Stephanie Harrison

And so at a very basic biological level, no one is a human being alone.

Maybe making the cake is just something enjoyable for you that you can do for yourself or something you can share with your kid.

We require each other in order to be able to develop and then to function.

Not everything in life has to be optimized for our productivity.

And in fact, doing so ends up backfiring and really hurting us.

And then as we go out into the world,

none of us are able to do anything by ourselves, right?

The only reason you and I are able to have this conversation is because there are people out there who have created these tools and platforms and the internet and the systems that make it possible for you and I to get on the phone together.

And

None of us are formed alone, for example.

the more that we start to recognize our dependence upon one another, the more we can see that actually this need of each other isn't a flaw the way it's been painted in our world, where dependence is almost like a bad word in a way.

So from the very minute that we're born, we are cared for in order to survive.

We're completely reliant upon our caregivers in order to keep us alive.

Human beings have the longest period of developmental needs of any species.

But dependence on each other is what enables independence.

And so every interaction that our caregivers have with us shapes us into the person that we become.

And then independence then furthers dependence.

And it's this relationship that I think we really need to return to in order to recognize dependence.

We know that these early years of life end up forming the neural pathways that we draw upon as adults.

our deep need of each other and how we can be there for one another to support each other every day.