The vanishing infrastructure of our emotional wellbeing

Ozzy Osbourne + using your flaws to create connection (Issue #382)

The vanishing infrastructure of our emotional wellbeing

Ozzy Osbourne + using your flaws to create connection (Issue #382)

By The Medium Blog ∙ July 24, 2025 ∙ 3 min read ∙ View on MediumWe’re used to blaming loneliness or burnout on too much work, too little sleep, too little self-care. But what if the problem isn’t just about ourselves, but our environment? The design of our cities, the architecture of our homes, even the layout of our neighborhoods can amplify isolation or ease it. Mental health isn’t sealed inside us; it’s also shaped by the space around us.When “most-time nomad” Dan Plumlee moved into a van with his wife, he quickly learned how deeply we depend on public space to stay grounded, connected, and well. Without a conventional home, he came to rely on public libraries and parks. In his essay, he describes how these shared spaces became essential: a clean place to work, a safe place to sit, a quiet place to breathe. Libraries offered shelter, structure, and internet connection. Parks offered rest, movement, and connection. Museums brought meaning to unfamiliar places. These were forms of care he hadn’t needed until he left the private comforts of home.But Plumlee warns that these supports are deteriorating. He describes libraries with locked bathrooms, parks with no water, and public resources shrinking under budget cuts or sold off to the private sector. “What was ours,” he writes, “will belong to private individuals.” His essay makes clear that what’s being lost isn’t just infrastructure, but the conditions that support wellbeing: dignity, rest, and quiet.Urban policy specialist Luis Antonio Ramirez Garcia extends Plumlee’s argument that public space is crucial to collective wellness. Writing about the rise of “anxious cities,” he emphasizes that the absence of green space, safe transit, or communal gathering places creates slow, cumulative stress. In cities around the world, Garcia shows how fatigue, disconnection, and distress track closely with poor urban design. These patterns cut across gender, class, and geography, pointing to a larger truth: Cities that neglect their residents’ emotional needs undermine wellbeing by design.— Anna Dorn

Recommended reading:

• With Google burying links and AI replacing old-school search results, online publishers are panicking over plummeting traffic (and ad dollars). But as author and blogging veteran Will Leitch argues, the real crisis isn’t that these “avenues for profit” are disappearing — it’s that the industry built itself on those shaky foundations to begin with.
• On July 22, heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne passed away. If you don’t know much about his music, Eric Dockett created this deep dive introduction to the late rocker’s influential career, complete with track recommendations and contextual production details that explain his legendary status.
• In media theorist Liane Dowling’s piece on the economic value of women’s work, she explains how the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are framed as the ideal of beauty and discipline. Behind the gloss is a different story: Cheerleaders work 30 to 40 hours a week, training, performing, and making appearances for one of the richest sports leagues in the world, yet many are paid less per game than the team’s mascots.

Your daily dose of practical wisdom on using our flaws for connection

We tend to think people like us for our best qualities. But according to psychologist Jay Wilkinson, it’s often our worst ones that make us relatable. In fact, research shows we feel more connected to people who share our flaws than our strengths.···

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