Aneri Pattani writes, “Can teaching mindfulness through smartphones cure America’s loneliness problem?” 

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involved 153 adults practicing 20-minute guided meditations on their phone each day for two weeks. By the end of the study, those whose meditations focused on developing acceptance and awareness — key components of mindfulness — felt 22 percent less lonely and had two more social interactions per day.

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“Two more social interaction per day.” They write suggestions: “5 Ways For Introverts To Overcome Social Anxiety”, reams of analysis and studies. So much media, technology, such glaring lack of meaningful human contact.

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Dearest,

There were two letters every week. Clockwork. Without fail. The alarm is ringing. No one slams it. Now, discount coupons from the nearest pizza place, an offer to clean the house for 10 euros per hour, a letter about neighborhood construction, a receipt of payments made by the client, local newsletter, and a thin layer of dust. I don’t know if its chikoo season? I don’t know if the parrots are too noisy in the afternoons? Or, the quality of milk packets from Mother Dairy? When it rains, I draw the word “love” in cursive in the air with my fingertip, just the way you spelt it in every letter.

Can I ask you to “write to me”?

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Stationery
Agha Shahid Ali

The moon did not become the sun.
It just fell on the desert
in great sheets, reams
of silver handmade by you.
The night is your cottage industry now,
the day is your brisk emporium.
The world is full of paper.

Write to me.

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