Lonliness

Moving to Mac from Philly has been an adjustment. In Philadelphia, I had a very full life. I lived in a house with other 20-somethings who were always down for a beer and some chit-chat. I played soccer (Los Tejones!), dodgeball (Mucho Mundo!), kickball (Kickball Corps!), ultimate frisbee, and tooled around town on my bike. I was a regular at the Farmer's Market, and would regularly see friends on walks around town. Most weekends, I had a few options for which party or potluck to go to.

And I left all that to live in McMinnville, OR for the summer.

Now I live in a house with some perfectly friendly 60-somethings , who spend there evenings glued to the t.v. (It's been 6 years now since I've lived in a place with a television). There are no rec. sports leagues in Mac. I can drive into Portland for a frisbee game, but it's a 2 hour drive round trip! Luckily, I've made a few friends here, and they are my saving grace. I've also become a regular at the local yoga studio, which gives me some peace of mind.

But I'm still pretty lonely. The cast of Glee and Grey's have sadly become my not-so-local bestie's.

Slowly, but surely, I'm carving out a life here for myself. But being away from Philly has made me appreciate my life back home. I didn't realize the importance of Philly's social institutions in my life until they were gone. I think all of us need social institutions (rec sports leagues, book clubs, music venues, church, whatever else might be your cup of tea...) to create opportunities for the meaningful human interaction that we all crave. It's seems to me that there's a dearth of social institutions in many our communities in the U.S., as more and more people live private and empty lives at home in front of their televisions and computers.

So, please, if you have the chance to, go out there and find a way to connect. Join a knitting or drumming circle. Invite that guy you met last week at frisbee out for a beer. We're all we got, so we might as well be friends.

And as for me, I'll roll up my sleeves and see if I can dig up a social life here in sleepy Mactown.