Dr. Susan Bettis, Director of Training & Clinical Services, who oversees our counseling program, offers reflections on social connection and beyond.
People on the margins don’t always behave in ways we would like them to. Remember A Tale of Two Cities?
Based on a mathematical formula developed in 1929, “six degrees of separation” is the idea that there are six connected people between each person and every other person on the planet. It only takes a friend of a friend of a friend six times to join us all. That was nearly a century ago. Now, with social media, Facebook has established that there are 4.7 connections between each of us and the population of the modern world.
Am I my sibling’s keeper? Or what might enlightened self-interest suggest? In my mind, it means that any action I take toward my fellow humans will ripple out and then echo back. It is a small and systemic world.
Degrees of Connection through William Temple House
At William Temple House our services have but few degrees of separation. The staff is forever reminded that the person whose life we positively affect today will ripple out to others, and in the long run, back to each of us. If we help someone with their anger management issue, they may be less harsh with their child, who will then be less likely to confront your child on the playground tomorrow. That young man who we help make the move to sobriety will not need to break into your car tonight to support his habit. Your car insurance rates will not go up, nor will your health insurance rates, if we can prevent one person from an uninsured hospitalization. The child who receives new clothing from our Children’s Clothing Closet may enter the school year with the esteem that helps lead them toward graduation.
We are all in this together. Your generosity, your giving back to a community that embraces you, will come back to you in multiple ways you may never know, may never be aware of. But I have witnessed those connections, and I can promise you it happens.