Social Wellness, Belonging and Building A Social Safety Net with Dr. Chelsea Shields (Part 1)

In continuation of our ‘8 Dimensions of Wellness Series,’ we are honored to bring on Dr. Chelsea Shields who is an award-winning anthropologist, founder of Brandthropologie, a research and strategy consulting business, and multi-time TED fellow, speaker, and speaking coach.

Dr. Shields thinks about social wellness in terms of a safety net. An intricate weaving of people in our community who we depend on. As people start making more money and as technology becomes more prevalent, people start hiring out social roles that they used to have to accommodate for. It’s crucial to our well-being to foster relationships on a very real intimate level. She suggests having 5-6 close quality friends that you can lean on in times of need, as well about 15-25 close acquaintances. She explains that if you don’t have this quality safety net then events like divorce, death and bad accidents can cause more suffering than they would have otherwise.

“Invest in the people that give you reciprocity.”

“I think our generation is missing multigenerational relationships.”

“People understand emotions before they understand logic.”

“Social pain is pain. It’s the same neural pathways as physical pain.”

“Routines are what keeps things the same. Rituals are what makes things different.”

MENTIONS:

Plant-Based McDonalds - Mr. Charlie’s

A Fave LA/NYC Restaurant - The Butcher’s Daughter

Funny TikToker - @TK.California

BOOK RECS:

Sociobiology: The New Synthesis by E.O. Wilson

Behave by Robert Sapolsky

Rat Park TedTalk - Johann Hari: Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong

SPONSORS + DISCOUNTS:

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ALREADYFRIENDS and get on your way to being your best self.

Nuuly - ALREADYFRIENDS20 for $20 off your first month

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