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This year, the very special American holiday of togetherness follows a divisive election. We both feel strongly that it’s important to look at how to communicate constructively with others.

PHIL: It’s Thanksgiving again, and in this very political season, dinner table conversations may become more heated than ever. We’ve written extensively on how to resolve differences between partners without conflict, but how can that possibly be applied in this post-election season?

Politics is far more emotional than rational. We pick policy positions that support our emotional responses, and argue over those policies rather than addressing the underlying feelings. The core emotion is fear, which is a tricky one to deal with because it’s scary to look at; it is an unseen force over our shoulder, pushing and pulling us in various directions, and it takes bravery to look over our shoulder and challenge it. It is easier to see our response to it, which is anger.

MAUDE: This week many of us will be heading to Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends. There has been a lot of discord within many relationships in these tumultuous times. We feel therefore that it is a good moment to look again at processes of finding mutual solutions, successful means of communication and in general remembering to be thankful for all we have.

Being aware and being active is a very important part of being a contributing citizen of society, and it also behooves us, as citizens and individuals, to remember all we have to be thankful for. Let’s all remember to acknowledge and appreciate all we have; to acknowledge our relationships with each other and to be kind to each other and ourselves.

Click here to read what Maude and Phil say about this. We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this, so please add your comments below the blog.
Free Audio to Help With Thanksgiving
Free Audio to Help With Thanksgiving
 In these challenging times we've decided to offer all of you a free audio excerpt from the upcoming audio version of our latest book.

In Another Way, the first chapter of "How Two: Have a Successful Relationship",  we outline the entire premise of the book, how to relate without conflict.

Phil and Maude’s Friday Feature: Lawrence Gelber
 Last week we featured Lawrence Gelber and I Declare World Peace. We've also added it to our blog as a Friday Feature.
 
Successful Relationship Reading Corner
In this week's blog we wrote about how to talk turkey together this thanksgiving. These posts all have insights and advice for Thanksgiving.

How To Survive Thanksgiving With Your Family Post-Election "Thanksgiving is all about coming together as a family to celebrate ... except when it's about coming together to argue about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Some people are saying this holiday season is even more stressful than usual, though, as they're dreading Thanksgiving Day political arguments with relatives."

How to Argue Fairly and Without Rancor (Hello, Thanksgiving!) "it’s clear that American Thanksgiving gatherings are sure to be interesting affairs this year, as families split between Trump and Clinton supporters try to sit down to dinner without maiming one another — if they show up at all. So this may be a good time to explore what psychologists and philosophers say are the most effective ways to argue."

8 Ways to Talk about Politics Without Ruining Thanksgiving Dinner "Contrary to the popular sentiment that discussing politics is just inviting trouble, political discussion is actually one of the bedrocks of our democracy. It’s how we work through problems, find common ground, and build compromise. We the People need to be able to talk — not scream at one another."

Spreading peace one relationship at a time,
Phil and Maude
 
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