Happiness Community Conversations Lead to Happiness Actions
At the four hosting branches of the Pima County Public Library,
small groups are meeting at the ninety minute Happiness Community
Conversations. At these conversations,
they discuss the UA Happiness Lectures topics and dig deeper into how to
transform the ideas from the happiness lectures into personal and community
happiness actions. Some participants
have attended the downtown lectures but most have not. Participants come for each of the five
sessions or for the one or two topics that interest him/her. Offering the conversations at the familiar
library branches during the daytime hours creates a choice for participants who
may not be able or willing to drive at night.
Each conversation is unique because of who attends and the selection
of interactive activities provided by the facilitators from Community
Renaissance. For example, one activity
is to define key terms of the lecture topic by writing a few words on a
multi-colored sticky note which is put on a larger display board. Next, these comments are collected by the
facilitator. Another activity a conversation
on Compassion involved “bearing witness” to the suffering of another by
contemplating a photo of suffering, focusing one’s breath on the photo’s image,
and sending feelings of compassion to the image. One participant remarked that she observed
herself changing her reaction to photo as her breathing relaxed.
Each conversation includes a “take away” happiness tool that
encourages participants to consider making a commitment to complete for a
week. In one group this involves picking
three cards from a happiness deck of cards and selecting one she or he will do
the next week. Returnees from the first
session to the second session shared that they experienced a happier week by sticking
to their happiness action and even going beyond that initial commitment by
applying another action they heard someone else in the group offer to do.
At the beginning of 2014, Community Renaissance will produce
a summary of the groups’ activity responses and the responses from an 11
question Happiness survey that each participant completes at the first
Happiness Community Conversation she or he attends. This survey asks the same questions as
developed in the 2013 World Happiness Report. Also, the 2014 report will include results
from the “snap surveys” that started in June, 2013 as part of the Talk UP^
Tucson events. This survey has
participants rate the 4 Pillars of Gross National Happiness and is cited in the
Talk UP^ Tucson… book by Anita C. Fonte.
A free read-only copy of the book is available upon request to Anita.
Community Renaissance facilitators are volunteering their
time for the conversations and Talk UP^ events, including materials
preparation, cost, and follow-up as part of Community Renaissance’s pro bono
program, The Partnership for Equity and Civic Engagement, or PĒCE. For more information contact Anita C. Fonte
at acfonte@aol.com and www.community-renaissance.com.
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