Matt PTA

These days, a common trick people use to remember someone they’ve just met is to save their first name along with the place where they met them—like “Matt PTA,” for example. I recently realized I still had a neighbor saved in my phone as “Denise Neighbor,” and it struck me that maybe it was time to update with her actual last name.

Then I began to think: How many of our relationships in the 21st century are like this—“first name, place you met” connections that never go deeper? Too often, we settle for these surface-level interactions, leaving us feeling isolated and alone. A…