If you’ve listened to much of my material before, you’ll know that what I talk about a lot is our ancestors and how humans biochemically change when we spend time with other humans. Sometimes, I get so busy that I forget to connect with the people I live with. I find that I’m too tired or overwhelmed.

I love my iPhone just as much, if not more, than the next guy. The digital world and the progress that we have made as human beings is so good. But the thing is, our ancestors did a lot of things that provided so many benefits. If we could bring those strengths and benefits to our current world, a lot of us would be healthier, happier, and would enjoy life more.

For example, let’s talk about when people started farming. When it was time to bring in the wheat, people gathered together to bring in the harvest. When a barn needed to be built, people would gather together to do so. I was at a friend’s house the other day. She was getting a dock built and needed a gathering of people to lift it. As I saw all these people raising up this heavy structure and working together, in reminded me of what out ancestors did.

While I really crave hanging out with other people, I do find it really challenging to just sit there and sip tea; I want to be doing stuff with my hands. Recently, I’ve been going to a friend’s house and helping her go through old cupboards and drawers to organize her home. I’ve found that I’ve gotten a lot of pleasure from that.

If you already have lots going on, one of the things to remember is that even if we just do a chore with a friend, doing it together can be such a neat way of spending time together. You get the job done and, at the same time, you get that connection of hanging out with someone. I ended up going home one night after organizing the house and thinking about how I was so satisfied and happy. It was because I accomplished something, I was helping a friend out, and I got to bond with some more friends who were also helping.

It’s such a neat thing to be able to spend time with other people. In our busy world, our digital world, we’re kind of losing that ability of just hanging out and getting stuff done. But what we do know, and what science proves, is that being in the presence of other human beings makes us happier.

Who would have thought? We’re social creatures.