At this point. I have decided that flourishing is my main goal, followed by a safe and secure shelter in the form of a happy household.
My next requirement is for relationships. Like John Donne, I don’t believe that people can exist independent of each other. At the very least we have a family, but most of us choose to expand beyond that limit to create reassuring relationships with kindred spirits, as well as deeper relationships with significant others.
dearly beloved
I do have a significant other, a person who has been with me through some BIG stuff. It would be senseless to allow this enduring relationship to fail now when things are looking up. It is obvious to me that it must be maintained and improved. He has asked not to be part of this blog, so this is the last you will see of him.
friends
We have moved around a bit, so while we have friends around the world, we have few close friends locally. While I love imagining my words echoing backwards and forwards in time, local friends are somewhat more practical. Like when Katy broke her leg – I took her lunch (chicken soup naturally) and made her cups of tea. Or when I sold my house and Katy came to help me clean it and get rid of the stuff that wasn’t moving with me. I feel that I need to make some more local friends…
family
I am fairly confident I am not the only person who has “issues” with family. Inspired by Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (affiliate link), I need to manage these relationships better, and make them recognise that I am an end in myself – not just a means to their ends.
My relationships are a mixed bag of needs aren’t they? Do you think they are in the right place, or are they more important than my household?
Next time I’ll discuss my fourth value area, and in a future post, make some plans to develop this area.
The story so far: