Social Self-Defense:

Let’s Be Civil 

“Civility costs nothing and buys everything.”  

                                           Mary Wortley Montagu

The self is social. We are all a product of everything and everyone we come in contact with. The more intentional our interactions; the more we all evolve.

The people of South Africa say it best in the spirit of Ubuntu; “I am because we are.”

The third ring or perimeter in the defense of the self is Manners, Customs and Civility.

Civility is defined as a formal politeness and courtesy in behavior and speech. But for the discussion of Social Self-Defense, the founders of the Institute of Civility in Government, Thomas Spathe and Cassandra Dahnke define it best:

“Civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs and beliefs without degrading someone else’ in the process.”

Behaving and speaking in a civil manner does not take away one’s uniqueness. It does not force you into a cult of compliance. In fact, the opposite is true. When we all come together with civility at the core of our center; both individually and collectively, we get to be who we truly are.

Let’s be civil.

Be you, be beautiful, be civil.

Bertice Berry, PhD.