As modern societies become increasingly fractured and digitalized, a deep and growing longing emerges for genuine human connection through community. The fragmentation of traditional social bonds, driven by rising individualism, digital technologies, and cultural polarization, has fostered widespread loneliness and a sense of disconnection.
While digital platforms can help build new forms of community, especially for those geographically isolated or marginalized, they often lack the depth and reciprocity found in face-to-face relationships and can even exacerbate feelings of alienation.
This crisis of belonging is not merely emotional; decades of research highlight its profound impacts on health and wellbeing, with isolation contributing to increased anxiety, depression, and even mortality risk. Across the world, there is a collective yearning to restore meaning and kinship - an impulse to "be with," rather than merely network or transact with, others.
Addressing this longing requires both personal and collective effort: fostering environments where social skills and empathy are valued, creating opportunities for local engagement, and recognizing that strong, connected communities not only enhance individual lives but underpin resilience and a healthier society as a whole.
Designer Reza Mostmand has been experimenting for several years now in bringing diverse people together, through art, music & poetry combined with group dialogue and shared meals, to explore building bonds for connected and vibrant community through providing a time and physical space - first in the Toronto Baha’i Centre for Art and Soul events, and now in a private home setting in downtown Toronto for Drum and Soul Circles.
Reza’s website: https://rezamostmand.com/about
Hugh’s Korason Method webpage: https://hughsmiley.com/korason-method/
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