Today’s guest is Shaylyn Romney Garrett, a woman who has dedicated all of 2019 to reconnecting — you’ll hear a lot about her journey in this episode. Shaylyn has spent her whole life studying, experimenting with, being fascinated and frightened by community, yet she thinks she has less community than anyone else. On her blog, Project Reconnect, Shaylyn takes on a new challenge every month to bring her back to community, connection, and relationship.

Listen on to find out about Shaylyn’s monthly reconnection challenges, including what’s been the hardest, what holds us back from hosting people in our homes, how meeting your neighbors can make all the difference, the dark side of our individualistic culture and the cultural norms that keep us from connecting.

Cultural norms like individualism, busyness, perfection, and privacy keep us from connecting. There are consequences on a societal level for only seeking connection when you need to connect, and Shaylyn challenges us to seek connection not selfishly, but because others might need to connect too. Shaylyn talks about how the solution to loneliness can be found in reaching out and caring for our neighbors, and that community, connection, and social wellness are essential to be happy, healthy, and thriving.