Why you want myCONVOCONNECT
As an Applied Behavioral Science Specialist, I’ve helped leaders and others engage individually and collectively, build networks, and develop personally and professionally for close to 40 years. I have never before experienced the problems and pain caused by the loneliness, isolation, and disengagement we see all around us today.
Overcoming Challenges
I know all too well the mental and physical impacts detailed in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on The Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL) in 2003, the year the studies in the Surgeon General’s Advisory identified as roughly the time this epidemic of loneliness and isolation began. During the pandemic (which I hesitate to describe in the past tense), CLL was consistently listed as the worst co-morbidity because the cancerous immune system doesn’t effectively make anti-COVID-19 antibodies. No antibodies, no immune response. No immune response, no symptoms. When your only symptom might be total organ failure, you tend to hide from the world, even as an extravert whose mindfulness practice is found within interpersonal communication.
Finding Our Way Back
My current job gives me much less opportunity to practice the “relational mindfulness” I’ve had across my 40-year career. I realized something was wrong three years ago. You can find out more at “My Story” on this site. It was a three-year span I made miserable for myself and those closest to me. When I first saw the Surgeon General’s Advisory, a bell went, “Ding, ding! This is your problem!” I don’t think I would have figured it out were it not for the shortening of days as Autumn slid to Winter, and my three-day-per-week disc golf habit was over for another season.
Little interpersonal communication. Mostly alone. No exercise in nature watching discs fly. I fell into a funk. I read the Advisory and realized what I had to do. It was simple. I had to find a way to increase the number of people to listen to and engage with. Then, as if with an angel’s harp, myCONVOCONNECT came to mind. myCONVOCONNECT is already my way back. Designing the programs, building the website, and even training active listening bots motivates me to be mindful and to listen to others when they share something important with me. If you’ve experienced loneliness or isolation or need to be more engaging at work or in your personal life, “I hear you” (which I train people *not* to say!). The models and skills in myCONVOCONNECT are evidence-based and build community and engagement. Guess what? You’ve found the right way back to yourself! We may only be in the Saratoga Springs area right now, but we’re positioned to train facilitators to run myCONVOCONNECT programs in their communities nationwide. If you live in the Albany, New York region, get in touch. Come to the source. Maybe even learn to facilitate myCONVOCONNECT! Welcome home to yourself.
