On Sunday 5 May 2024, following the beautiful service at St Joseph’s Church, Neutral Bay taken by Fr David Strong who gave a strong message about love, Mr Hugh Mackay AO, highly respected social psychologist and well known Australian, came to the community to talk about his newly published book ‘The Way We Are’. Hugh was accompanied by his wife Sheila.
Hugh, projecting his deep and soulful voice to all those in the crowded pews, discussed his latest book which presents a portrait of Australia today. ‘The Way We Are’ expands on the major trends that are shaking the foundations of the Australian way of life. In his book he examines the legacy of the Baby Boomers, the consequences of social media, religious faith, and where we are at as homo sapiens.
Human beings are social creatures and Hugh stated the importance of staying connected with each other, not only within our families but with our neighbours and those in our communities. There is the message about belonging and kindness to others and he said that life can be complex and, indeed, relationships can be complex. We are in the midst of an epidemic of loneliness, anxiety and depression which is affecting all of us in this society.
Hugh expanded on the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation which can have many negative effects on our health and well-being. Hugh said connection is very important for human beings as we are a highly social species, relying on friendship networks. A lot of people today are substituting pets for children. Hugh said that people are naming their dogs children’s names and he said he even met a dog called Hugh! He suggested ways in which we can interact with each other and rebuild our sense of community, starting in our own neighbourhood. We should make an effort to smile when we make contact with people and by smiling it can make people feel part of a community, whether they be neighbours, dog-walkers or strangers on a bus. Hugh also suggested that social media can be very anti-social which can impact our lives in a detrimental way.
There was a Question and Answer session following Hugh’s talk. It was indeed an honour to have Hugh in our presence discussing his book, ‘The Way We Are’ which, he said, will be his last book as a social researcher.
Kate Cadell