How To Make Friends and Find Your People

Dan Harris0:00

Hey, this is Dan Harris, host of the 10% Happier podcast. There's so much bad news in the world, but one amazing piece of news is that happiness is actually a skill you can train. So every week, I talk with top scientists, meditation experts, even the occasional celebrity about anxiety, depression, productivity, focus, dealing with difficult people, how to get enlightened, psychedelics, et cetera, ancient wisdom and modern science to help you do your life just a little bit better. The 10% Happier podcast, listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Zach· Host0:30

[upbeat music] Hey, it's Zach. Today, a weirdly helpful antidote to loneliness. My guest is my rabbi, Rabbi Alana Alpert, here in Detroit. About three years ago, she told me to consider this: If you're feeling lonely, adopt a bubbe.

Alana Alpert· Guest0:49

Yes.

Zach· Host0:51

Yeah. What's a bubbe?

Alana Alpert· Guest0:52

It's like grandma.

Zach· Host0:53

Yeah.

Alana Alpert· Guest0:54

And I guess that's weird that I said, "like." It's a grandma.

Zach· Host0:57

It's a grandma.

Alana Alpert· Guest0:57

But I feel like I use that term in a broader sense. It doesn't actually have to be someone who is technically a grandmother- Mm ... but who could be your grandmother, let's say.

Zach· Host1:10

So an older, someone older, or two generations older?

Alana Alpert· Guest1:14

I, I mean, one, at least one generation older.

Zach· Host1:19

Yeah.

Alana Alpert· Guest1:19

Yeah, someone who could be not your grandmother, but someone's grandmother.

Zach· Host1:22

Is even, even for folks who have bubbe, like, actual biological bubbes- Yeah ... you think this is still- Especially.