Reflection Sunday 22nd December 2024

Sunday School no: 168

Meet and Greet with Anika Singh, a social artist and the founder of VOYCE, as well as the director of DhunAnand. Anika is passionate about using art and creativity to drive social change. With over 15 years of experience, including six years with the World Health Organization (WHO) at both the Regional Office for South-East Asia and the WHO Country Office for India, as well as over four years in Australia, she has a wealth of expertise. At WHO, Anika developed and implemented engaging health promotion campaigns aimed at encouraging positive behavior change. She has also directed more than 30 advocacy productions, including animation videos, musicals, and documentaries. Before WHO, she worked in Australia mainly in the skills development and disability employment services network, assisting disadvantaged communities through employment, support services, community engagement and customised training programmes.

• 
  

  
  

  What does VOYCE do?

• Content for public health and social change to create impact.
• Work with the arts to create positive behaviour change campaigns.
• Films, advocacy videos, animation videos, musicals and ad films.
• Production of publications – including conceptualising, researching, writing, editing, designing, and printing.
• Primary and secondary level research.
• Events and festivals give an extra edge by leveraging the performing and visual arts to create impact. The company specialises in developing both online and offline events.
• Facilitating training on values in action, authentic leadership, 1-Ness consciousness, and behaviour change communication for health promotion, gender equality, and social change messaging.
• Organising staff engagement and team-building activities.
• Conceptualising and implementing campaigns to promote the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically for positive behaviour change related to health

SUMMARY ✨

With guest speaker Anika Singh, discuss oneness, love, and art for social change and reflect on gratitude and human connections.

Key Takeaways

• Oneness involves feeling connected to all living beings and the environment, transcending separateness.
• Art can be a powerful medium for social change, public health messaging, and expressing complex ideas.
• Gratitude emerges from recognising positive experiences caused by others; animals may exhibit gratitude-like behaviour.
• My Good School will evolve to focus on the "Joy Of Giving" in 2025, with upcoming events celebrating poetry, art, and music.

Topics

Anika Singh's Background and Work

Started social work at age 14 and represented India at international conferences.

Worked with WHO and UN agencies for 10+ years on public health campaigns

Founded organisation VOYCE (Vision and Opportunities for Youth and Community Empowerment)

Uses art for public health messaging and social change

Oneness and Love - 1Ness (the way VOYCE says it)

Oneness is feeling connected to all beings and nature, with no separation.

Love emerges naturally from oneness and creates a sense of belonging everywhere.

Contrasted with artificial intelligence - oneness intelligence about higher purpose and connection

Art for Social Change

An art competition was used to explain depression through various mediums (dance, sand art, music videos, etc.).

More impactful than traditional messaging for sensitive topics

Upcoming "Returning to Love" event on Jan 12, 2025, to showcase art on oneness, love, UN SDGs

Inviting submissions of visual art with 300-350 word impact stories

Behaviour Change Approaches

Changing the environment is more effective than targeting individuals

Using "nudges" - subtle environmental cues to inspire positive habits

Consistency in messaging is key

Leveraging platforms like social media, games bookmarks to reach youth

Gratitude in Animals

Difficult to definitively prove, but anecdotes suggest the possibility

Examples: Rescued whale's acrobatic display, crows bringing gifts to girl who fed them

Gratitude is defined as positive emotion from an enjoyable experience caused by others

My Good School Updates

Website upgraded for 2025 at schooleducation.com

Four focus areas: the joy of learning, happy teachers, the joy of giving, youth engaging society

Upcoming New Year's Eve reflection session

Three retreats planned for 2025 (April, November, December)

Next Steps

Submit art entries for the "Returning to Love" event by Dec 30, 2024

Prepare reflections on 2024 My Good School experiences for next Sunday's session

Consider participating in upcoming My Good School retreats and community learning initiatives

Teachers invited to volunteer for the monthly professional learning program at Arthur Foot Academy

Reflections

1. What insights did you gain about the power of art and music as tools for social change? 

2. How can you use creativity to contribute to your community or address social

    issues?

 Inner Life of Animals and the Theme  of Gratitude as presented by Peter Wohlleben:

Reflective Questions

1. Understanding Gratitude:

   • How does Peter Wohlleben describe gratitude in animals? Do you think animals experience gratitude in the same way humans do? Why or why not?

2. Examples of Animal Behavior:

   • Can you recall an example from the chapter where an animal showed gratitude? How did this behaviour reflect the concept of gratitude?

3. Human vs. Animal Emotions:

   • Do you think human emotions, such as gratitude, fundamentally differ from animals? What examples support your view?

4. Personal Reflection:

   • Have you ever experienced a moment when an animal seemed grateful to you? How did that make you feel?

Critical Thinking Questions

5. Interpreting Animal Actions:

   • Some scientists argue that behaviours we interpret as gratitude are simply survival instincts. What is your opinion on this perspective?

6. Role of Environment:

   • How might the environment or upbringing of an animal affect its ability to express emotions like gratitude?

7. Ethics and Empathy:

   • If animals can feel gratitude, what implications does this have for how humans treat them?

Creative Thinking Questions

8. Imagining a Conversation:

   • Imagine you could talk to an animal. What questions would you ask to understand how they perceive emotions like gratitude?

9. Animal Perspective:

   • Write a short story or poem from the perspective of an animal experiencing gratitude. What event triggered this feeling? How do they express it?

10. Cross-Species Relationships:

    • Design a fictional scenario where an animal and a human share a moment of gratitude. How does this moment bridge the gap between species? 

These questions will encourage you to connect the scientific observations in the chapter with your own experiences, fostering critical and empathetic understanding.

Next week -
Chapter 13: The Bathroom Outside from My Name is Cinnamon
Chapter   7:  Lies and Deception from The Inner Life of Animals

These are some suggestions you can choose from. I'm looking forward to seeing your wonderful and thoughtful reflections! 

You can email your reflections to mk@learningforward.org.in or post them as comments below!

The Inner Life Of Animals

Reading for The Retreat 2024

Hi, Iʼm reading this book and wanted to share this quote with you. "Our dog Barry was a little wimp. As I have mentioned, before he came to us, he had already been passed along by a number of different owners. For the rest of his life he was scared of being abandoned, and he always got extremely worked up when he was taken along while we visited friends. If you are a dog, how are you supposed to know whether you’re going to be handed away yet again? He showed his nervousness by panting non-stop, so we finally gave up, leaving the distressed animal alone in the house for a couple of hours instead. When we got back, it was easy to see that Barry was relaxed. He became deaf in his old age and couldn’t hear us arrive, sleeping soundly until he blinked up at us when he felt the wooden floorboards vibrate under our feet. So Barry is an example of an animal that lacks courage, but we want to take a look at the opposite trait, and to do that, let’s step out into the woods." (from "The Inner Life of Animals: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World" by Peter Wohlleben) 

Start reading it for free: https://read.amazon.in/kp/kshare?asin=B01N9YNANU&id=7hayxowfs5a65ereaqlapm6sje 

-------------- 

Read on the go for free - download Kindle for Android, iOS, PC, Mac, and more http://amzn.to/1r0LubW

Behaving Good All The Time - Ankit Raj

Why do we not behave "good" all the time?

Human behaviour isn't always consistently good due to various factors. Firstly, humans are complex, with emotions and experiences that can influence behaviour. 

Mistakes and imperfections are natural to being humans, leading to occasional lapses in good behaviour. External influences, like societal pressures or self-interest, can also sway behaviour away from what is considered good. 

Additionally, a lack of awareness or understanding of consequences may lead to unintentional harm. Despite these challenges, individuals can strive to improve through empathy, self-awareness, and understanding.

Ankit Raj 

Sunbeam School, Lahartara

There are many dimensions to every person - Nishan Karki

Picture Courtesy: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-human-being-exists-in-three-dimensions-and-all-of-them-must-be-in-their-natural_fig1_8893032

"Life has its dimensions in the mysterious." 

-Jesse Jackson

There are many dimensions to every person. People possess their qualities and abilities. These qualities are not singular but numerous. Here, dimensions refer to the inner and outer capacities of a person. 

Everyone has their unique qualities and experiences. Engaging with new things adds to a person's extent. It helps them gain knowledge and learn new things. The more experience a person has, the more dimensions they possess. 

A person's dimensions determine their value. Each individual has their way of doing things and interpreting situations. They all have different perspectives and views. It is about their approach to tasks. 

Some people take the world very seriously, remaining sad and bleak. They do not attempt to emerge from their sorrowful nature. They conceal their thoughts and feelings. They do not endeavour to explore their outer dimensions, instead becoming absorbed in their inner dimensions. Thus, people should strive to think outside the box and not remain confined to their inner thoughts.

On the other hand, there are people of an open and joyous nature. They share almost all moments and experiences with others. They consistently think outside the box, learning and experiencing new things. Others enjoy the company of such individuals.

However, there are exceptional people as well. For instance, some remain quiet but think outside the box. And explore their outer dimensions and potential. In contrast, some people are very talkative and joyful by nature. Yet, they do not think outside the box and explore their outer dimensions and potential. 

In concluding these observations, we understand that a person's definition is not solely shaped by their external nature and behaviour. It also encompasses their inner nature, thinking process, and communication skills. Each approaches things differently. Hence, every person has various dimensions that make them unique. 

Nishan Karki

Pestalozzi Children's Village, India.

What is peer pressure, and how can we deal with it? - Shambhavi Nautiyal

Reading Chapter 43, Sunday the 26th of March 2023

Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence of our peers which tells us that we need to act in a certain way like the people surrounding us. It is often observed in teenage but continues as an existing matter throughout our lives regardless of age. It is a trap which makes people victims of many addicting and harmful practices. It could be wrong personality traits such as people pleasing and sometimes ruinous activities like smoking and drugs. 

It starts with compellingly curious intentions of just wanting to fit in, make friends and enjoy company, but later on, it becomes a habit. For instance, something often seen in the present youth is the following of the perpetually changing Instagram trends by young school-going teenagers to feel accepted and admired. 

We see kids going out of their way to follow social media trends and become famous because of peer pressure and the fact that this is seen as the definition of likeable and "cool". In school, too, we see popular girls and students liked by most of our peers or teachers, and we try to become like them. We observe that because of some of their habits, many people appreciate and admire them. To gain that popularity, we try to procure their idolized external features, skills or behaviours. In light of this fact, in this process, we lose ourselves. We lose our own identities. 

We never learn to love ourselves since we are compared to others by ourselves or our parents to our peers. We become even lonelier because of masking ourselves and never focusing on nurturing ourselves. We are left with no friends of our own, not even ourselves. Even when we stop trying to be like others, we still take that habit of people pleasing with us, in which we let people cross our boundaries and put them before ourselves, creating a frail sense of self-worth. However, we can fight it, come out of it and fix this whole scenario. 

As for me, I had been in some influencing company, and over time, I noticed that I had become a people pleaser and that I had been neglecting myself for my peers. I was listening more to them rather than my piece of mind. So, to fix those habits, I had to release that person from my life and start instilling healthier relationship patterns in my attitude. I had to change my outlook by changing my behaviour and thoughts. I had to make it clear to myself that it was okay for me to put myself and think about myself first before taking any decision instead of following my friends blindly and speculating about their behaviours, meaning how they treat me. I had to fix my sense of self-worth. 

So it is salient to love ourselves so that we don't compare ourselves to others and don't let others' judgements affect us, which calls out for having a deep sense of self-worth. We should practice self-compassion and not let ourselves get trapped in the vicious trap of peer pressure cause each one of us deserves to be loved, adored and treated like the queens and kings we are. So before judging yourself after seeing someone else, remind yourself of and be grateful for how confounding, worthy and attractive you are.

Always keep that in mind before wandering to search for love outside; look inside, and you will find the person who has always been and shall always be ready to love you.

Shambhavi Nautiyal Ahlcon Public School

Changes In Our Lives - Nishan Karki

We must change our lives, mistakes, behaviour and bad habits. Changes are essential to our life from now on. We can be successful people in future if we start making changes in our day-to-day thoughts and work. I want to be a better person and enjoy a bright future. For this I will need to make many changes in my life going forward. I need to change my day-to-day thoughts about how ideas, behaviour, and various skills like thinking, reading, writing, listening, communication skills, etc. If I start improving myself and changing these skills I will surely have a great future ahead.

Nishan Karki

Pestalozzi Children’s Village India.

Something You Want To Change In Yourself and How? - Pestalozzi India

Many people have been continuously advising me to change my behaviour as I might lose all my friends and people around me because of my behaviour. I am also an ill-tempered person and dismissive of their suggestions. I make false promises and divulge without thinking how they might feel later who trusted me so much. I dither whenever I have to make any difficult choice, maybe because of my anxiety and lack of confidence. I should speak up for myself and build self-confidence. I will be a trustworthy person. Even Pestalozzi has given us many opportunities by organising workshops to be self-possessed to improve our public speaking skills and body language among many people. 

Jeni Sherpa

There are many personality traits that I want to change that are not good for me. The first thing I want to change is my temperament; I am short-tempered, get angry about minor things, and start fighting with the person who made me angry. I should change this habit and try to ignore those little things. The next thing I wanna change in me is that I am lazy. The things I plan every time I don't do due to my laziness. I should habitually become more punctual with the timelines and stop procrastinating. Another thing is that I am shy and nervous in front of people whom I don't know, and I overthink. I should interact more with other people and be more confident about myself. 

Shristi Khulal

Something I want to change in myself and how ? - Pestalozzi World

My first thought was to change something physical – and magically drop some extra weight I had gained. But honestly, I think even more than that, I would like to become more organised. And if I could change that, I could finally start to exercise and lose weight, too! ☺️ - Januka Basnet

I would like to change my behaviour because I sometimes behave rudely to others when I get angry. If I change this habit, I will be more friendly with others rather than fighting with them over small things. It can only be done by keeping myself calm and ignoring the actions that make me angry.  - Manisha Rana

I always want to change my every bad into good, including my habits, goals, situation etc. I want to be more friendly with others and never misunderstand others. I want to be happier by searching for happiness in every moment, and also I want to live a simple and confidential life. I will do these things by cooperating with every worst situation and overcoming any obstacle that I face in my life.  - Nishan Karki

When I think about things I want to change about myself, I first think of my behaviour towards other people. I have asked my friends to describe me so that if there is something which needs to be changed, I can change it. So what they have said is that I make other people do my work, which I often do when I don't feel like doing it. I request the other person to do that work for me. And always asking others to do you isn't nice when you actually think about it, so I am trying to change it and be more independent. Though I am still determining how much time it would take me to completely change.  - Sonam Lhamo

I have many things I want to change in myself, like my habits and my behaviour. Sometimes when I am angry, I become very rude to people. I don't feel like talking to anyone, and when they try to talk to me, I speak anything without even thinking. I just can't control my anger and want to change that behaviour. I am trying to change it by thinking before I speak, and I will try to control my anger. One more thing I want to change in myself is to improve my studies. I will give more time to my studies. - Anchal Mehra

What makes us who we are - Nishan Karki

It us a common perception that our thoughts, behaviour and nature make us who we are.

If we behave correctly to other people showing them respect, they will assume that we have good manners and behaviour. Maintaining a good personality is beneficial and important in life.

- Nishan Karki

--

Shelja Thakur

Pestalozzi World Local Alumni Coordinator and Senior Student Liaison Officer

https://pestalozziworld.com/about/where-we-work/indian-village/