If there’s anything we learned about the pandemic is that the virus wasn’t the only one. We are living in a pandemic of loneliness like we’ve never seen before. Even in our current semi-post-pandemic world, loneliness continues to plague our psyches. “Isolation, grief, and loneliness which continues even in this phase of the pandemic has “changed our brain” and will continue to do so.”[1] Although necessary, social distancing along with fear of the virus has put us into an almost continual “fight and flight.” Our amygdala are taxed to the max, our adrenals depleted, and for many, fear continues to keep people at bay. We have not returned to a pre-pandemic relationality, and it’s sure we won’t.

But despite the severity of the loneliness epidemic today, it did not start with covid19. Even b…