Loneliness, desolation, alienation. The disease of the soul that infects modern life goes by many names. Disconnectedness, indifference, despair. Everybody knows this ache of emptiness in their hearts. It's haunted humans since we departed Eden. Religious or not, it's everyone's backstory.

Paradoxically, when we're so easily connected, it feels lonelier than ever. And it's particularly acute for those of us who live in the city, who are estranged from the rhythms of nature.

This is the complex malaise that author Eric Utne is trying to mitigate. And he's using an ancient literary form that Benjamin Franklin essentially invented: the almanac. If Ben were alive today, says Utne, Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac is the book he'd make for himself—and for us.

Poor Richard's annual guide was—and is—filled with wit and wisdom for rural life; Cosmo's almanac celebrates our common culture and nature's rhythms for urbanites. At the heart of Utne's regimen is a daily dose of earthly, heavenly and cultural touchstones, which helps us link the personal with the universal. For a few moments every day, it asks us to pull out our earbuds, switch off our cells and sync our souls to something beautiful and timeless. For Utne, that is symbolized by the moon, which he calls his friend.

Eric Utne is not exactly a household name, but you might recognize him as the founder of the Utne Reader. Called the Reader's Digest of the alternative press, since 1984 it's been the nation's best guide to unboxed minds.

But Utne was not satisfied with this success. He left the thriving magazine in 1999, entrusting it to the care of his wife. Fifteen years as a publisher is enough to sour anyone's soul (trust me on this). And so he went on a quest in search of himself that eventually led to the Urban Almanac.

Everything in modern society conspires to separate us from each other, says Utne. In the early 1990s, as publisher of the Reader, Utne successfully brought his readers together by sponsoring salons in cities across America. This new project seeks to enlarge these circles by including everyone under the moon—with the goal to get us all, literally, on the same page and in phase.

For a book with such serious intentions, it's actually a delight, a smorgasbord of tasty morsels to purge us of our melancholy. Each day lists holidays—sacred, secular and silly. Birthdays of the famous and infamous. Daily sayings, weekly epigrams, jokes, urban legends, poems and doggerel. This week's spread features an article on Mozart, a poem by Naomi Shihah Nye, and these words of wisdom from Mother Teresa: "The greatest science in the world, in heaven and on earth, is love." Each day shows the phase of the moon, when it rises and sets, and leaves a small space for whatever daily thoughts or disciplines lend a rhythm to your life. I'm keeping track of my yoga and my weight.

It's got urban survival strategies—my favorite is how to give a toast—as well as a field guide to urban flora and fauna, weather predictions and an illustrated manual on how to read the clouds. From cities across America come a selection of Urban Sanctuaries—like Philly's Free Library—and Living Urban Legends (last year highlighted Judy Wicks of the White Dog, where Utne recently spoke).

Staying in touch with the rhythms of nature has helped people for several millennia keep their culture healthy. And it might even work for ours, if we find the courage to take off our headsets, look up to the sky and peer inside ourselves.

So the next step in his personal journey, says Utne, is to open his quest to everyone. There is a Web site, www.cosmosurbanalmanac.com, where you can nominate Sacred Places and Living Urban Legends. But first buy the book (available at Whole Foods). It may be the end of January, but there's time enough to hitch your wagon to the rising moon, and to lift your spirits with it.