A Question of Values

April 15, 2013
Belonging, Values

The topic of “values” comes up frequently when coaching people and I have often listened to debate on whether today’s value system is as good as the “old one”. What needs to be considered are the changes that are occurring rapidly in society that have meant people’s ways of living have shifted and in many cases, ways of thinking. One thing for sure, our way of communicating has certainly changed.

With the breakdown of the traditional family and close community where people meet regularly and feel part of a “tribe” or “herd”, there is a greater need, seen readily in young people, to form alternative groups to foster that sense of belonging we all need.

Hugh McKay comments on how young people “realise that their most precious resource they have for coping with life in inherently unpredictable and unstable world is each other”. And how they maintain this contact by mobile phones, computers, social media, yet still come together socially at regular intervals. Sharing is much more acceptable than in their parents’ days and perhaps there is something to be learned from our teenagers who have adapted to a changing world to ensure they have support and “connection” in whatever way they can.

We need community in order to establish a society that is supportive, fair and cares for each other. The more we can encourage face to face contact, the better, to prevent any growing isolation that ail inevitably lead to loneliness and depression. So let’s use technology to organise meetings and face to face contact, in this way, satisfying our need for personal relationships and some degree of “intimacy” in what can be a fast-paced and detached environment.

I was in Melbourne last week and saw on Saturday night the huge number of people who were out in groups, enjoying each others’ company – people of all ages, brought together by the shared interest of AFL. I really struck me how lucky that city is to have a bond like that and how healthy it was for the community. It made me feel that my solitary glass of wine and connection with my iPad really was second best!