If you shut your business down tomorrow, how many of your hundreds (or possibly thousands) of social connections would you actually keep in touch with?
Of course, we get it. We are all growing businesses that need audiences to engage with, advocate for us, and ultimately sell to. Trust us, we’re 100% here for that. Of course, we even work with you on how to do it!
But in a chat on Tuesday afternoon, we were talking through the Morocco trip with someone, and they said that for them, it was all about one thing: ‘human connection’.
They pointed out that so many people in their [and ours] peer group are actually quite lonely! Their children have finished school, so they aren’t completely consumed by that routine anymore. They work or they run businesses… but lots of those daily conversations are entirely superficial.
They are massively lacking the deep-rooted human connection that can—and should—exist! Some may even just call it… having friends.
Currently, we’re watching a docuseries on Disney+ with Will Smith called ‘Pole to Pole’. He’s travelling the globe to answer the BIG questions about humanity. And some of the core answers he finds—whether he’s hanging out in the happiest village in Bhutan, skiing to the South Pole, or hunting with one of the last true hunter-gatherer tribes in the Kalahari Desert—are incredibly relevant to all us right now:
1. Community is literally survival (not another networking event)
When Will visits communities living in extreme environments, he finds that they don’t view “community” as a nice-to-have. You cannot survive in the Wadi Rum desert or the Arctic alone. You have to trust the person next to you with your life. In our modern, comfortable B2B world, we have replaced this deep trust with superficial “networking.” We have thousands of connections, but no actual tribe. We’ve forgotten how to rely on each other because we can just order online or fire off a DM.
2. Awe is the ultimate equaliser
When humans are placed in front of something massive—a mountain, a sweeping desert, or an ocean—our egos completely dissolve. You cannot stand on the roof of the Palais Sebban watching the sunset over the Atlas Mountains and care about your LinkedIn algorithm. Experiencing “awe” forces humans to connect deeply with whoever is standing next to them. Shared awe creates an instant bond. This is exactly what we’re doing with Morocco. We’re using the environment as the catalyst to break down those stuffy, unnecessary business barriers.
3. The illusion of separation
His biggest takeaway is that everything is connected. The dust from the Sahara fertilises the Amazon. And humanity is the same. We build these little isolated boxes (our houses, our Zoom rooms, our specific industry niches), but we are fundamentally wired to be part of a larger, interconnected ecosystem.
We get that our trip to Morocco may not be for everyone, but hopefully, the message in this week’s newsletter is loud and absolute blimmin crystal clear.
Back in the late lockdown days, we hosted an online conference called 🎪 The Digital Circus LIVE: Human Connection in a Digital World. We loved it. We brought together 100 people to bond online over an online experience that included Gin & Tonic sundowners as the last session..
It was AMAZING… 😌
However, now more than ever, in a world where social media is ever-changing, AI is blowing our minds (while giving us all mild visions of The Terminator), and “algorithm anxiety” is an actual real thing keeping you awake at night…
This is exactly why we fiercely protect the spaces where real humans can be together.
Yes, and, of course we absolutely love 🎪The Digital Circus [online], Fabulous Yellow Tuxedo Coffee Mornings and our other online stuff. They are our daily lifeline and the perfect antidote to the noisy socials out there…
But sometimes, you need to take those brilliant online friendships, shut the laptop, and step into the REAL WORLD together.
Because while a Zoom room is fantastic for a Tuesday morning catch-up, it is those shared, awe-inspiring, real-world experiences that allow the true conversations and create connections, or friendships even that will actually last a lifetime.
Thank you so much for reading and have fun always.
PS… Yes, the featured image is AI generated.. I love it… But, whilst utilising AI, still a bit scared, which is why we just want to hang out with people like you..
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