment, and purpose for which we’re all desperately striving.

Join me in an exploration of the lost art of connection and the quest to recapture the profound joy of being human, together.