Two men, in the corner of a gym, with a calculus book. It’s not a big thing, but it’s a deeply effective thing. One many is trying to learn and the other is helping him… one an employee at the business, the other a client. And this was not a one-time event: these two huddle together over the calculus book almost daily.

These are the kinds of interactions – the kinds of relationships – that transcend all the artificial divisions of the world. Humans don’t do well as atomized individuals, but neither do they thrive in enforced groupings. These two men are creating something better than those choices: they are creating voluntary society… chosen and unforced relationships. And those are far healthier than the others.

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And so, before going back to the mundane… the world of atomized individuals and enforced groups… please consider the unforced, voluntary relationships in your life. See if being unforced makes you feel differently about them.