The event of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way in which many of us interact with each other, including finding a sense of belonging in our communities. Many people are feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed.

Today’s guest is Emilia van Hauen, a Cultural Sociologist, Author, Marketing Expert, and International Keynote Speaker on modern ways of life and social trends.

During our conversation, Emilia sheds light on how communities have changed in modern times, and people now have the freedom to create their own identities and find specific communities where they belong. She also explains how, paradoxically, this freedom creates a sense of pressure for people to succeed, which can have negative consequences. She goes on to explain how COVID-19 has affected our ability to engage in healthy relationships, and how things may be different in the post-pandemic world.

This episode provides fascinating sociological insight for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider (which is apparently 99.5% of people), so don’t miss it!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

This week’s Joy: 

Emilia’s joy is a symbolic dragon sculpture which she bought not only because of “Game of Thrones” but also because of a conversation she had with a friend of hers about dragons — that they are free, creative, and strong. She shares that the normal story we hear about dragons is that they have to be killed by a prince in order to save the princess from the tower. But what we need to understand is that instead of killing the dragon, we have to tame it and then we take flight with it. Every time she meets a problem, she thinks about it as a dragon that she needs to tame and it can take her on a flight.

This week’s Hustle: 

Emilia’s hustle is watching a lot of TV series because they tell a lot of stories about different people — about how we live and how we live together. By watching a lot of stories, she is able to understand all kinds and ways of living together, and it’s fun, too!

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