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The Epidemic of Loneliness

12 0
29.02.2024

Toward the end of 2021, the pandemic finally began to really lift in London, where I live. As it happened, I had just begun working remotely full time in 2019. I was thrilled to have back all my commute time on the Tube. But, until the pandemic, working from home didn’t mean I was home all the time. I went to the opera with friends, did triathlons, and met people for dinner—in fact, it seemed like I was out and about even more than when I was at the office. But then the pandemic hit, and I suddenly entered a period of 18 months of near-total isolation.

So when I was out for a walk in late 2021, I was mostly just happy to be out and about again. Then I rounded a corner and suddenly faced the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. Yep—the one that your grandparents probably took classes at for their first “social” or before their wedding. I don’t know why I stopped. But I did. Then I walked on down the street and around the block, because I had zero interest in learning to dance. Then I circled back to the dance studio. Twice. Forty-five minutes later, I went in and signed up for a class. Which was ridiculous, because again, I’m just not the dancing sort.

Since then, I have competed in dance competitions, learned tango during a business trip to Buenos Aires, and trained under a "Strictly Come Dancing" choreographer. I’ve even danced in a filmed promotion about dance (OK, but way in the background). Yep—I not only started........

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