Fiction

It is a bit too early for a midsummer night party, but on the weekend the weather forecast predicts thunderstorms. On Friday evening, we will celebrate midsummer night with a hike through Königswald and a picnic, including swimming, at Sacrower Lake. We’ll meet at the Wannsee ferry terminal (near Wannsee S-Bahn station) at 17:55 and take the ferry to Alt-Kladow at 6 pm. The ferry ride is covered by a standard BVG ticket (Zone B). (The next ferry leaves an hour later, so please allow about 5 minutes to walk from the S-Bahn station to the terminal.) From Alt-Kladow, we’ll follow freely this Komoot route: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1585149981 . I aim at a hike duration of 2 1/2 hours. After 12 km, we want to arrive at Sacrower Lake. Bring swimwear, food and drinks and, if you like, champagne to celebrate the best time of the year. At around 22:30 we leave the lake and head for the bus station in Alt-Kladow. For communication during the hike, I will send a Signal group link to all participants via private message a couple of hours before the hike. This timing is intended to prevent non-participants from misusing the link for unwanted advertising, which has happened in the past. Signal allows us to share our locations during the hike without involuntarily forwarding this information to the intelligence services of authoritarian or non-authoritarian states, but unfortunately the location sharing function does not include tracking, i.e. no continuous updates. For all other purposes, especially socialising and posting photos, please use the Telegram subgroup 'Event Chat & Photos': https://t.me/addlist/KAOk2PA4BDE0ZTY8 . The hike will take place if at least 6 people sign up. As long as there are more than 6 people, you can sign up and cancel as many times as you like. If there are 6 or less people, please avoid cancelling, as this might make the other participants feel insecure about whether the hike will take place (or whether there is something wrong with the hike and they should cancel as well --> Matthew effect - Wikipedia). If there are less than 6 participants, the hike will also take place unless the majority of the participants are in favor of canceling the hike.

We are going to be seated together at **the big table on the 1st floor** of the cafe. As always, we will do **two sessions of each 45 minutes** of writing with **one break of 15 minutes** in-between. We are making reservation and counting on you to show up, so please register only when you are going to be there, don't forget to update your RSVP if you can't come. Unfortunately cafes in Berlin are getting less and less laptop-friendly, please don't forget to order your drink or snack to support the cafe which will have us. If you are new to the meetup, don't worry, just come and say hi to the organizer. We also have many long-term regulars who will be happy to help you out and feel welcomed. We also have a **Telegram chat**: https://t.me/joinchat/ERW3pxD5kfELGeWs9SUhjw For more information, visit: https://shutupwrite.com Looking forward to see you! 😊

Come join us for a gentle yet powerful Seitai group practice — a space where silence, breath, and spontaneous movement meet. This is a donation-based event, so you’re free to contribute what feels right (from 0€ to (your choice)€). ✨ What is Seitai? Seitai (整体) is a Japanese practice that helps you reconnect with your body’s innate intelligence. Through subtle awareness and guided techniques, you’ll be invited to: Listen deeply to your body through Yuki (a meditative, hands-on practice of sensing and following the breath). Release hidden tension with Katsugen — allowing involuntary, spontaneous movements to arise naturally. Find balance in stillness and movement, letting your body recalibrate itself in surprising ways. Seitai is not about control or forcing; it’s about giving voice to the movements your body has been waiting to express. Sometimes this brings ease, clarity, and lightness. Sometimes it stirs up dizziness, discomfort, or emotions. Every experience is valid — and you are always free to pause or leave at any time. 🌌 Why join? Discover a practice that many find deeply transformative. Create space for release, renewal, and vitality. Explore in community, whether you’re a curious first-timer or already familiar with Seitai. 👕 Practical details Wear comfortable clothes and bring a towel and water to stay hydrated. Bring openness and curiosity. Watchers are welcome — you can simply observe, or dive into active practice. The session is guided, but the real teacher is your own body. ✨ Learn more: 🎥 Watch a short video: https://youtu.be/KF7agFE1zss?si=6UhmjwaIAfBo-_Op 📖 Read more about Seitai: https://seitaibarcelona.com/what-is-seitai/ Everyone is welcome, whether you are completely new or already familiar with Seitai. Bring comfortable clothes and an open mind. 💰 This event is donation-based, supporting the space and allowing us to keep offering it. Private one-to-one sessions are also available at an affordable price. 🌿 Step into silence, breath, and spontaneous movement — your body knows the way. PangeaHaus, Trautenaustraße 5, 10717 Berlin, Berlin, 2nd Floor, first room. https://maps.app.goo.gl/DUA4DqR7DEP5XhEy7 https://www.eventbrite.de/e/seitai-free-group-session-tickets-1982614595626? Pangea Haus e.V. 2nd floor Trautenaustraße 5, 10717 Berlin Concept and rules: https://www.systemik-im-dialog.de/ Deutsch Komm zu unserer sanften und doch kraftvollen Seitai-Gruppenpraxis – ein Raum, in dem Stille, Atem und spontane Bewegung aufeinandertreffen. Dies ist eine Veranstaltung auf Spendenbasis, du kannst also frei beisteuern, was sich für dich richtig anfühlt (von 0€ bis (deine Wahl)€). ✨ Was ist Seitai? Seitai (整体) ist eine japanische Praxis, die dir hilft, dich wieder mit der angeborenen Intelligenz deines Körpers zu verbinden. Durch subtile Achtsamkeit und angeleitete Techniken bist du eingeladen: \*Tief auf deinen Körper zu hören durch Yuki (eine meditative, praktische Übung des Erspürens und Folgens des Atems). * Verborgene Spannungen mit Katsugen zu lösen – indem du unwillkürlichen, spontanen Bewegungen erlaubst, ganz natürlich zu entstehen. \*Balance in Stille und Bewegung zu finden, während sich dein Körper auf überraschende Weise selbst neu ausrichtet. Bei Seitai geht es nicht um Kontrolle oder Zwang; es geht darum, den Bewegungen eine Stimme zu geben, auf deren Ausdruck dein Körper gewartet hat. Manchmal bringt dies Leichtigkeit, Klarheit und Entspannung. Manchmal wirbelt es Schwindel, Unbehagen oder Emotionen auf. Jede Erfahrung ist gültig – und es steht dir jederzeit frei, eine Pause zu machen oder zu gehen. 🌌 Warum teilnehmen? * Entdecke eine Praxis, die viele als tief transformierend empfinden. \*Schaffe Raum für Loslassen, Erneuerung und Vitalität. * Erkunde die Praxis in der Gemeinschaft, egal ob du neugieriger Anfänger bist oder bereits Erfahrung mit Seitai hast. 👕 Praktische Details \*Trage bequeme Kleidung und bringe ein Handtuch sowie Wasser mit, um hydriert zu bleiben. * Bringe Offenheit und Neugier mit. \*Zuschauer sind willkommen – du kannst einfach nur beobachten oder direkt in die aktive Praxis eintauchen. * Die Sitzung wird angeleitet, aber der wahre Lehrer ist dein eigener Körper. ✨ Mehr erfahren: 🎥 Schau dir ein kurzes Video an: https://youtu.be/KF7agFE1zss?si=6UhmjwaIAfBo-_Op In diesem Video [00:16] wird Seitai als eine japanische Kulturform beschrieben, die den Organismus wieder in Ordnung bringt („Seitai“ bedeutet „Körper in Ordnung“). Es basiert auf der Beobachtung der natürlichen Lebensenergie und nutzt Bewegungen wie Katsugen Undo [00:32], um die Vitalität zu fördern. 📖 Lies mehr über Seitai: https://seitaibarcelona.com/what-is-seitai/ Jeder ist willkommen, egal ob du völlig neu bist oder Seitai bereits kennst. Bringe bequeme Kleidung und einen offenen Geist mit. 💰 Diese Veranstaltung basiert auf Spenden, um den Raum zu unterstützen und es uns zu ermöglichen, dieses Angebot weiterhin aufrechtzuerhalten. Private Einzelsitzungen sind ebenfalls zu einem erschwinglichen Preis verfügbar. 🌿 Tritt ein in die Stille, den Atem und die spontane Bewegung – dein Körper kennt den Weg. PangeaHaus, Trautenaustraße 5, 10717 Berlin, 2. Etage, erster Raum. Anfahrt via Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DUA4DqR7DEP5XhEy7 https://www.eventbrite.de/e/seitai-free-group-session-tickets-1982614595626? Pangea Haus e.V. Zweite Etage Trautenaustraße 5, 10717 Berlin Konzept und Regelungen: https://www.systemik-im-dialog.de/

Shut-Up & Write Zehlendorf meets Fridays, except during school holidays, following the standard format of 15 minutes to say hello, followed by two 45 minute writing sessions and a break in between. The location is a cozy coworking space, which means it's quite peaceful, with no music playing or customers chatting around us. Coffee and tea are available in the kitchen, so there's no pressure to purchase anything (though donations are welcome!). So come and join us for some quiet work in a quiet space. When you arrive, if the door is closed, just text or ring The Space Coworking: 0178 869 0222.

A night of drawing, painting or board gaming. Come to create, play a game and network! Bring your own art supplies everyone is working on their own creations. Board games will be availiable but we advice attendees to bring small new board games for variety. This is a **free event**, but we recommend ordering at least something from the bar for allowing us to host this event (a coffee costs 2.5 Euros). Please read the comment section for more updates!

## *A space where creativity flows and every sip inspires.* ‍ Start Your Weekend afternoon with a glass of wine in hand and let Your creativity come to life in a friendly, laid-back setting made for painting and having a good time. Whether You know it as Drink & Draw, Sip & Paint, or Wine & Paint, this experience brings together the best of art, people & good energy — all in one place. With easy and encouraging guidance from our Creative Teachers, You’ll paint Your own canvas while enjoying a relaxed atmosphere. ‍ Our Wine & Paint Sessions are great whether You're just starting out or have painted before - no pressure, just fun. ‍ ##### **WHEN:** Every Thursday: "Wine & Paint - After-work Edition" - for the early weekend fun * 7.30 - 9 pm Every Friday: "Date & Paint Edition" - for singles &/ couples to get to know new friends * 4 - 5:30 pm Every Saturday: "Wine & Paint - Pre-Drinking Edition" - start Your Saturday right * 4 - 5:30 pm Every Sunday: "Wine & Paint - Chill Vibes Edition" - for Smooth Sundays * 4 - 5:30 pm ‍Whether You're planning a date, looking to unwind solo, or meeting up with friends, this is Your moment to enjoy the process, get creative, and take home something You made Yourself. ‍ > *Join us for a relaxed evening of wine and painting — each week brings something new to create, cheers to, and enjoy.* ‍ ##### **INCLUDES:** **‍**All Materials (canvas, acrylic paints, oil pastels, brushes & more) + 2 glasses of wine / cocktail (2 × 200 ml) or 2 Soft Drinks & Water LEVEL: All levels COSTS: €28 General \| €5 for DNA\. Members ‍ ##### **SIGN UP & TICKETS:** **‍**No registration needed. Simply come by & get Your ticket at the box office before the class. ‍ See You Soon :) Love. DNA. ‍ *** \*Members of Dair Night Art e.V. and Subscribers of DNA. Art GbR. \*\*By entering the DNA. ART HOUSE, You agree to comply with the Hausordnung of Dair Night Art e.V. and Geschäftsordnung of Dair Night Art e.V. Please ensure You review these documents thoroughly in advance.

## A space where creativity flows and inspiration comes to life. Start Your weekend afternoon in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere made for painting, connecting & enjoying the moment. Whether You know it as Drink & Draw, Sip & Paint, or Wine & Paint, this experience brings together the best of art, people & good energy — all in one place. With easy and encouraging guidance from our Creative Teachers, You’ll create Your own artwork using acrylic paints and oil pastels, while enjoying a calm & inspiring environment. ‍ Our Painting Sessions are perfect whether You’re just starting out or already have experience — no pressure, just creativity and fun. ‍ ##### WHEN: Every Friday: "Date & Paint Edition" – for singles & couples to connect and meet new people 4 – 5:30 pm Every Saturday: "Creative Flow Edition" – start Your Saturday with art and inspiration 4 – 5:30 pm Every Sunday: "Chill Vibes Edition" – slow, mindful painting for a smooth Sunday 4 – 5:30 pm > Whether You’re planning a date, taking time for Yourself, or meeting friends, this is Your moment to relax, express Yourself &take home something You created. ‍ ##### INCLUDES: All materials (canvas, acrylic paints, oil pastels, brushes & more) ##### SIGN UP & TICKETS: No registration needed. Simply come by & get Your ticket at the box office before the session. LEVEL: All levels WHAT YOU NEED: All materials provided (canvas, acrylic paints, oil pastels, brushes & more) COSTS: €20 General (Tickets at the Box Office) \- Free FOR DNA\. MEMBERS ‍ See You soon :) Love. DNA

An afternoon bookclub, organized by our member Patrick Rutledge. We will meet either in the café or the beer garden of this cultural center and talk about what we are currently reading :) and, if we've time, chat in general about books. Please also feel free to read a sample from you book if you wish. Usually we read both fiction and non-fiction (history, philosophy, sociology, and other topics). Bring your Kindle, your tablet, or your paper books. The discussion will be in English, but of course feel free to bring books in any language.

Welcome to **I WRITE**, a gentle space for anyone who wants to write—quietly, freely, and without judgement. We are a Berlin community of writers who gather together weekly to write, talk and recharge after a long week. Some of us journal, some write novels, some do academic writing, many people come without a project in mind and see where the inspiration flow takes them. This is a space to simply show up and write, a safe place to be yourself and to release all your layers onto the paper. There’s no set topic, no feedback circle, and no pressure. Just warm people, a calm atmosphere, and time dedicated to yourself. 🗓️ **Agenda:** * 14:30 - 15:00 **→** 30 min arriving, optional socialising (arrive early, meet other writers) * 15:00 - 16:00 **→** 1 hour of silent writing (headphones welcome, focus encouraged) * 16:00–16:30 **→** 30 mins break + optional chat or solo time (stay and chat or go celebrate the rest of your Saturday) * 16:30–17:30 → 1 more hour of silent writing (for those staying) * 17:30–18:00 → 30 mins of chat, and leaving 🎒 **Bring:** * Something to write with (laptop, notebook, phone, typewriter… anything goes) * Something to drink (there is no cafeteria, unfortunately) * Your current project or a blank page * Yourself, exactly as you are **👉 Responsibility:** * Our location is limited; thus, I am kindly asking you to RSVP only if you are willing to attend. **📍Location:** * We meet at **Heinrich Schulz Library in Charlottenburg**. In the library, go look for the Gruppenraum; I will be waiting for you there. Any trouble finding the room, I will come to meet you outside. * 🚇 U7 **Richard-Wagner-Platz** * 🚌 M45 Bus **U Richard-Wagner-Platz** **About me:** Hi, my name is Anastasia. I started this writing club back in May 2025. Since then, it has been hosted weekly at the Heinrich Schulz Library (who is kind enough to allow us to use this room for free). Over this time, I’ve been privileged to meet some of the most creative and kind minds in Berlin. And I would be happy if you joined us. Whether you're an experienced writer or just at the beginning of your journey, you're welcome. If you know how to hold a pen or how to type, there will always be a space for you. Let's write together!

RSVP on Luma: [https://luma.com/oz1a88ms](https://luma.com/oz1a88ms) Silent Reading / Creating Club is a gathering for people who enjoy focusing together in public. Bring a book, a notebook, a sketchpad, knitting needles, whatever you’d like to spend a quiet hour doing. All projects and all participants are welcome. We’re building a community of readers and creators who value depth, presence, and shared silence. The reading and creating isn't the real highlight, though, it’s in the people who return and make it feel like a familiar room. (Please RSVP “yes” only if you can make it, so we can save a seat for you and others on the waitlist.) Our Meeting Point is the **W66 Café**. There’s no entrance fee, but please order at least one item from the café and don’t bring outside food or drinks 🙂 No assignments, expectations, or pressure. Just a shared hour of intentional silence, followed by the opportunity for good conversation. 🕰 Our Agenda **10:30 – 11:00** Arrivals, ordering drinks/food, light social time **11:00 – 12:00** The Great Quiet Hour (Read. Write. Sketch. Code. Think. Sit.) **12:00 – 12:30** Optional socializing: share what you were reading or creating, or simply continue in quiet focus. ## 🏡 House Guidelines To keep this space calm and welcoming for everyone: • Silence during the focus hour (no calls or conversations) • Put cellphones on silent mode • If using technology, please avoid meetings or audio (headphones please!) • Arrive before 11:00 if possible to minimize disruptions

**Please sign up only when you can join the event!!!** Hey all, Let's go to the Schlachteesee for our first excursion together! The weather should be great 🌞🌳🚣🏽‍♀️🦢 Meeting point&time: S-Brandenburger Tor at 10:30am, take the S1 at 10:47am, arrive at 11:20am in Schlachtensee. I will probably go by bike and meet you at Schlachtensee at around 11:20am. Anyone who wants to cycle together, please contact me. You can also start from somewhere else and meet us at the lake. Agenda: 10:30-11:30am Get together in Berlin and train ride to the lake. 11:30-12:30pm Take a nice walk around the lake and find a spot to sit 12:30-1:30pm Reading together 1:30-3:30pm books talking, picnic We aim to take the S1 back to Berlin at around 4pm. Of course you can leave anytime before that. Hope we will all have fun!

📚 **Short Story Sunday** 📍 **Location:** Iska Café 📅 **Timing:** Every second Sunday 🕰 **Time:** 11:00 – 13:00 **Selected story: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (\~15 pages)** 1st Link: https://americanliterature.com/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/short-story/the-yellow-wallpaper 2nd Link (PDF backup): https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf 3rd Link (PDF backup): https://archive.org/details/yellowwallpaper1901gilm/page/n11/mode/2up **A Slow Sunday Morning with Stories** The **Sunday 15 Pages Short Story Book Club** is a gentle way to begin the day — a cozy literary gathering for people who enjoy slowing down, listening to stories, and sharing thoughtful conversation. Instead of reading alone at home, we experience literature together. Each meeting invites us to step out of the Berlin’s rush into a calm space of imagination, reflection, and human connection through short fiction. **How the Morning Flows (Approx. 2 Hours)** **11:00 – 11:30 \| Arrival & Settling In** Gather at the café, order something you enjoy, and ease into the morning. **11:30 – 12:15 \| Collective Reading** We read a carefully selected short story together. **12:15 – 13:00 \| Discussion & Reflection** An open and informal conversation about impressions, emotions, interpretations, and ideas ✨Feel free to join only for the discussion part if you feel like reading on your own ✨ **What to Expect** Short stories are selected by the hosts and announced online before each meeting. No preparation is required — simply arrive and immerse yourself in literature and conversation. **What to Bring With You** • Your own copy of a story • Curiosity and openness • A willingness to listen and share perspectives • Optional: a notebook if you enjoy jotting down thoughts • Your appetite for coffee, cake, and good stories **📍Location:** * We meet at the Iska Cafe at Kalckreuthstraße 7, 10777 Berlin. There is no pin at the google maps yet, so please just come directly to the location and find us at the right door at Erdgeschoss. * 🚇 **U1\, U2 Wittenbergplatz \|\| U1\, U2\, U3\, U4 Nollendorfplatz** * 🚌 **106\, 187\, M19\, M29 An Der Urania \|\| M46 Motzstraße**

The one nice new feature that lockdown gave us -- picnic swap! Bring books to swap, a blanket to sit on, and beverages of your choice! Let's enjoy the brief Berlin Summer at beautiful Monbijou park on the Spree. WEATHER DEPENDENT - if it rains we will reschedule so keep an eye out. **_And here's our usual description -_** The "classic" bookswap is simple - we meet in a café, you bring the book(s) you want to share, put them on the table, leaf through and discuss the books that others brought and, at the end of the evening, take a new-to-you-book home! Books/happiness shared are books/happiness multiplied! 
This is a great way to give books a new home and make room for new books: that book you feel guilty for not having read even though it's been sitting on your bedside table for the last 5 years, the book you liked but didn't love, the book you loved so much you want everyone to read it, the book you somehow own three copies of, that book you absolutely hated even though everyone else loves it, etc., etc., etc....
And chances are high you'll go home with an alluring stranger you never would have thought of reading before (OR that book you've been lusting after for years but never enough to actually buy!). 
**GROUP EXPECTATIONS for PLEASANT SWAPPING** 
• Please bring a book!
Some people bring more than one, and the organizers usually have a handful, but if everybody ends up not bringing a book, we have nothing to swap, except stories. But we won't chase you away if you're empty handed. 
• Books stay on the table, open for sharing, until you are ready to leave so everyone can have a fair look 
See a book you like? Please put your name down as a candidate to take it home (we provide sticky notes!), and wait to see if anybody else is interested before snapping it up, as in, please wait until you are leaving. One of the key aspects of the swap is getting exposed to books outside of our library bubble, so it's important to keep the books as open to sharing as possible.
If two or more people want the only copy of a book, talk it over. Maybe you can swap contact info to share the book one after the other. Or maybe it turns out one of you isn't that interested, or has found another book instead. Or one of you REALLY wants to read it. The best part: now you have found somebody whose taste you can really admire. 
We consider it poor form to walk away with a book with several names on it without letting the others know. 
Also, don't be shy! Don't shy away from a book because there's already a name on it, and feel free to put your name on as many books as you want. We're more generous than just bring-one-take-one. 
• Book Swap is 10 times better than a Book Club because you can talk about ALL the books instead of just one!
Half the fun of Book Swap is swapping recommendations for reads that aren't even on the table. The other half is meeting other great readers. Another half is taking home that new book! 
• NO POLITICS. (please.)
Unless you're talking about a book.
It's Friday night. Let's leave current events at the office for once, please.
Please respect this space as first and foremost a community for connecting readers over their love of books and reading, stories, and narratives of all sorts. Please be respectful of tastes and opinions.
If something is bothering you, please reach out to the organisers, and we'll do our best to solve it. 
• Don't expect your book back: if you love it, let it go
In spirit, this is an opportunity to share=lend books among peers. In practice, this is more of a book-giveaway. It is NEVER guaranteed you will get your book back, even with your name and email inside the book with a "Please Return." If you're really serious, it's best to get the borrower's contact info and prod them for it. Note: our staunch "Regulars" are significantly more likely to come back with the book if you ask them (and you have to come back too!). On the other hand, some books keep coming back like bad pennies.

• Major LANGUAGES (and genres) of this meetup
English, German, French, Spanish; Fiction, Non-Fiction, Serious Reading, Light Fun, Everything! 
On average I think it's 60% English, 40% German, and 10% French/Spanish; usually 80% fiction, but the mix is different every time. One of the best compliments the group has received is the consistently high quality of reading material on the table. We have "classics," we have celebrity book club books, Krimis, Booker winners, and everything in between. You never know who can read what languages, and there's no accounting for taste. 
We are a delightful and international group of readers.
We look forward to swapping with you!

Welcome to Drunken Philosophy, a casual, curious, social discussion club. Come grab a drink and a seat at The Oracle. **Optional topic for this meetup: Where is everybody?** In 1950 the physicist Enrico Fermi was talking about aliens over lunch and asked a question that still has not gone away: if the universe is so vast and so old, and even a fraction of those billions of stars have planets, where is everyone? By the numbers the galaxy should be crowded with civilizations. Instead we look up and hear silence. That gap between "they should be everywhere" and "we see no one" is the Fermi Paradox. One of the most unsettling answers is the idea of a **Great Filter**: somewhere on the road from dead chemistry to a galaxy-spanning civilization, there is at least one step that is almost impossible to get past. Maybe the filter is behind us. Maybe life starting at all, or simple cells becoming complex, or intelligence ever evolving, is the freak accident, and we already cleared the hard part. Or maybe the filter is ahead of us, and advanced civilizations reliably wipe themselves out before they spread. Here is the part that messes with people. If we ever found life somewhere else, even pond scum on Mars, most people would call it the greatest discovery in history. But it might be the worst possible news. It would mean life is common, the early steps are easy, and the hard step is still in front of us. So the eerie silence overhead might actually be the best sign we could ask for. **Questions to wrestle with:** * Is it better to be alone? Would you rather we find alien life and learn we are not special, or find nothing and quietly improve our odds of surviving? * Where do you bet the filter sits, behind us or ahead of us, and why? * If it is ahead of us, what is it? Nuclear war, climate collapse, AI, something we cannot even picture yet? And can we do anything about a filter we cannot see coming? * Two principles pull opposite ways here. The principle of mediocrity (the Copernican principle, Sagan's "no privileged place in the universe") says we are ordinary, so what happened on Earth probably happened everywhere, which makes the silence scream louder. The anthropic principle says of course we find ourselves somewhere life was possible, since we could not observe anything else, so our being here may say almost nothing about how common life is. Which lens do you trust, and does the silence still demand an answer once you account for observer selection? * And if we did confirm life out there and had to accept we are not special, what would that do to belief in a higher power, and would shedding (or keeping) that belief help or hurt our odds of pulling together as one species? * Does any of this change how you live, or how humanity should be spending its time and money right now? As always the prompt is optional. Come for the conversation, stay for the drinks, and bring your own questions.

Attend a free seminar on how to have successful and lasting relationships. At this seminar you will learn: How to spot and handle negative and toxic relationships. How to get through the "rough patches" in a relationship. How to choose the right people to work with. The three things that make or break any relationship. How to make a good relationship great. All are welcome. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. Hosted by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

Welcome, readers! Our June read is ***Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible*** ***Voyage*** **by Alfred Lansing.** A work of nonfiction, and one of the most astonishing survival stories in history, we follow Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after their ship is crushed by Antarctic ice. Stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth, the men endure months of isolation, freezing temperatures, and near starvation—yet refuse to give up hope. Lansing brings their ordeal to life through vivid detail and firsthand accounts, capturing both the brutality of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. At its core, the story is a powerful testament to leadership, perseverance, and the unbreakable will to survive against impossible odds. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **all** **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

This is a free, in-person meeting on the subject of betrayals, losses and how to get over them so you can build lasting relationships. Burdened by a stressful relationship? Unhealthy relationships can trigger feelings of anger, despair or self-doubt. They can create dwindling spirals of fights and seeking to make-up, or trying to “pin the blame” on someone or something. If you don’t find the RIGHT reasons, or select the correct sources of the problem, the problem can just get worse and worse. Whether in love or personal ties, with friends or at work, our life really IS affected by the quality of our relationships. Good ones can promote pleasure and survival while less optimum ones can lead to annoyance, anger, self-doubt, stress, or even affect our health and ability to survive well. Whether you are suffering from a divorce, or a painful break-up, don’t know who to trust (or who to CHOOSE) as a partner, friend, boss or employee - the anxiety of relationship troubles can really make a mess of things. Maybe you’ve suffered a betrayal, or are dealing with hostility or criticalness or invalidation. Dwindling relationships can involve destructive behavior, where we hurt those we love, or start succumbing to self-destructive thoughts, attitudes or behaviors that spiral out of control and affect much more than our immediate relationship. Past losses in love or life can affect how we act or react to new people and situations and hold us back from even starting to create new, possibly great relationships! How can one get back onto a saner course of action? Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life: human relationships! Break free from self imposed limitations Here we will discuss: • How to “erase” the trauma of past hurts and betrayals so that one isn’t always repeating past mistakes. • Why and how do the negative emotions of others affect you? • Why is my partner withdrawing and what can I do about it? • Why do we sometimes feel compelled to hurt the ones we love? • Fights & arguments - what's really behind them? • What underlies “corrosive criticism” or the need to invalidate self or others? • How one can stably change one’s outlook on life so they can affect positive change? • Where do compulsive destructive behaviors come from and what can be done about them? • How to form closer bonds & keep growing the relationships with the people you care about? • How to enhance one’s own ability to survive and create positive healthy relationships whether in love, family & friendships or in work, business or one’s career? Relationships can be hard and life itself IS challenging. Why not arm yourself with the knowledge and breakthroughs that have been made about the mind, mental reactions & interpersonal relationships, so that one has better awareness and control over themselves and life in general. Learn where painful experiences are “stored” and how they can unknowingly affect us. You will also find out how one can “erase” those past painful experiences so that one is free to move forward without being tripped up by the past. Learn too, about what can lead some people to become “toxic” personalities and how to identify those traits in others so you won’t be tripped up trusting the wrong person. Our free Meet-ups occur in a safe environment where one can learn, without fear of judgment or criticism, and without the recommendation of harmful mental techniques or therapies, just how YOU can get yourself onto a happier & more successful path: in love & in life. We look forward to having you join us! This class is sponsored by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

This month we’ll be reading Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel. Feel free to come even if you don’t finish the book!