St. James' Episcopal Church - Potomac 301-762-8040 office@stjamespotomac.org
It’s Who You Talk to That Counts

It’s Who You Talk to That Counts

Hello friends,

This week we’re going to focus on two different but related stories about the power of talking to others. In the first, we hear how a university professor came to discover that even brief, casual exchanges with others are an antidote to loneliness and a building block in our well-being.

We’ll follow that up with a couple of brief excerpts from a video about “collective illusion,” a phenomenon where false beliefs about society are shared by many people within that society. We’ll focus on the section about social media and how our “offline” interactions have become a critical counterbalance.

Our warm-up question for this week:

Tell us about someone people tend to overlook, but who you know is special.

See you soon,

Alex

Stronger Together: A Different Five-Second Rule

Stronger Together: A Different Five-Second Rule

Hello friends,

 
You know the “5-second rule,” right? Well this week we’re going to talk about a new 5-second rule that has nothing to do with floor cleanliness. This one is all about how we establish first impressions of people so that we less likely unconsciously categorize them in biased or unfair ways.
 
We’ll watch a brief video featuring Quita Christison, a youth empowerment activist who, due to a rare form of dwarfism, is often mistaken for a preteen at first impression. The acronym tool she urges her listeners to use is STOP, which stands for “see the other person.” We all want to be seen for who we are, so what better way to help make that happen than to start by paying it forward!
 
Our warm-up question for this week:
 
Who did you think was the “coolest” person when you were a kid, whether they were a celebrity or someone you knew in your day-to-day life?