Melissa led DPX on the theme of loneliness last week. Sighting that loneliness lies behind a host of problems—anxiety, violence, trauma, crime, suicide, depression, political apathy, and even political polarization. Lonely people can even feel homeless even though they had a roof over their heads. Loneliness can manifest when finding yourself among a group of people who do not know and understand you and can trigger a fight-or-flight response. We breathe fast, our heart races, our blood pressure rises, we don’t sleep. We act fearful, defensive, and self-involved, all of which drive away people who might actually want to help, and tend to stop lonely people from doing what would benefit them most: reaching out to others. Our group had a variety of responses ranging from feeling less alone knowing that everyone is going through this and that it lands in different ways for people. Having empathy for the frontline nurses and doctors seeing and experiencing collective grief. Noting that anger is a masking emotion for grief and sadness. Grief for the loss of a previous life. Feeling ostracized from friends and gratefully acknowledging how much our DPX group has helped. Feeling grateful for recovery, which helps to connect with emotions, identify them, be with them, and deal with them. Feeling waves of sadness but opening to the inquiring mind when there is space.