I was reminded this week—forcefully and unexpectedly—just how central relationships are to our lives.

I had just attended a webinar led by two Stanford researchers, Steven Crane and BJ Fogg. On the surface, it was a practical workshop about strengthening relationships. But underneath that, it felt like something more urgent—almost a response to the moment we are living in.

Steven Crane opened the webinar by sharing findings from a recent report he authored, Social Connection in America — 2025 Survey Report. The data reinforced something many of us intuitively feel but don’t always name: social connection is tightly linked not only to emotional well-being, but to physical health, resilience, and longevity. This is not a “soft” issue. It is a consequential one.

And this is a moment.

We are surrounded by horror, confusion, anger, division, and uncertainty. Locally. Nationally. Internationally. Many people I know feel unmoored—anxious about the future, unsettled by the present, unsure who or what to trust. In times like these, it is tempting to retreat, to pull inward, to disengage.

Yet the message from the webinar—and from a growing body of research—is exactly the opposite:

This is the time to lean into relationships, not away from them.

A Look Back: Loneliness as a Warning Signal

In May of 2024, I wrote a blog about loneliness after reading the U.S. Surgeon General’s report Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. What struck me then—and still does—was the data.

Loneliness is not just uncomfortable. It is dangerous.

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with:

• a 29% increased risk of heart disease
• a 50% increased risk of dementia
• a 77% increased risk of depression
• a 29% increased risk of premature mortality

The Surgeon General famously compared chronic loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

That earlier blog was about naming the problem and understanding its seriousness. But what I didn’t yet fully appreciate was this:

If loneliness is the condition, relationships are the intervention.

Relationships Are Not a “Nice to Have”

One of the clearest messages from the Stanford webinar was that relationships are not optional. They are not a luxury. They are not something we get around to once everything else is taken care of.

Strong relationships are as essential to our health and longevity as exercise and nutrition.

They protect us emotionally.
They support us physically.
They help us make sense of the world—especially when the world feels frightening or fragmented.

And importantly, they help us hold complexity. They allow us to disagree without dehumanizing one another. They remind us that behind every headline and every opinion is a human being.

Relationships Don’t Just “Happen”

Another insight that stayed with me is this:
Good relationships rarely grow by accident.

We often assume that closeness will take care of itself. But in reality, relationships require attention, intention, and small, consistent behaviors.

The webinar introduced a practical tool—a relationship-mapping exercise—to help people be more intentional about their connections. The idea is simple but revealing: identify the people you care about and think deliberately about which relationships you want to strengthen.

A Simple Exercise: Mapping Your Relationships

Building on the framework introduced in the webinar, I found it helpful to imagine creating three separate relationship maps for myself:

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Work colleagues

Each map has three columns:

• Who — the people who matter to you
• Now — where the relationship currently is
• Next — one small action you could take to deepen it

Not a grand gesture.
Not a dramatic intervention.
Just one small, intentional step.

A call.

A message.

A shared meal.

A genuine question.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s awareness.

Small Actions, Big Impact

BJ Fogg, the author of Tiny Habits, emphasized something that felt both obvious and liberating: small behaviors, done consistently, are what create change.

This applies to relationships as much as anything else.

• A brief weekly check-in
• Expressing appreciation more often
• Listening without fixing
• Showing up when it would be easier not to

These actions may seem modest. But over time, they compound. They create trust. They build resilience. They remind us that we are not alone.

Why This Matters Right Now

Yes, relationships are crucial for addressing loneliness and social isolation. The data is clear.

But they are also crucial right now for another reason.

We are living in a time when fear and division are amplified, when outrage travels faster than empathy, when it is easy to see “others” instead of neighbors.

Relationships humanize us.

They ground us.
They steady us.
They help us stay connected to what is real and what matters.

When the world feels uncertain, relationships become our anchor.

A Quiet Closing Thought

We cannot control the larger forces shaping our time. But we can choose how we show up for the people in our lives.

Strengthening our relationships may be one of the most important—and most human—things we can do right now.

Not as a grand solution.
Not as a political statement.
But as a daily practice.

That feels like a good place to start.

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