Two Inconvenient Women

What is the point of hope? This question is so perfectly poised between nihilism and optimism, and the conversation explores the territory in between. When hope can so often feel like an avoidance of the present moment, or a vacuous space of impossibility, what does it have to offer us in such complex times? Conversely, hope is an act of faith in something far bigger than the human experience, and stands as a foundation of so many people across the world, whether through religion, spiritual practice or an inherent trust in the bigger story. Wherever we are landing with the quality of hope, it is a universal human encounter and something that may perhaps offer us a doorway into a lighter, deeper, more resilient and conscious way of living.

In this episode we reference the following:

Active Hope - Joanna Macy (website)
The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk (website)
Hope Punk - The Second Transition (podcast)
Anti-racist pedagogy in art - Kathy Wise (article)
Imagination Taking Power - Rob Hopkins (website)

✨ Today's magic moment was a shout out to the fabulous ThoughtBox Team✨

There's an inconvenient movement growing...
It's not rebellion, exactly. More of a quiet refusal to look away. We're inconvenient. And if you feel it, then maybe you are too. Join us.
Join The Inconvenient Club from £5 a month. Find out more at www.thoughtboxeducation.com/the-inconvenient-club
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

✨ Today's magic moment features our new ThoughtBox website ✨

Play is not just for children; it is an essential adult survival tool. And yet we find ourselves living in so many cultures where play is being eroded from childhood and is virtually non-existent amongst adults. Beyond the core developmental qualities that play enables in children, engaging in recreational activities that bring joy lowers stress, triggers mood-boosting endorphins, fuels creativity, and strengthens relationships by building trust and empathy. Play also reminds us of the vitality of life and offers a more generative way of living. So why is it that play has disappeared and how can we welcome it back into our lives and communities?

In this episode we reference the following:

Dirt is Good campaign (website)
How play made us and keeps us human -Maria Popov (article)
OPAL- Outdoor Play and Learning - organisation (website)
Play based learning at St Ebbe's Primary, Oxford (website page)
How play boosts creativity and resilience - Katina Bajaj (TedTalk Podcast)
Rediscovering Play - Mindful Spark (blogpost)
Play Based Learning with Dr Peter Gray (video)

There's an inconvenient movement growing...
It's not rebellion, exactly. More of a quiet refusal to look away. We're inconvenient. And if you feel it, then maybe you are too. Join us.
Join The Inconvenient Club from £5 a month. Find out more at www.thoughtboxeducation.com/the-inconvenient-club
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in the UK, we're in the middle of a heatwave. Record-breaking temperatures, flash floods, thunderstorms and lightning fires are all bringing the climate emergency into an immediacy of awareness for many people who previously may not have wanted or been able to look at it. But in the face of this emergency, how do we talk about what's happening without instilling more fear? And how do we find the courage to actually step into action?

✨ Today's magic moment features our Triple WellBeing Storybooks ✨

In this episode we reference:

Should we be trying to save the world? with Anthea Lawson - The Examined Life (podcast episode)
'I am helping - oh no' - Webcomicname by Alex Norris (comic strip)
When The Baddie Plans To Destroy The World! from Mitchell And Webb Are Not Helping (short video)
Don't put economy at mercy of 'Red Ed' - Daily Mail (online article)
Learning for Life - ThoughtBox Education (teaching resources)
National Emergency Briefing - NEB (film and local screenings)

There's an inconvenient movement growing...
It's not rebellion, exactly. More of a quiet refusal to look away. We're inconvenient. And if you feel it, then maybe you are too. Join us.
Join The Inconvenient Club from £5 a month. Find out more at www.thoughtboxeducation.com/the-inconvenient-club
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All of us are former children: a fact so often forgotten and yet so powerful when we remember just what is waiting inside all of us to be re-ignited. Within the wide threads of a conversation on childhood is the desire to tap beneath the cultural stories of modern childhood to re-ignite the essence of wonder that sits within us all and that is being threatened by so many of our modern problems.

Growing up in our modern world is so frequently encased with pressure. Beyond the increasing pressures from school, family and the modern world, young people are navigating the hugely fracturing world of social media and - ever increasingly - feeling the weight and burden of the climate and nature crisis. All too often, children are being asked - sometimes tasked - to take on mental responsibilities and concerns well beyond their emotional capacities to hold; and the symptoms of burnout, anxiety, overwhelm and depression are skyrocketing.

Knowing that the cultures we're living in shape the way we think, feel and act in the world helps to see and explore why so many different cultural experiences of childhood exist - and by digging beneath the cultural stories, we can start to tap into the essence in all of us that is filled with wonder waiting to re-emerge.

So how might shifting the cultures we're living in help keep childhood alive and re-awaken the inner child in us all?

In this week's conversation we reference the following:

Innocent Child Well-Being Index - UNICEF (PDF)
Dutch kids declared the world’s happiest (again) - Positive News (Article)
Seven-year cycles of growth: Rudolf Steiner (website)
The Anxious Generation - Jonathan Haidt (book/website)

There's an inconvenient movement growing...
It's not rebellion, exactly. More of a quiet refusal to look away. We're inconvenient. And if you feel it, then maybe you are too. Join us.

Join The Inconvenient Club from £5 a month. Find out more at www.thoughtboxeducation.com/the-inconvenient-club
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is criticism often so hard to take? What is it inside us that shrinks when someone points out something we've missed, we lack or we've done 'wrong'? Who sets the parameters for 'right and wrong' and what does it actually mean to 'critique' someone?

In this week's episode we explore the qualities of criticism and why - all too often - it can elicit feelings of shame and worthlessness in the recipient. We explore some of the nuances of shame; explore the different qualities of 'lack' that are sometimes apparent in the giver and receiver of criticism and discuss at length the value and strength of criticism that allows both parties to grow together - something that is perhaps hard to do but so generative when it happens.

In the conversation we reference the following:

Listening to Shame - Brené Brown (TED talk video)
'How Not to Be Defensive in Relationships' - The School of Life (video)
The support/challenge matrix (PDF)
Peonies opening (video)
Being Nice vs Being Kind - Trevor Noah (video)

There's an inconvenient movement growing...
It's not rebellion, exactly. More of a quiet refusal to look away. We're inconvenient. And if you feel it, then maybe you are too. Join us.

Join The Inconvenient Club from £5 a month. Find out more at www.thoughtboxeducation.com/the-inconvenient-club
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.