Cooking Up Connection

"Neighborly get-togethers have seen a steady drop since 1940. But rates of socializing outside the home have risen. We're now more likely to meet friends at a softball game or a bar than to invite them over for dinner or a barbecue. The "why" behind these trends is less clear, but the reality is stark: we are living in a cultural moment where there is a growing bifurcation between our private home life and our public social life. Could the fact that our efforts to connect happen largely outside our homesseparate and distinct from the epicenter of our livesbe a driver of our widespread feelings of social dislocation? In the month of March, I decided to find out. As part of a year-long personal journey to find ways of strengthening my own sense of community and connection, I challenged myself to host people in my home at least once a week. Four gatherings of friends or neighbors in my home in just 30 days." Shaylyn Romney Garrett, activist, writer and founder of Project Reconnect shares more in this piece.

READ FULL STORY