Alone, Together: Reflections on Disconnection, Division, and the Work of Rebuilding Community

We didn't lose each other all at once.

We drifted-quietly, distractedly-until the village was gone and no one remembered leaving.

In Alone, Together, writer and community leader Brian K. Houser offers a deeply human collection of short essays exploring how connection faded from our lives-and how we might begin to bring it back.

From front porches gone quiet to public discourse turned performative, these reflections trace the slow unraveling of trust, neighborliness, and civic belonging. But this isn't a book of complaint. It's a quiet invitation-to pause, to notice, and to reconnect.

Whether you miss the ease of neighborly conversation, wonder what happened to "the third place," or feel weary of algorithm-driven outrage, Alone, Together will feel like a conversation you've been waiting to have. It's short enough to read in an afternoon-and thoughtful enough to revisit for years.

• Why the front porch went quiet-and how to bring it back
• What we lost when the third place disappeared from our towns
• Why it's so hard to talk across political lines-and how to stay in the conversation
• How scrolling replaced showing up-and how to reclaim attention and presence
• Why public life feels like a performance-and how to make it real again
• How to build trust in a world full of noise, outrage, and algorithms
• What it means to be a good neighbor, even when it's inconvenient

For readers of The Anxious Generation, How to Do Nothing, Small Victories, and The Second Mountain-this is a warm, wise companion for anyone feeling the quiet ache of disconnection and still hoping for something better.

If you've been feeling that something essential is missing-this book is for you.
Alone, Together won't shout at you or sell you a shortcut. It will sit beside you, speak gently, and remind you that it's not too late to rebuild what matters most. One porch light. One hello. One small act at a time.