“The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.” ~Esther Perel, author and psychotherapist Yesterday, Doug and I toured the Ford Motor Company’s brand-new world headquarters in Dearborn with a couple of friends we’ve known since our college years. The grand opening of the building was crowded with attendees, making it hard to fully appreciate its impressive architecture. But the real highlight for me was spending the afternoon with our old friends. Lately I’ve been seeing more articles on the benefits of nurturing an active, in-person social life. Medical experts report that people who socialize regularly are healthier — and live longer. An active “social life” also includes…

“Building a community means fostering friendships that light up the neighborhood.” – Amy Williams As reported in a new Pew Research poll, only about a quarter of American adults know all or even most of their neighbors. Thanks to social media, we have scores of online friends around the country — but we can’t recall the names of the folks who live across the street. At most, we might wave at our neighbors from the car as we’re leaving the house. It takes time and shared experience to build solid relationships. Likewise, forging a friendly neighborhood requires care and effort. But work, family, and outside social commitments leave us little extra time…