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Marvin Thomas

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Personal Village, How to Have People in Your Life by Choice, Not Chance Paperback – September 1, 2003

by Marvin Thomas (Author)

13

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Your most valuable asset is the people in your life. Does this sound familiar? You are so busy you don't have time for your friends. You get sick and no one shows up to help or express concern. You want someone in your life who really cares and knows who you are. You experience quick encounters as exciting, but at the end of the day you are still lonely. From your family to members of your congregation, to the people who deliver your mail or serve your coffee each morning, every person you know, every person you see is a part of your Personal Village. With this insightful, funny and approachable book as your guide, you can master the skills of getting closer with the people around you, of having people in your life ''by choice, not by chance.'' ''Too much is written about how to make money …too little is written about how to strengthen our personal communities,'' according to respected relationship therapist, Marv Thomas. To combat the many dehumanizing effects of 21st century life, he has created the everyman's guide to enriching our lives by establishing deeper connections with the people around us. In this groundbreaking book, PERSONAL VILLAGE, HOW TO HAVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE BY CHOICEE, NOT CHANCE, Thomas explains how to add real value to your life by forming deeper, more meaningful relationships with the people in your life that matter most.

Print length

257 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hara Publising Group
Publication date

September 1, 2003
Dimensions

6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1887542086
ISBN-13

978-1887542081
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marv Thomas's roots run deep in the strong farm family values of hard work and mutual support that were the backbone of his upbringing in the Pacific Northwest. Originally trained as an auto mechanic he started his early career building racing cars, became a skilled metal worker and eventually worked as a carpenter. At college he received a degree in Engineering after which he worked in the aerospace industry as a part of the team that sent the men to the moon. In 1966 Thomas earned a degree in Social Work and began practicing as a psychotherapist, group leader, organizational consultant, educator and personal growth trainer. In his nearly four decades in practice, Thomas noticed that many of the people who came to him probably would not need therapy if they had been connected with a strong personal circle of supportive people. It was this revelation that led him to focus his attention on the challenges of helping people create personal communities as a means of leading a more productive and fulfilling life. In addition to his commitment to psychological research and practice, Thomas has studied history, sociology, religion, philosophy, social psychology, and urban design. By l980 he had coalesced all these interests into the development of a practical working model for community. Since that time he has been at the forefront of community and communal studies, writing about, lecturing and presenting workshops on the enhancement of what he calls the Personal Village. Marv is well known as a teacher, lecturer, psychotherapist and group dynamics trainer. He can be serious, funny, engaging and is ever committed to leading his students to a deep understanding of how to be fully alive. Marv lives in Seattle with his wife of 43 years and has two grown sons.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hara Publising Group; First Edition (September 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1887542086
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1887542081
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,301,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,737 in Interpersonal Relations (Books)

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Marvin Thomas

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Marv Thomas's roots run deep in the strong farm family values of hard work and mutual support that were the backbone of his upbringing in the Pacific Northwest. He began his career in the early 60s as an engineer and worked in the aerospace industry as part of a team that helped send men to the moon. Eventually, Marv found his true calling and earned a degree in social work. He has been a practicing psychotherapist, group leader, educator, and personal growth trainer for over 40 years. Personal Village is his first book and based on his belief that community is at the core of what it is to be human. Marv lives in Seattle with his wife of over 50 years. He has two grown sons. Marv's website is www.marvthomas.com.

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C.Johnson-Boyd

Fresh Start

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is the 3rd copy. Wore the first one out. The second one was accidentally packed and put in storage. It has served me well in forming my Personal Village in a new state.

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Geri S. Hoekzema

Won't You Be My Neighbor?: Ways to build community and initiate friendships right where you are

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

I finally ordered a copy for myself after checking it out numerous times from the library (it's since been weeded from the collection). Marvin Thomas presents a common-sense approach to getting to know your community and building friendships. I found several ideas to be the most interesting and/or helpful: 1. Simply roaming around your neighborhood is the best way to start getting to know your neighbors (as an avid walker, I can verify that!), 2. Show up someplace seven times and you'll become a part of that scene, and 3. Explore what he calls fellowships (groups of kindred spirits dedicated to some activity or purpose) conscientiously, whether you're looking for your perfect book club, neighborhood committee or soccer team. I'd recommend the book to anyone who wants to build a stronger sense of community in her life, and especially to readers who are newcomers to their areas.

2 people found this helpful

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Just An Ordinary Gal

The Skinny on Schmoozing

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2006

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Most books about networking, dating, and making friends start at the point of contact: They assume that the user knows where to go to make friends. Thomas starts with the basics, from roaming your neighborhood to meet folks to the handy rule of thumb that it takes 7 visits to a new group for others to feel that you're one of the crowd.

I teach interpersonal communication, and this book has the best pointers I've yet read on how and how much to personally disclose to a new acquaintance, as one tests the waters and works toward building stronger ties and friendship.

Thomas avoids jargon and writes fluently in a down-to-earth, easy to read style. The book is well-organized. The chapter summaries and resources are a plus. Marvin Thomas has performed a much-needed service in offering this book to as a how-to manual for meeting and making friends in our fragmented society.

15 people found this helpful

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Dr. John Laughlin

OUr biggest social problem

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2009

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Here is an easy ro read well thought out book on the biggest social issue facing us today-- personal isolation, which breeds fear, suspicion and alienation. This is not a socialogical study but a nuts and bolts book about the problem and workable, inaginative solutions. There is a good annotated bibliography at the end of each chapter that adds to the book's value. Easy and to the point prose offers suggestions to put into practice today. Isolalation left to spread within your life or society is another form of anniliation.

John, author of Reading Thomas Merton.

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Teacher Ann

Help for the Socially Challenged!

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2012

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This is a wonderfully practical book to help with the recurring problem of having a network of friends. As poeple move or their lives otherwise change, keeping a support network is an ongoing problem. The people who find this easy to do don't need this book. For those of us who are shy & somewhat isolated, this book is wonderful. Explicit steps that make sense. He starts with the easiest ones. Practicing his methods helped my life a lot.

One person found this helpful

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J. Klein

Makes me realize how fortunate I am

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2007

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This is an excellent book. It woke me up to the importance of having people in your life. I am not a particularly outgoing person by nature, but after having read the book, I realized I already had a group of people around me that I can call my "personal village". The book made me realize how lucky I am to have these people in my life and to try harder to maintain these friendships, but also to be open to making connections with new people.

3 people found this helpful

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JW

Wonderful!

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2017

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One of my favorite books - socially and emotionally/self help.

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