About this site
Our mission, structure, and future.
Where does "Imitate the Sun" come from?
In Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV, you’ll find a short speech by Prince Harry, the main character and future king. I have not been myself, he says. I have been like the sun covered by clouds, and the clouds have obscured all the light and beauty I can give to the world. But like the sun, I can throw off the clouds, “redeeming time when men least think I will.”
Anyone who has ever been really lonely – brutally, crushingly lonely, for a long time – knows that it really changes you. It covers you with clouds and turns you into someone you are not. But like the sun, we can also choose to throw off the clouds we have allowed to cover us. We can find the sun within and shine our light into the world.
That belief is the soul of this website. As you read this today, you might feel like you’re completely obscured by clouds. Or maybe you’re “partly cloudy.” Or the sun is out in your life right now, but you remember what it was like. Whatever your personal weather report, I hope the content on this site helps you imitate the sun in your own life.
Who created this site?
Hello, I’m Gary Ritzenthaler, a writer, teacher, and web designer. I started studying the research on social connections during the summer of 2019. As I studied i was amazed that I had never heard anything about this research: how widespread the different kinds of loneliness are in our society, how destructive it is for those who suffer it long-term.
After a few months on other projects I came back to it during the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’d like to tell you I came back to it with a detailed plan for audience and how it would make millions, but to be totally honest I came back to the project to distract myself from coming apart in isolation. I resolved that this would be my quarantine project: I would learn everything I could about loneliness and positive social connection, and then to create something with what I learned.
I made a deal with myself: if you aren’t working, you’re going to work on this project. Anytime you feel anxious or lonely, you work on the project: research, writing, design, it doesn’t matter. Just take a step forward, keep going. What kept me going during the rough parts was the idea that I might be able to help someone else who was struggling.
I’m only at the beginning of this journey, but I’ve realized some important things along the way. Loneliness and positive social connection are two sides of the same emotional social experience; on the other side of loneliness is social connection, which brings as many health benefits as loneliness takes away. Like learning to be happy or grateful, part of the solution in transforming loneliness is changing your mindset, seeing the abundance of what you have that balances the pain of what might be missing.
Really resolving loneliness and the anxiety that wraps itself around it requires you to do more than just make connections to others. It’s important to work on yourself as much possible, to improve your life, and your own mental health. Being happy with your life and who you are as an individual is the foundation for creating wonderful social connections with others.
I’ve also learned that loneliness is a cultural problem, so the best solutions also involve creating and promoting social connection at the community and cultural levels. We can build opportunities for connection into the places we live. I have adapted the scope of the website to focus on these changes as well as ways a person can improve individually.
I hope that the challenges people are facing with the COVID-19 pandemic will provide a cultural push to really work on this problem. According to a 2018 study, almost a quarter of the U.S. population struggles with loneliness; that’s more than the number of people who smoke. For many of these people, the isolation won’t end when restrictions are lifted.
The research exists to help these people be happier and more connected. I intend to do what I can to help.
Want to help?
Everyone has a story of how they are experiencing and coping during social isolation. I want to hear your story! The solutions you have found to stay sane and (mostly) happy during this time may help others. Send me a message and let’s chat!
I’m also looking for bored writers and designers of all kinds to add new elements to the site. Let me know if you would like to join me in making something that means something.
