Zoom, I hate that I love you ??

These past weeks, Zoom has become my life. Once I started letting go of what was supposed to be a year of adventure abroad, I escaped into this other world that—before all of this—was condemned as the place where humanity would lose itself. Ironically enough, one could argue that technology has proven to be our savior in disguise. 

The video conference has become a new safe space where we can feel we belong, sometimes more so than within our actual four walls. It is where we go to fall in love with new ideas, rediscover memories, distract ourselves from the silence, and most of all, where we connect with one another—and through that, with ourselves. In spite of Zoom fatigue, we return to this place of destination and departure. 

Because here, it's us who are in control again. With one click, one swipe, one decision, we enter or leave, given our current mood and conditions. We can be ourselves or become the alter egos we desire to be. Barriers fall, immediacy is the default, and in small, fleeting moments, it not just feels real, but is real. 

What might these moments teach us about the future of human connection? 

Last week, we celebrated the 25th edition of our Living Room Sessions, which made us reimagine virtual gatherings as more intimate, mysterious, counterintuitive, and more beautiful. Thank you to the 10,000 people who joined from all over the world to discuss, listen, co-write, sing, and create together, each on our own.

What we’ve learned about virtual gatherings: read on the Journal

In this spirit, we invite you to explore and experiment with ways to foster a healthier relationship to our new favorite frenemy.  

On Sunday, June 7 at 7:00 PM CET we will be hosting a Living Room Session on The Power of Ritual with Casper ter Kuile, co-founder of the Sacred Design Lab and co-author of How We Gather and the forthcoming The Power of Ritual. 

How is it that we sometimes feel more connected virtually, especially as strangers, than we had before, being in the same room—and how long will this feeling last? 

Part guide, part reminder of our resiliency, Priya Parker, House Resident and author of The Art of Gathering, has just introduced a new podcast in partnership with The New York Times called Together Apart. 

Furthermore, our friends at SYPartners, whom we will welcome back tomorrow, Friday, May 8 at 4:00 PM CET, for The Quest for New Value: Awakening to the Essential Questions, have introduced a series of storytelling and human change practices called This Human Moment. 

Keeping yourself sane, physically and mentally, has moved to the top of our to-care list.

One way, as Michael Ventura, CEO of Sub Rosa and author of Applied Empathy, argued in our Living Room Session this week, is encountering yourself, and someone else, in full presence, regardless of which empathy archetype resonates with you.

Along with the practice of empathy comes the question of true happiness and wellbeing. Drawing from the concept of positive psychology, and surrendering to the waves of grief, House Residents Florian Schmitt, creative director, A Certain Everything, and John C. Havens, executive director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous Intelligent Systems, shared a conversation at our annual gathering, House19, where they met for the first time. 

Listen to the Next Visions podcast, co-produced by Porsche and the House of Beautiful Business, on Apple or Spotify. 

Finally, as my colleague Tim Leberecht wrote, following last week’s Living Room Session on The Future of Relationships, new forms of intimacy, whether with the next-frontier technology, emotional AI, or our loved ones, are being incubated. 

To begin playing your way through, check out the couple-centered designed resources S.E.X.Y. by House Residents Helen and Dave Edwards, working couple and founders of Sonder Scheme, an AI services training company.

So much love to give: read on the Journal

In this time of social distancing becoming the new social norm, we are only beginning to grasp the art of human connection. 

Always Love,

Monika and the House of Beautiful Business team 

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PS: Exciting new plans for the House of Beautiful Business coming up soon!

In the forthcoming Living Room Session The Future of Business is Beautiful Business, we will share and discuss the findings of interviews with business leaders worldwide, conducted by the ethnographer Jonathan Cook over the past three months; perspectives from previous Living Room Sessions; and input from members of our community. 

To contribute beforehand, please take this quick survey on COVID-19 and the Future of (Beautiful) Business. Thank you. 

Take survey

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Monika Jiang is the head of content and community at The Business Romantic Society and a co-curator of the House of Beautiful Business.

The House can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram. Please apply for House Residency here.