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Daisy Moses Chief Crackpot's avatar

Couldn't agree more, of all times this here's the one ta lift up forks in unison, and put aside "beefs" (u bet, cuz we're all gonna "talk turkey" now..) Sharin' the holiday with gratitude an' appreciation is more important now than ever and with that senty-mint, an apt quote below:

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.”

― Oscar Wilde (from A Woman of No Importance )

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Barry Brownstein's avatar

Daisy, Thanks for the Wilde quip! As the old joke goes, if you think you've made spiritual progress go spend a week with your family and report back. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Mike Vernetti's avatar

Excellent Barry and Happythanks

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Mike Vernetti's avatar

Excellent Barry and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family

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Barry Brownstein's avatar

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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JdL's avatar

"This Thanksgiving, we can practice denying ourselves the 'pleasure' of contradicting others."

Let's face it, it IS fun to be armed with enough knowledge to demolish something wrong-headed. But as you say, doing without considering others' feelings comes at a very real cost. Also, it's unlikely to plant a seed in the other person's mind if I set up a "me versus you" posture. More effective, and less disruptive to pleasant discourse, would be to ask a question about the other's views, which (perhaps) gently points to a weakness. Or an oblique, "I've heard that X sometimes leads to trouble," rather than "X is ridiculous." Or even (hardest of all) saying nothing, allowing the conversation to flow on to other matters. If an assertion is so obnoxious that it really must be confronted, most likely it's not so urgent that it can't wait for another day, in a setting not involving innocent bystanders.

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Barry Brownstein's avatar

JdL, Thank you for adding your valuable insights.

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Vincent Stanger's avatar

Thankful for you Barry🙏🙏🙏

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Barry Brownstein's avatar

You are very kind, Vincent. Thank you!

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

Thank you for this wise and compassionate advice, Barry.

I’ve prepared a list of questions people can select from to help prompt healing dialogue and have encouraged my readers to listen respectfully to the narrative believers’ perspective of what has occurred over the past three years:

• “30 Questions for a Narrative Believer” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/30-questions-for-a-narrative-believer)

This might be best saved for after-dinner activities :-)

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Barry Brownstein's avatar

Thanks for the kind note, Margaret!

Thank you too for pointing my readers to your outstanding Substack!

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

My pleasure, Barry, and it is an honor to welcome you to my Stack!

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Daisy Moses Chief Crackpot's avatar

ha ha! truth in that'un!--an' a Happy Thanksgivin' back at'cha!

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Nov 23, 2022
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Barry Brownstein's avatar

Thanks for adding your wisdom, Diane. Happy Thanksgiving!

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