I don't think that is necessarily so, because I don't lead an active life at all, yet a lot of my weak ties anchor me to a sense of place and to my own humanity. For instance, the cafe owner I meet every morning, the receptionist at work, the janitors in my building -- I actually enjoy exchanging pleasantries with them and just talking to thtem. Most of the time I don't even know their names, but when I don't see them, I miss them. All these micro-interactions are meaningful and consequential to me.
I never used to think this -- I'm pretty much an introvert who loves being alone. But now that I'm older, I've started to realize how important these interactions are, especially when they're missing. It's a misconception to think that only the close relationships (spouse, immediate family) in our lives matter. The fact is, the not-close but repeated relationships in our lives also matter. There's a certain emotional fullness to comes with human interaction.
I had an abundance of these interactions when I lived in Chicago, where strangers would talk to each other and where there's just a higher EQ level in the milieu (it is the midwest after all). I got to know the cafe owner of my old workplace well, and right before I left my job there, he cooked me a free last meal. That gesture was so touching to me even though to this day we never learned each other's names. I live in Seattle now, where random people don't talk to each other (there's a culture of respecting each other's privacy, coupled with social reservedness and passivity), and I now feel palpable sense of emptiness and a dearth of social warmth -- and it truly affects my mood.
I never used to think this -- I'm pretty much an introvert who loves being alone. But now that I'm older, I've started to realize how important these interactions are, especially when they're missing. It's a misconception to think that only the close relationships (spouse, immediate family) in our lives matter. The fact is, the not-close but repeated relationships in our lives also matter. There's a certain emotional fullness to comes with human interaction.
I had an abundance of these interactions when I lived in Chicago, where strangers would talk to each other and where there's just a higher EQ level in the milieu (it is the midwest after all). I got to know the cafe owner of my old workplace well, and right before I left my job there, he cooked me a free last meal. That gesture was so touching to me even though to this day we never learned each other's names. I live in Seattle now, where random people don't talk to each other (there's a culture of respecting each other's privacy, coupled with social reservedness and passivity), and I now feel palpable sense of emptiness and a dearth of social warmth -- and it truly affects my mood.