Towards Modeling Behavior

Practicing communication within a group of strangers: Actively listen. Embody the experience.

Things have gotten even worse.

Wait, is that a good way to start a blog about resilience? All of us are saying it, but do we allow ourselves intentional time to grieve? Do we make time to feel that or do we just stuff it down?  

The principle of acknowledging. 

Instead of avoiding the facts, we tend to simply put them in neat little cubbies, baskets, or mason jars, organized on shelves, out of sight. We know that they are there, but often don't look on that shelf…and for good reasons, and you know this - we do it to tamp down the negative emotions that come with the contents of those containers

But, let's back up.

Belonging Circles and the work we do at Cascadia Stack are meant to encourage personal resilience practice with others. It is through understanding, acknowledging, and including others with varied perspectives so that our mindfulness improves, preparing us to weather the conditions that continue to bombard us. Therefore, we are able to continue our marching, our standing up for people and place and show up for our communities and family. When we can do that, we can be better models for the young people in our lives. And that's really what it's all about. 

Maintaining some semblance of normality – 

…while an authoritarian government is hell bent on worsening global warming and social injustices – this is the hard work we are doing now. But is ‘normality’ brushing the complicated stuff under the rug? Are we storing these difficult emotions in the back of our closet like the box of “skinny clothes”? The adult version of Gen-Alpha and their children will hopefully live in a resilient Cascadia by the grace and resilience practices of the changemakers and visionaries of today. 

You are the visionary. You believe in building resilience. Nobody gets left behind.

Balance your optimism by understanding your individual perceptions of this dark time by acknowledging and including community in the mindful journey of building *personal* resilience.