187: The Relational Power of Parenting

Turning Towards Life - a Thirdspace podcast

We return this week to our exploration of relational power and ask what would happen if we gave up using our power to control people (and in doing so our attempts to get what we want) and instead used our power to liberate the creativity and contribution of others? And how would this shape our parenting, our leadership, and our friendships?
This week's Turning Towards Life is a conversation about ways in which we might turn whatever power we are given from 'control' into love, hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.
Here's our source for this week:
The Relational Power of Parenting
I have seen people who loved children enough to realize that mere unilateral obedience is the least of virtues, valuable for preventing children from running out in front of trucks but with little use for understanding or nurturing children’s hopes, dreams, and creative abilities. Merely demanding obedience gives adults little power to teach children to think for themselves, to make their own decisions, develop their own values or creativity, or grow in mutually loving relationships with their parents and others. Parenting that exercises relational power is hard work. It takes a lot of patience, self-control, emotional strength, and a willingness to bear much of the price for the children’s mistakes. But the reward for relational parenting is a greater joy at children’s accomplishments, and a deeper, more mutual love as children develop their own relational power.

From Process Relational Philosophy by Robert C Mesle

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash