Universal wellness

Universal wellness is a simple enough idea. As well as striving for wellness on an individual basis (while ensuring that this pursuit doesn’t come at a price for someone else), there’s also a shared experience of wellness if we wish to tap into it.

This communal pot of wellness has a number of ingredients that are essential for the collective good (however big or small this might be). The list that follows isn’t complete or necessarily correct, but heading in the right direction. See what you think of it…

Equality, freedom, free will, mutual aid, autonomy, independence, self-determination, cooperation, consensus, person-centredness, empathy, nurture, safety, social justice, prosocial behaviour, empowerment, power with, power within, true democracy, flat hierarchy, love, bonds, connectivity, learning, decent housing, creativity, expression, support, healing, recovery, rehabilitation, structure, order, spontaneity, stimulation, meaning and purpose.

Conversely, we can also say which features make us collectively unwell, as they’re often on the opposite side of the spectrum to wellness…

Inequality, hereditary wealth, captivity, slavery, wage slavery, authority, coercion, oppression, competition, tribalism, voting (winners and losers), dependencies, conflict, war, disempowerment, entitlements, transgressions, power over, punishment, cruelty, anti-social behaviour, behaviourism, hatred, atomisation, hierarchies, chaos and disorder, boredom, bad housing.

What do you make of the idea of universal wellness? Does it have any meaning or currency for you? Could it be a useful framework in which to expand the notion of collective wellness, in which you can play your own part?