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Sadly we’ve become accustomed to the decline in neighborliness. Today most of us either live in apartments without knowing who lives on the other side of our walls or we enter our homes through the garage and hangout in our fenced-in backyards instead of chatting with people on our front porch like our grandparents did back in their day. Or, at work, we don’t know the folks on the next team or in the next office.

Plus, thanks to COVID-19 we’re now more worried than ever about keeping our physical distance from others. And it’s even harder to figure out if others are open to a chat or not with facemasks becoming an inevitable part of our attire. While physical distancing does not equal social distancing it’s still just that little bit harder to make connections.

Though, we’re wired to connect. Humans are a social species and we have a deep need to feel connection and belonging with others. Study after study suggests that when we do, we feel happier, more satisfied with our lives, and are much more successful in achieving the things that matter most to us. In fact, one psychologist, the late Christopher Peterson advocated that the path to happiness could be summed up in three words: “Other people matter.”