If you love conversations about connections, you’re in luck. On Sunday, September 22, Founder and President of the nonprofit, The Best Day of My Life So Far, Benita Cooper will be joining Julia Hotz, author of “The Connection Cure” for a conversation at Inkwood Books in Haddonfield.
Hotz’s book, “The Connection Cure” covers a wide range of topics, including why lifestyle diseases, mental illness and loneliness are on the rise and looks at the science behind social prescriptions.
“Rather than the doctor saying ‘Take this medicine,’ the doctor is saying ‘sign up for this storytelling group’ and also take this medicine too maybe,” Cooper explained. Cooper, a Haddonfield resident, had read the book as part of her preparations for the talk. “It’s actually integrated into a healthcare plan.”
Hotz focuses on five areas that can improve well-being which include movement, nature, art, service and belonging. The Best Day of My Life So Far hits three of them. The nonprofit was founded 15 years ago after Cooper was inspired by some deep conversations that she had with her grandmother. It was supposed to be a six-week writing and storytelling group for older adults to encourage intergenerational connections, but it has grown to become something much bigger.
“Storytelling is our vehicle,” Cooper explained. “It’s a super fun low-pressure thing that we do that actually have deep purposes of mental health improvement and intergenerational connection and all these things.”
It continues to foster connections between older adults and the younger generation through its Grand Camp Youth Leadership Academy and also provides professional development training through Story Cure, where they teach staff ways to improve communication with seniors and about compassionate and active listening.
“What The Best Day of My Life So Far does is actually do hands on work–working with communities to solve issues of social isolation,” Cooper said. “When we connect with people looking at the same thing through research and theory and writing, it becomes more dynamic because you have to practice supporting each other.”
Of the five areas touched on in Hotz’s book, The Best Day of My Life So Far incorporates three into its daily practices: art, through storytelling, service, through volunteering and belonging, by creating an environment where people can come together and talk with each other.
“I appreciate how both my book and her organization aim to use storytelling and intergenerational connection as a means of boosting our health and wellness,” said Hotz.
Over the past 15 years, Cooper has seen the end results of these kinds of social prescriptions firsthand.
“We’ve tried it in enough communities that we know it’s powerful,” she shared. ” … There is a greater need for programs like ours, and I think with Julia’s book and other researchers’ work too, it really gives the macro view of what happens when small efforts build and build and build into something bigger.
“I think story by story, we can build relationships. Relationship by relationship, we can build community. Community by community, we can truly change our country,” Cooper said. ” … It’s crazy, because how can something so simple, something that is so no-frills, have the power to change something like the scale of our country?”
The author talk will take place at Inkwood Books on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.
