Film/Video Producer, Post-Production Specialist, Catholic Mental Health Counselor.
Modern people find their attention pulled in so many directions at once. It really isn't just one bad thing that contributes to this. In fact many things that compete for our attention are inherently good; time with family, career development, learning a new exercise routine, viewing educational content, and much more. However, this leaves so many people stressed, confused, exhausted, and unable to authentically connect with themselves and those important to them.
Beneficence is a standard in nearly all medical ethics codes. It is the simple call for providers to "do good", to try to help, to attempt to make things better. However, for many women in obstetrics and gynecological care, this basic good is not received. Countless women are seen in an OB/GYN clinic for a distressing set of symptoms, express their concerns to their provider, and are given ineffective interventions or told that nothing can be done. This results in women feeling unheard, demoralized, and stuck in their suffering.
Most guidance on how to live well: how to eat, how to manage money, how to stay fit, how to practice faith, is designed for people who already have some stability. The fitness programme assumes time and a body that is not exhausted from physical labor. The financial plan assumes an income with something left over at the end of the month. The spiritual retreat assumes a weekend free of shift work and childcare. These are not edge cases, they are the starting point of most people who need this guidance, and the gap between the instruction and their actual circumstances is wide enough that most of them stop trying or are left feeling defeated before beginning.
A mother chooses between buying medicine and buying food. Parents skip a meal so the children can eat. A man works seven days a week because stopping means the household falls short. These are not extraordinary situations. They are the daily arithmetic of households where income does not reliably cover what a family needs to function. The decisions that poverty forces are not simply inconvenient. They consume the attention, the energy, and the time that everything else in a person's life depends on.
So much of our lives is determined by the spaces we share. Streets, buildings, and public places set the terms for how people move, meet, and spend time together. The form of these spaces influences whether life feels ordered, welcoming, and worth caring for.
Children encounter stories throughout their day, in books, on screens, and through familiar characters. Many of these stories are readily consumable and require no attention, imagination, or engagement from the child receiving them.
A certain young woman doesn't know she dreadfully fears becoming like her mother. She tries to be a very nice and helpful person, but she avoids displaying any sort of anger or aggression at all costs. She is unable to assert herself to get the raise that she needs, she has a crippling eating disorder, and has no ability to advocate for her needs in a struggling marriage. Little does she know that she is compensating for her angry and entitled mother. Little does she know that her aggression is actually constantly aimed at herself. Little does she know that her whole self can be loved and truly seen as good. In Plato's The Apology, Socrates put forth significant wisdom when claiming that, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Knowing oneself (your strengths, weaknesses, instincts, tendencies, desires, etc.) is the foundational step towards meaningful growth. A significant amount of suffering in the world is inflicted blindly through ignorance of our own motivations. Knowing and accepting your whole self allows you to identify how to strengthen, change, and channel all parts of your personality towards greater maturity, and ultimately a better life.
Children spend a large part of their day with screens, stories, and digital content that keeps them occupied and moving from one thing to the next, when it could, instead, teach them to notice, ponder, wonder and look for value.
