Coming Soon: the Icarus Swam Ben Franklin Circle

Hello Swimmers!

I’m kicking off a new project and I need your help.

I was chatting with my cousin recently and she asked if I’d heard of Ben Franklin Circles. She had just finished participating in a circle and thought I might be interested in adapting the idea for my Swimmers. She was right!

What’s a Ben Franklin Circle? Back in the day, Ben Franklin and his mates got together in a small group they called a junto. Being passionate about self-improvement, they focused on 13 virtues they could practice to become better people and make the world a better place. Today, Ben Franklin Circles (BFC) are an initiative to do the same thing; you can learn more about it here.

The mission of practicing these virtues is twofold: to improve ourselves & improve our world. BFCs are typically small, face-to-face group meetings, but our circle will meet here at Icarus Swam. I’m going to be practicing, experimenting with, and writing about each virtue over the next 13 months. I’ll share my progress and struggles with practicing these virtues, in terms of improving both myself and the world.

How can you help? I’ll have plenty to share with you in the coming months, but I would really love to hear from you. What are your experiences with these virtues? Do you think they’re still relevant? How do you see these virtues in the world around you? Where are they missing? What are your practical ideas for practicing these virtues for real-world betterment? And where do you see these virtues in literature? This is your invitation to join this online junto. I can’t wait to hear from you and share this experience.

The Virtues:

Temperance
Silence
Order
Resolution
Frugality
Industry
Sincerity
Justice
Moderation
Cleanliness
Tranquility
Chastity
Humility

I hope you’ll join me on this journey. And cheers to the indominable Jessica Livingston for inspiring this project.

First virtue up: TEMPERANCE. I’ll see you next week.

Image:
"File:Benjamin Franklin.PNG." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 18 Jun 2019, 12:07 UTC. 23 Sep 2019, 15:44 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Benjamin_Franklin.PNG&oldid=355240750>