Photo by Carsten Busch on Pexels
It’s been an emotional few weeks! For New York Knicks fans, the 2026 NBA Finals will be remembered for generations. They’ve been waiting 53 years, and their Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. The city came alive with anticipation. People packed the streets and venues in all five boroughs for massive watch parties filling Radio City Music Hall, Central Park’s Wollman Rink, and the Brooklyn Bowl.
Then came Game 5 on June 13th, and a chance to win it all. The Knicks trailed for most of the game, facing a double-digit deficit that reached 16 points in the first half. However, just like they did throughout the series, New York orchestrated yet another methodical comeback, defeating the Spurs 94-90. And the city exploded. Fifty-three years of pent-up waiting spontaneously erupted in a joyous, teary-eyed, hug-the-person-beside-you celebration. Impromptu block parties, honking car horns, and fireworks took over major intersections, from Times Square to Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Someone was overheard saying, “I’m not sure what world peace looks like, but the streets of NYC are close right now.” You didn’t have to be a fan or know anything about the sport to revel in the sheer joy of it all.
And now, we’re hosting the World Cup. According to a large majority of these World Cup fans, we Americans are welcoming them into our small towns and big cities with open arms. And we love seeing them discover things we might take for granted: fast food, self-serve ice machines and free refills, Buc-ee’s massive gas stations, Bass Pro Shops, and wait for it, Ranch dressing.
We’ve watched Ecuadorian fans in Philadelphia run up the Rocky Steps and wrap the Rocky Statue in their flag. We joined in as thousands of Spanish fans did the “Spanish jump” in Atlanta, where they jumped up and down in the streets as though on a trampoline. We’ve marveled at Norwegian fans as they rowed their way through Times Square, up escalators, in subway trains, and into our hearts.
And then there was the invasion of the Tartan Army in Boston. It might have started with a group of Scottish fans who rented an Airbnb and bedecked the house in Saltires (the Scottish flag) in the middle of the night. At 6:30 a.m. the next morning, six of the men in kilts stood outside the house, and one of them started to play the bagpipes. Mike Morrison, the neighbor across the street, could have gotten angry and called the police to complain. Instead, he was overjoyed, and his video of the merry men quickly went viral. “To see these majestic creatures in the wild outside their native habitat, it was breathtaking.” Tens of thousands of Scots took over the streets, bars, and restaurants of Boston, and the citizens loved it! The collective joy and sense of oneness Bostonians felt spread quickly as though they were thirsty for human connection. In a tradition dating back about four decades in Glasgow, the Scots regularly crown the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington with an orange traffic cone. It was even a source of inspiration for the artist known as Banksy. To mark the occasion, Boston-based musician David Law went viral for writing, recording, and releasing the tribute song “When the Tartan Came to Boston”. The track commemorates the massive influx of over 30,000 Scottish football fans and how their arrival breathed new life into the people of Boston. The song’s takeaway message was this:
It took 30,000 strangers to remind us we were neighbors,
and we haven’t been the same since the Tartans came to Boston, oh.
It turns out, our shared human connection doesn’t just feel good. It is necessary for our well-being. Decades of research have shown that strong, meaningful connections are the single greatest predictor of a happy, healthy, and long life. Humans are biologically wired for connection. Relationships are the bedrock of our well-being.
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for people to go entire days without interacting. We send texts and emails. We eat lunch in our cars after picking up drive-thru. We shop online and even attend church via Zoom. We spend way too much time staring at a screen and comparing ourselves with others on social media. Polls have shown that people are less chatty, they don’t smile as much, and they are edgy much of the time. As a society, we have become socially malnourished.
Our world has been divided for so many years, especially since Covid. These last few weeks have felt as though the world is finally starting to heal. It turns out, we aren’t as divided and different as some might like us to believe. We’ve been reminded of our shared humanity. Our connection to one another remains fundamentally kind, unifying, and beautiful, despite our fractured world. Now that we’ve experienced that human connection again, let’s keep it going.
If you find it hard to connect with others face-to-face, or if you’re struggling with anxiety or depression, please reach out to us. At Wallace Family Therapy, we are trained to provide the most effective treatment that meets your individual needs and challenges. Please reach out to us. We’re here to help you.
