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March 1 - March 25, 2019
To engage with people gently is to be thoughtful about your actions, consider carefully the most effective approach to each situation and keep an eye on the details so nothing is neglected or rushed. Practising self-control is important in gentle activism.
Quote be mindful
more effective way to protest is through compassion and empathy for all involved: the victim, perpetrators and everyone in the process, recognising that human beings are fragile and should be handled with care.
Quote 2 people don't remember what you say but how you make them feel
Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, psychologist Dr Daniel Goleman wrote: Those who are at the mercy of impulse – who lack self-control – suffer a moral deficiency: the ability to control impulse is the base of will and character. By the same token, the root of altruism lies in empathy, the ability to read emotions in others; lacking a sense of another’s need or despair, there is no caring. And if there are any two moral stances that our times call for, they are precisely these, self-restraint and compassion.1
Book ref1 Emotional intelligence relies on empathy ... can empathy be taught ?
Using power gently moves you from the habit of thinking you need to be a leader to becoming a facilitator and friend, working with people to get things done together carefully, respectfully and lovingly, where possible. Sometimes, of course, the person or people won’t budge and it is not possible to work with them. Then other strategies are needed.
Quote3 What strategies will preserve the gentleness ? sometimes you have to sit in the road .. don't you
gentle until the end. When people are being unkind to you, stay gentle with them. When you are being provoked to react, don’t react. When you are asked something by someone with the intention to trap or trip you up, be wise and maybe stay silent.
Quote4: liberation theology at it's most grace filled gentleness
should work with others in support and mutual respect. ‘We’ are not saving ‘them’ – we all are seeking liberation together.
Quote: Person centered ... Finding the liberation together
you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together – African proverb
Quote must take people with you, don't plough on aggressively
For craftivism gatherings I recommend repetitive music to get into a contemplative zone. Slow music is calming. Lyrics can be distracting for your work but songs with specific association can sometimes help. For example ‘Chariots of Fire’ for people of my generation is something that makes you feel like anything is possible. Film soundtracks can be really good because they are designed to create emotion without distracting too much.*
Music chilled music tangerine dream, first nations usa, canada, australia, light classics,
The process of creativity – the finding of form for thought – have a transformative impact on the sense of self. The embroiderer holds in her hands a coherent object which exists both outside in the world and inside her head. Winnicott’s theory of mirroring helps us understand how the experience of embroidering affirms the self as a being with agency, acceptability and potency...The embroiderer sees a positive reflection of herself in her work and, importantly, in the reception of her work by others.1
Embroidery quote:the transcendent , a thin place
How we live and walk on this planet affects not just us but future generations… • ‘Step with care and great tact, and remember that life’s a great balancing act’ – Dr Seuss • ‘What I stand on is what I stand for’ – Wendell Berry • ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor’ – Desmond Tutu • It’s not so much the journey that’s important, but the way we treat those we encounter and those around us, along the way.
Notes: screaming or gifting. the latter is better for both souls
As craftivists, our work should complement the work of other changemakers to ensure that evil doesn’t flourish in areas when it seems that the majority of good people are doing nothing or not enough on these injustice issues.
be aware of what is going on about you, who is doing what .... and talk to them
We can become ‘culture jammers’, disrupting media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions and corporate advertising. Culture jamming includes street parties and protests, flash mobs, events such as ‘Buy Nothing Day’, ‘subvertisements’ or altering common symbols such as McDonald’s golden arches or Nike’s swoosh to engage people to think more about their eating habits or fashion choices.
it's not using a hammer to smash the state : change in thinking from youth
‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’
no matter how young or frail we can all do something
Objects are powerful within both everyday life and within pedagogy, they motivate learning and they become significant beyond their material physical selves. They enable human needs to externalise felt convictions; the need to articulate tacit emotions; to visualise relationships, to picture abstract entities; to make the intangible tangible and therefore graspable.4
symbols and meaning in the abstract
introverts are ‘especially empathetic’, think in an ‘unusually complex fashion’, and prefer discussing ‘values and morality’ to small talk about the weather – great for conversations with power-holders! Introverts ‘desire peace’ and are ‘modest’, such useful traits for non-violent activism. Cain goes on to say that the introvert child is an ‘orchid – who wilts easily’, is prone to ‘depression, anxiety and shyness, but under the right conditions can grow strong and magnificent’.
could be written about me : Now to find the others like this in EPC and get going
