By Eric Douglas From Metro Kanawha

I just finished reading the book “The Healthy Writer” by Joanna Penn and Euan Lawson. It’s not about writing, but being healthy in a life that involves a lot of sitting and sedentary behavior. While it is specifically aimed at writers, it really applies to all of us.

We all sit too much. We stare are computer screens. We eat poorly and don’t get enough exercise. I’ve written many times (and will again) that I’m convinced my sedentary writer life contributed to my cardiac health problems.

One section that struck me as applying to everyone, especially at this time of year, is loneliness. The average writer needs to be alone to write. Whether writing is a full-time gig, or something you do on nights and weekends, it requires some exclusive time. Everyone goes through periods of loneliness and isolation, though, and the winter weather just makes it worse.

I am a fairly heavy user of social media. I am on a couple different networks daily and often several times a day. I try to limit my usage, but there are times it can get out of hand. I convince myself that much of time is spent “building relationships” or promoting my books. While true to some extent, but there is also some time wasting that goes on, too.

The problem with social media, is while we are being social we end up more isolated than ever before. We may engage with like-minded folks halfway around the world, but we don’t talk face to face with our neighbors. I’ve seen people who’ve known each other for 20-plus years get in arguments online about politics that have caused them to say hateful things and never speak to each other again. If we lose understanding, and continue to isolate ourselves from those around us, only listening to the people we agree with, we face the distinct possibility of isolating ourselves to death.

In the book, the authors took the stance that loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking. They cite two studies that discovered 29 percent increased mortality in people who were socially isolated. That was increased by 26 percent for people who were lonely and 32 percent by people who lived alone.

I am hopeful the cold, nasty weather is behind us, although we do have a couple more months where its not exactly shorts weather. Make a conscious effort to get out and spend time with other people. Check on your neighbors, too. If there are older people in your neighborhood who have trouble getting out of their house, drop in for a visit. It’ll pay dividends for both of you.