Month: March 2022

What Makes Change Possible?

Some times it seems as though things will never change. When you feel that way, how can you get unstuck and make change happen?

There are several reasons why you might feel that change is difficult, if not impossible.

For one example, you might feel like you have no good options. Rather than opting to make a bad choice, you may prefer to keep the status quo.

Alternately, you might feel like the situation is too big or too complex for any change you might make to have any significant impact. There are plenty of other alternatives as well.

Whatever the reason, is you feel you cannot or will not make a change, what can you do? Change, of course, is inevitable. But how can you make sure that the change that happens is most beneficial to you?

How can you change your circumstances, or at least your attitude? In your experience in your own life, what makes change possible?

Related questions: Change of status quo? How can you change your attitude? Can people change? How have you changed? How have we changed?

Is Value Intrinsic Or Relative?

Is the value of something inherent in that thing, or does it depend on the environment? Do I have value just for being me, or is my value relative to those around me?

Share why if you wish.

Is Value Intrinsic Or Relative?
Results

What Is Your Favorite Weather?

Some people like to dance in the rain, and others find falling snow quiet and peaceful. Or maybe you just like soaking up the sun. Do you have a favorite weather?

Share why if you wish.

What Are You Doing To Build Community?

It is common to feel a lack of belonging to any community beyond your immediate family. Are you doing anything to change that?

In the industrialized world, an emphasis is placed on he individual, or the idea of the small, “nuclear” family. It is common for children to move far away from their parents, and for people to settle down and raise their own family hundreds or even thousands of miles away from where they grew up.

This is a far cry from families that saw multiple generations living together under one roof. Or a clan being an extended family all living in the same village.

Under current circumstances, a sense of community can be hard to find. Many of the traditional institutions that provided that sense of community, like family and the church, are in decline. Even people who live in a densely populated residential area might not know many — or any — of their neighbors.

Listen to a podcast where Michael and Lee discuss the related question: ‘What are our responsibilities to others?’ We also discuss a bonus question: ‘Are we too busy?’

Things have gotten particularly bad as a result of the pandemic. First the lockdown limited social interaction, and then many of the more popular ways of socializing, like music concerts or sporting events, were canceled or heavily restricted.

And yet, human beings are social animals. We crave social interactions, and we feel the need to belong to a group that is larger than ourselves.

Do you feel that pull to join other people? In what ways are you trying to reestablish contact with friends and neighbors? What activities do you participate in, or what strengthens the bonds you have with others? What are you doing to build community?

Related questions: What makes a community? Why do we feel the need to belong? Why do people like games? What do we have in common?

Sports: Watch Or Participate?

If you are going to a sports event of some kind, are you more likely to watch or to participate in the game?

Share why if you wish.

Sports: Watch Or Participate?
Results