Cities Matter: Quality of Life

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, ... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ― Moses

Time is a game played beautifully by children. ― Heraclitus

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. ― Pablo Picasso

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. ― Jesus

"Quality of life is experienced in so many different ways. Does Wichita offer sufficient spaces, places, and activities to satisfy that diversity?

Culturally speaking, what projects and identities have helped or could help us feel more connected with and trusting of one another?

Is quality of life a function of government? Does private enterprise and philanthropy play a part?

Bored?
Nothing to do?
Does all work and no play really make Jack a dull boy?

Come and join us to discuss your "quality of life" ... specifically as you experience it [or not] in Wichita. What are the secrets that explain why some feel more abundance and others more dearth in the quality of their life experiences? How is "quality" defined and then measured? How is "work" different from "leisure"? Is it something inside us [as humans] or outside us [such as technology] that makes the difference between higher and lower quality? Can we do it alone or must we do it together ... and who decides for whom?

When, Where and a Flyer

Tuesday, April 30,  7:00 to 8:45 pm at Friends University ... Room 100 of William Penn Hall.  Click FLYER above and [if we have it] you will get a flyer which you can print and post appropriately to alert others about the upcoming meeting.

Panelists and Moderator 👥

Please welcome our generous and accomplished panelists and moderator. Click a name to see a bio [if we have it]. And remember, they have busy lives so we do NOT require them to provide a position statement or suggested readings in advance ... but if they do, we have provided links to those materials following their name/bio below ... and we encourage you to review these links to get to know our panelists and moderator better.

Renee Duxler – is the Executive Director of the Douglas Design District and Project Coordinator of Dress for Success
Andrea Knighton – is the founder of Wichita Area Sustainability Initiative
WASI universe of "Networks and Nested Systems"
Phil Nelson – is Director of the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Matt Riedl – is a writer for the Wichita Eagle Arts & Culture
Dr. Russell Arben Fox - Moderator, Political Science Professor and Director of the Honors Program at Friends University.

Epilogue

If you missed our symposium on "Quality of Life" in Wichita, you missed a panel of truly quality individuals who worked together in dialogue ... seemingly without letting ego or previous positions get in the way ... to encourage one another to draw out thoughts and ideas that could help us all understand how cities and groups within cities can work to improve their own lives and those of others. The evening had a balance and harmony that was uplifting in addition to being enlightening in ways that encouraged further thought ... an excellent example of what dialogue can be.

We will certainly want to have these panel members back as subjects and their schedules permit in the future ... and those of you who missed hearing them will want to come.

To relive this dialogue at Friends University and enhance the quality of your life, use this link to a quality AV recording on "Cities Matter: Quality of Life" [thanks to Paul Soutar at Graphic Lens] ... or you can just go to YouTube and search under "New Symposium Society".

Summer is slowly but surely heading to fall. We will gather one last time this summer on August 20. We hope YOU will stay in touch with New Symposium Society in the future. And if you have some ideas to share about ways to improve or expand our work ... just let us hear from you with a COMMENT below ... or an email to NewSymposium@gmail.com.  Goodbye until our next meeting and stay tuned to our blogsite for further info about upcoming meetings in 2019.

Suggested Readings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_livable_cities
https://ratical.org/co-globalize/popsicleIdx.html

"We can expect … that the circuits woven [in our brains] by our use of the [Inter]net will be different from those woven by our reading of books and other printed works."
Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr, 2008
Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman, 1985