The John Byrne Award: “Values and anxiety”

The aim of the John Byrne award is to really get people talking about values, so that they can come to a greater understanding of what meaningful means for them; what a meaningful life means to them and, therefore, hopefully lead a meaningful life.

Mary values equality. She values her own ability to construct her own image, her public image, and to have control over that. And she values her independence, in being who she wants to be. You could say that society is infringing on her ability to express her values.

Values represent our guiding principles: our broadest motivations, influencing the attitudes we hold and how we act.

We live in a society today where we're bombarded by lots of messages, from all over the place. If their engaging us in thinking about things that maybe we don't value, then that's going to create tension. And maybe it's not healthy tension, but there's going to be a torque there pulling us - and, that could be one way that anxiety comes into our lives.