January Newsletter: Sharing Gratitude & Excitement for 2024!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a memorable holiday season and a positive start to 2024. At Be the Change, we are energized and excited for the year ahead!
Be the Change’s Youth Blog Series highlights blogs written by university student interns at Be the Change Earth Alliance. In the blogs, the interns reflect on their experience completing “Action Packs,” which are learning resources that guide students in research, critical thinking and tangible action related to a global sustainability topic.
Action Pack Summary
This Action Pack explores what personal values are, how they’re constructed, how they influence our lives, and the importance of living in alignment with our values. The Action Pack encourages reflection on what we personally deem important and how it can be beneficial to regularly assess and affirm our intrinsic value systems.
Included in this Action Pack is a “Local Activity” where you write down your top 10 values, then re-evaluate them and choose the top five absolute values. Then, you create an affirmation that supports each of those top five values. Similarly, in the action pledge section, there are a myriad of actions that can be undertaken that both develop and energize living in alignment with our values.
In contrast to the positive aspects of living in alignment with our values, this Action Pack also examines the potential negatives of being stuck in one’s beliefs, without seeing other perspectives. It also guides students in research on instances when one group’s values are forcibly imposed on another group. An example of this could be the imposition of values and beliefs through colonialism, or, more specifically, the Canadian residential schools.
By deliberating on our values, we are able to gain a deeper understanding of both ourselves and our place within the world. This Action Pack aids in understanding what we stand for, the importance of living our values, and how we can incorporate value affirmation into our daily lives.
My Reflection
After completing this action I have encouraged one of my friends to join me in incorporating one positive activity into our schedules each week. I’ve been trying to go hiking once per week this summer to incorporate more physical activity into my life, connect with nature, and practice self-care. I reached out to my usual partner in hiking and explained this action pledge. I have also started a journal that I occasionally write in and I decided to try writing out a positive affirmation as often as I can. My affirmation from the Action Pack is: “I am connected, present, and engaged in each moment.” I’ve found that the more I write this affirmation down, the more aware I am of incorporating it into everyday situations. My mind very often wanders and I get lost in my head. So, it’s been helpful to me to remind myself to remain present in each moment.
Latest posts
December 2023 Newsletter - ⛄‘Tis the season to celebrate at Be The Change!⛄
As 2023 comes to a close and school winds down for winter break, we’re taking a moment to reflect back over the past year. 2023 was a very regenerative time for BTCEA! We developed and delivered our Climate Action, Resilience, and Emotions (CARE) program in communities on the frontlines of wildfires in our province. And as an organization, we prioritized creating space to discuss what decolonization could look like both internally, and in our programming. Here are the highlights:
Oct 2023 Newsletter - Check out our mid-October climate-justice resources!
Hello,
An introduction from Communications Coordinator, Lucy Wicken
Dear Be The Change community,
As we approach mid-October, I’m reflecting on the changing seasons, from the warm and active days of summer to the cooler and quieter days of autumn. Personally, I’ve noticed a desire to slow down, take on fewer responsibilities, and stay inside where it’s cozy. Have you felt this way too?
As 21st century humans living in a world that operates under capitalism, white supremacy, and other oppressive systems, we can be made to feel guilt or shame about listening & responding to our needs. We are expected to maintain the same energy and productivity levels throughout the year, no matter how cold or dark the days are, how heavy world events feel, or how much we’re struggling in our personal lives.
This is where the concept of regenerative education comes in. Introduced to the BTCEA team by former staff member Jake, regenerative education calls on us to slow down and turn inward to consider our connection with the natural world. It asks us to examine the living systems that are breaking down due to violent human activity (such as fossil fuel extraction, destruction of Indigenous lands, and human-caused flooding and wildfires) and connect this breakdown with our own high levels of stress.
