2020 – the bushfires, then the pandemic – came at the end of a 30/40-year period of social change marked by several socio-demographic trends that had, cumulatively, been propelling us in the direction of more social fragmentation, less social cohesion and, consequently, more anxiety, more depression, more loneliness. The response to COVID19, like our response to most crises and catastrophes (personal or societal), might encourage us to think that the pandemic could act as a circuit-breaker. Having become kinder, more caring, more compassionate during this period (despite some negative responses based on fear and panic), might we absorb and generalise the lessons about interdependency and interconnectedness that such crises can teach us?