What significant ways am I contributing to what's wrong with the world?

Again, we had a full table for the third Make it Better (MiB) Table of 2023. It was an invigorating mix of regulars, those who hadn’t attended for a while and new people, who all experienced a new opening and closing ritual that helped focus us as we gathered and as we departed. 

Col walked us through an acknowledgement of Country that led us to dwell on the way that the English language can use words that divide: the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Dividing Range, whereas Indigenous language speaks of the waters, for example, that connect us all. This theme of ‘connectivity’ emerged again and again throughout the following conversation.  

In response to the challenging question above, there was a focus on how hard it can be to work against the powerful consumerist systems that flow around and sometimes through us. We wrestled with idea that we are all compromised in some way – for example, one of the participants vulnerably shared about the questions she asked herself about owning an investment property - “Is this keeping good people out of the market? This is land that has been thieved, which we know is stolen and yet we don’t give back.” 

Despite the compromise many felt, it was not pessimistic - the conversation encouraged us to shine a light on the difficult systems around us, to not be halted by any sense of compromise: “It’s true that an unexamined life is not worth living, but an over-examined life is paralysing.” The conversation veered back to division in our communities perpetuating the fundamental issues we identified as being wrong in our world: racism, poverty, homophobia, child mortality.  

In these issues, we were encouraged to return to the idea of connecting ourselves to others, to work together with like-minded people and seeing those who may take an opposite view in ways that distinguished the idea from the person.   

Each person left, taking with them one idea or action that had impacted them.  

It was a rich conversation, with good people enjoying good food, company and drinks. If you want to have conversations like this, be sure to RSVP to the next Make it Better Table as we have been fully subscribed each time so far in 2023.  

We would love to hear your voice.