Happy #97: Spark fun. Spark love.

Conversations stimulate connective thinking.

Conversing with family and friends, I've been reflecting. Re-thinking. Doing a mental map make-over. :-) Dot connecting.

Naturally, in the process, I've been reminded of something I believe has relevance to our exercise of finding peace (and happiness), regardless. This may be a no brainer for you. If it is, just check the box that says, "Yah. I knew that." And good for you. ;-)

Dot #1: There have been a few times in my life when I've experienced true well-being, when the light of God rested upon my soul like the warmth of the sun. Truly. One season in particular was during the death of my mother. The light I was given was measured out several times over a number of weeks and months. It was the answer to the prayers of a friend in my behalf. Even now, all these years later, I am able to draw from it. The experience changed what I know about the power of prayer for someone we love.

Dot #2: Kelsie came home from church last Sunday and said, "We're supposed to go into these situations where we're all young and single and supposedly have so much in common, and we don't know how to connect. We're so used to texting and Facebooking to interact, we've lost the social graces it takes to make friends. Never mind date or build community. We don't know how to do it."

Dot #3: When I asked Roman (27, single, the young engineer working with the principal engineer on a project I'm doing) about his view of the dating issue (and what's changed) he said to me, "It was different back then. When you wanted to spend time with someone, you called them on the phone and you went out on a date. Because that was the only tool you had to work with. Now, if you want to hang out with someone, you send a text out to a bunch of people. Those who can make it show up and those who can't don't. So the chances of actually being with someone you like are slim."

Does anybody else see what I see in Dot #3?? There was something to that phone call to one single person, a personal invitation, and spending time together one on one. Connecting...

Here's a brief synopsis of my dissertation:

We're separated from each other. Isolated and disconnected. And our health and well-being is suffering. Layer one: The home is separated from community, isolating the family. (Homes are placed out and away from the market place.) To deepen the issue (layer two), the family is separated in the home and the individual is isolated. Within the walls of their own homes, family members retreat to bedrooms (or wherever), and "connect" with the outside world via computers and phones.

Naturally, well-being is compromised because both community and the family are undermined in the break-down of (real) social support. Our soils are depleted, so our food is empty. We drive everywhere we go, so we don't get the physical activity we need. People are waking up depressed, struggling to feel good unless they're on meds, and our emotional well-being (and that of our children) has taken the hit. Our bodies, our brains, and our hearts are starving.

Essentially, it's separation by degrees. And it's happened in layers over time.

But this isn't true everywhere. Read about the Kaluli people (no depression) of the New Guinea highlands here .

Education, awareness, and a change in course and direction aside, we can uplift each other in very simple but powerful ways.

Connect the dots.

Happy #98 is simply: Pray for the well-being of someone you love and make that phone call....

Spark fun. Spark love. :-)

Enough said.