The study compared data from 1985 and 2004 and found that the mean number of people with whom Americans can discuss matters important to them dropped by nearly one-third, from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004.

Researchers also found that the number of people who said they had no one with whom to discuss such matters more than doubled, to nearly 25 percent. The survey found that both family and non-family confidants dropped, with the loss greatest in non-family connections."

How incredibly sad. And yet, prior to Mosaic, I would have said that I had no one (outside of my husband) with whom I could discuss deep and personal things. Part of this was finding others who were interested in hearing about the things I cared about. After college, I found myself in a desert without people who cared to go very deep on hardly anything. Even Jason forbade me from discussing politics more often than not. And when I attempted to discuss things (politics, the environment, etc.) the conversations were typically short and one-sided.

At Mosaic, there is a community of individuals who seeks to go deeper, who seeks to live a consistent life, who love to seek out the holes in things and work on them. I'm not saying that every person at Mosaic is interested in all of these things, but there are many there who are. I can say that I have at least 6 or 7 people with whom I would say are very close friends. I am fortunate, it seems, to be able to count on so many individuals with whom I can share my hopes, dreams and fears and who can do the same for me. Fortunate indeed.