Stuck in their homes, people wrestled with the fact that their material possessions matter less than they originally thought. The truth was all around them. All the things collecting dust—their high-school baseball trophies, dusty college textbooks, and broken food processors—were never as important as people. The pandemic magnified this reality and demonstrated a crucial lesson: our things tend to get in the way of what’s truly essential—our relationships. Human connection is missing from our lives, and it can’t be purchased—it can only be cultivated.
