Board of Directors

Ruth Ann Watkins, President

Melville W. Washburn,
Vice President

Charlotte Damron, Vice President

Mary Ann Schwartz, Secretary

Robert Spoerri, Treasurer

Harvey Adelstein

Jane Curry

Sally Edelsberg

Larry Elkins

Marjorie Freed

Jack Hartray

John Hobbs

Christopher Horsch

Laurie Regenbogen

Marcia Opp

Ed Rose

Carol Rosofsky

Richard Stuckey

Dian Weddle

Advisory Council

  Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD

Henry B. Betts, MD

Robyn L. Golden

Robert B. Lifton

Dawn Clark Netsch

Warner Saunders

Joanne G. Schwartzberg, MD

Michael Spock

Dianne S. Campbell

Founding Executive Director

It's Your Birthday!  

Loneliness and How the Village
Can Help Dispel It

By Susan Nelson

If there's one thing older Americans are said to fear, it is being alone.  With good reason, as recent and continuing research reveals. But some of the news about loneliness is also surprisingly hopeful.

"Loneliness isn't at all what people thought it was, and it's a lot more important than people thought," says John T. Cacioppo, Ph.D., a social psychologist at the University of Chicago who is recognized by his peers as one of the pioneers in the field. 

First, a few definitions:        

• Social science typically defines loneliness as the discrepancy between a person's desired and actual social relationships.
• Theologian Paul Tillich noted, "Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone, while solitude expresses the glory of being alone."
• And Mother Teresa observed, "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."

Loneliness often travels with depression: Research has shown that one leads to the other. Both result in negative social and emotional interactions, which often progress to more depression and/or loneliness and, in turn, are almost certain to perpetuate a person's feelings of isolation.

Loneliness is also implicated in many debilitating physical conditions: high blood pressure, obesity, sleep disorders, higher levels of stress hormones, weakened immune systems, alcoholism, even Alzheimer's disease.

Yet, loneliness is not all bad. In his 2008 book Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, Dr. Cacioppo suggests that, just as thirst prompts us to keep our bodies hydrated, loneliness can remind us how much we depend on one another. Avoiding loneliness may even have played a major role in the continuing survival of humans and other social mammals.

That is one of the many fascinating findings from researchers in this field that has been booming since the early 1990s.

Another is that even though cancer patients could conceivably be at high risk for loneliness, the abundance of cancer support groups almost universally guarantees meaningful connections for those who belong to them.

In fact, it is fulfilling humans' intense need for connectedness that is being realized as the best, and perhaps the only, vanquisher of loneliness.  

Social scientists have known for more than thirty years that people who stay socially connected live healthier and longer lives (click here to read "The Other 'Social Networks' " article in the Village's February 2011 newsletter).  New York Times columnist David Brooks's new book, The Social Animal, further explores some of these findings.  

Indeed, the mass media are also helping to shed light on how to understand and better come to grips with loneliness.

  
AARP THE MAGAZINE, America's largest-circulation monthly magazine, presented results of its second loneliness survey, "All the Lonely People," in its November/December 2010 issue ( click here to read it).

Dr. Cacioppo, one of the developers and the chief interpreter of the AARP survey, is a youthful sixty-year-old and one of the founders of the rather new field of social neuroscience. He is the director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience as well as the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology at the university, whose faculty he joined in 1999.

Dr. Cacioppo and his research colleagues and teams have focused on chronic loneliness.

Dr. John T. Cacioppo

A Great Equalizer

Chronic loneliness is not necessarily caused by the distinct events in life that can trigger isolation and loneliness--death of a spouse or significant other, poor marital quality, poor health, losing a job or retiring from a career or moving away from friends and family (college freshmen report high levels of loneliness). 

Instead, chronic loneliness may take hold when a person is not able to have meaningful interactions and relationships with others. The AARP survey of 3,012 people aged 45 and up found that, overall, 35 percent are chronically lonely as compared with 20 percent in a similar survey that AARP conducted a decade ago.

Loneliness occurs without regard to race, gender or education--but people earning $75,000 and up report it less often than people earning below $25,000.

Age makes a difference.  Paradoxically, the AARP study found that the effects of loneliness tend to lessen as people reach their senior years.

In that survey, self-rankings of overall life satisfaction start out fairly high at age 18, decline until the 40s and 50s, and then start rising until, by age 85, people report that they are generally quite happy. Younger adults may feel lonelier because of the nature of today's plugged-in workplace: e-mails, texting, Twitter and LinkedIn make it more difficult to leave work at the office and be able to either really socialize or relax.

In fact, it's possible, Dr. Cacioppo suggests, that the Internet can make people even lonelier. "Using social networking as a substitute for human contact can be like eating celery when you're hungry: It makes you feel better for a short while, but it isn't real nourishment, so you get hungrier in the long run."

He and his research teams have also found that watching a great deal of TV worsens loneliness in much the same way.

Even pets and telephone calls--what social scientists call "parasocial relationships," which can help to fill the void--are not able to completely replace face-to-face connections.

So how can a person avoid being engulfed by loneliness? And what can we do to hold onto our identities if loneliness strikes?

 (Click here to read more.)  

Village Celebrates National Volunteer Month

 
"Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer."

 -- Author Unknown

Our Village has a dedicated corps of 80+ volunteers who happily and beautifully fulfill our mission of  "staying here and taking care of each other."  At the Village Potluck last week, several volunteers were recognized for their exceptional contributions:   

• Monna Ray, Judy Roth Connie Singer and Carolyn Johnson--For their diligent and faithful work behind the scenes to keep the office running smoothly.
• Bob and Melaine Stephens--for creating and establishing our first-ever volunteer program within the community. (Click here to read more about this program.)  Melaine commented that being recognized made her want to do even more. "It is wonderful to be rewarded for something that we really love to do."

 "Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless,
but because they're priceless."
-- Sherry Anderson  

• Lois Stuckey--For her contribution to creating the diverse and interesting programs our members enjoy.
• Honore Kligerman--For her work in developing the popular Food Adventurers Group.
• Betty Dayron--For her work in developing our intern program and for mentoring everyone so successfully. Betty says that volunteering for the Village is especially rewarding because she gets to do "parts and pieces of many things, and on an irregular basis"--a perfect example of how The Village strives to accommodate a volunteer's preferences.

 "Wherever a man turns, he can find someone who needs him."
-- Albert Schweitzer

• Bob Hernquist--our champion driver--For providing transportation to countless members as they need it. "Whatever the duty is--I enjoy doing it, and especially meeting other members," Bob says. "It is said that 'All the world's a stage' and I love the theater!" he adds. 

To these and to all our cherished volunteers, we can only say,

"I can no other answer make, but thanks, and thanks."

-- William Shakespeare

Note to volunteers:  Don't forget to keep track of your volunteer hours throughout the month of April and record them on the time sheet you have been provided.  Please return it to the office by May 10th.

Memories Are Made of This

On April 6, more than eighty Village members gathered for our semi-annual Village Potluck and member meeting.  As always, the food represented the very best of home cooking.  A Village favorite is the outstanding brisket contributed by member and Alderman-elect of the 43rd Ward, Michele Smith (see recipe here). After two hours of relaxed dining and easy conversation, everyone gathered for the program. 

Members enjoy the sumptuous spread at the semi-annual Village Potluck on April 6th.

Erwin Helfer plays his boogie woogie music at the Village Potluck.

(In the foreground) Jane Curry, Reven Fellars and Marjorie Freed at the Village Potluck

At the business meeting, several members were honored for their outstanding service as Village volunteers (see article above). Afterward, Jim Zartman introduced Member Erwin Helfer, who brought down the house with his program of boogie-woogie piano playing--and a narrative that he uses when he tours Europe.

All in all, a very successful evening at one of the Village's already cherished traditions! 

Joe Karr and Jim Nagle at the Village Potluck

Dick Salem and Ella Jenkins at the Village Potluck

Sustainable Seafood Event a Hit!

On March 30, twenty-one eager Lincoln Park Village fish fans gathered at the LakeView Whole Foods to learn about sustainable seafood from Brooke Havlik, Sustainable Seafood Educator at Shedd Aquarium, and to chow down
enjoy a fabulous four-course sustainable seafood meal prepared by Whole Food's chef Renée DeMan, with the assistance of Zachary Connelly, Marketing and Community Relations Specialist. Event organizer and Village member Honore Kligerman commented, "Each phase of the evening was a great experience for the group, and we look forward to more mutual events very soon."

Chef Renée DeMan of Whole Foods

Chef DeMan was kind enough to share with us this recipe for the sensational Pea Soup that everyone enjoyed so much.  

Brooke's talk, both fun and informative, covered the variety of fishing and fish-raising practices that help determine whether an aquatic population is sustainable or not. And of course there were a great many intelligent questions from villagers.

Pam and Mel Washburn with Honore Kligerman at the Sustainable Seafood event.

The bottom line, Brooke concluded, is that consumers and restaurant patrons, definitely have a say in keeping our oceans healthy.

Whole Foods is a committed Shedd partner in this program and as of 2012 will no longer purchase non-sustainable seafood. You may download "Right Bite" card that helps you determine what's ecologically safe to eat and buy (Click here).  

Also, be mesmerized by Shedd Aquarium's new special exhibit, "Jellies!" This fabulous exhibition showcases more than ten different species of pulsing, translucent sea jellies from around the globe. Explore an underwater world of rarely seen animals that survive--and thrive--without bones, blood or brains. "Jellies!" opens April 15 and runs through May 28, 2012.

Village Sponsors 

         

 
 

2500 N. Clark St.        2401 N. Halsted St.       658 W. Belden Ave.