This resource provides an opportunity to engage with the value of contentment as it plays out in our digital landscape, one that invites seemingly endless points for comparison with others. It prompts learners to think about the different ways we are all quite ordinary and also quite extraordinary. It offers an opportunity to reflect on how we can at once be content with our ordinariness and at the same time, lean into further achievement and aspiration. It encourages us to monitor our online habits, emotions and reactions in trying to achieve contentment in the digital ecosystem. It draws upon a well-known Hasidic teaching which hints at the duality of our experiences as a core part of being human and concludes with a chance for learners to create their own mantras to use while walking the world.
Read the following for context:
The digital world gives us the ability to see glimpses of other people’s lives on social media and other shared platforms all the time. When we compare what we see to our own lives, it can sometimes leave us feeling like we are not doing enough or not measuring up. This can be even harder to manage because what we see online is usually carefully chosen and edited. We can see other people’s outsides, but we can only really know our own insides.
Facilitator prompts the group:
Read the following:
Exploring the value of contentment can help us navigate these mixed feelings. Contentment can be defined as possessing the quality of happiness and satisfaction, often because we have everything we need. Self-assessment about our own contentment, and mapping what brings us satisfaction, can help us name the different parts of ourselves and our lives, in the interest of recognizing where we are satisfied, and where we might still like to grow and change.
Facilitator prompts the group:
Read the following for context:
A key to contentment is holding the perspective that we are all – at once – both ordinary and extraordinary. R. Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (b. 1765 - d. 1827) was a key leader of Hasidic Judaism in Poland. He combined enlightenment philosophy with traditional Judaism while always emphasizing the importance of the individual in regard to one's personal relationship with God and Judaism. Above all else, he believed that authenticity and self-honesty were the foundations of true righteousness and encouraged others to pursue the most authentic versions of themselves.
It was said of him, that he carried two slips of paper, one in each pocket.
He would take out each slip of paper as necessary, as a reminder to himself. The tricky part was knowing when to reach into each pocket.
[Note: The first phrase was spoken by Abraham (Genesis 18:27) when he is bargaining with God over saving the cities of Sodom (סדום) and Gemorrah (עמורה). The second phrase is a quote from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37b) to explain why Adam was created “alone.”]
Facilitator prompts the group:
What is the importance of carrying these around at all times?
Think of situations in your life:
MAKE MEANING & TAKE ACTION
Facilitator prompts the group:
Create your own pocket mantras:
• If you are comfortable, share them with the group.
For the next few days, keep them close to your computer/phone, and monitor your social media habits:
What helps you find a balance between being grateful for what you have and still feeling motivated to grow or aim higher?
Read the following:
In the exploration we have just experienced, we took a contemporary issue – our digital world with its constant pull to compare ourselves to others - and explored it through the value of contentment. Through a recognition that everyone in the world is at once ordinary, and also quite extraordinary, we can each become more content with our own sense of self. Today’s conversation provided a chance for us to explore how we can remind ourselves to pull out our pieces of paper – “dust of the earth” and “the world is created for me” – each at the moments that are appropriate.
Facilitator prompts the group:
As a result of this session, I can commit to strengthening my own sense of contentment when scrolling online, by …
Read the following:
In the exploration we have just experienced, we took a contemporary issue – our digital world with its constant pull to compare ourselves to others – and explored it through the value of contentment. Through a recognition that everyone in the world is at once ordinary, and also quite extraordinary, we can each become more content with our own sense of self. Today’s conversation provided a chance for us to explore how we can remind ourselves to pull out our pieces of paper – “dust of the earth” and “the world is created for me” – each at the moments that are appropriate.
Facilitator prompts the group:
As a result of this session, I can commit to strengthening my own sense of contentment when scrolling online, by …
Pop Up that come after 2 clicks on page just for one time in coockes session
