Loneliness rates have doubled since the 1980s and Vivek Murthy, former US Surgeon General, says loneliness will be the next major epidemic. So if loneliness is being alone and sad … then what’s being alone and happy?

Solitude.

A few years ago, I picked up an incredible book called 'Solitude' by Michael Harris, bestselling author and winner of the Governor General's Award for his writing. It completely blew me away. Why? Because in our era of endless machine-gun blasts at our brains, I feel strongly that the ability to be alone, and to be alone well, is a muscle that is quickly atrophying.

Michael shares why we need to develop the strength and capacity to live and be by ourselves and how exactly we go about cultivating a rich interior life. Michael has gone on to tackle our culture of consumerism in his 2021 book 'All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy,' and I think after this conversation you’ll agree this true “strength of mind” is a crucial aspect of living an intentional life as we face the threat of social and climate collapse.

For this classic chapter of 3 Books, I flew to Michael’s home in Vancouver, BC. We discuss: How do we cultivate the area between wakefulness and sleep? What does a healthy media diet look like? Why shouldn’t you talk about anything serious over texts? And how do parents and children navigate the conversation about coming out of the closet? And, of course, Michael's 3 most formative books...

Let's flip the page back to Chapter 29 now...

Chapter 29: Michael Harris on queer questions and the quest for quiet