Tag Archives: reflection and action
What’s your motivation?
‘Massive salaries seem to keep people going pretty well in South Sudan, from what I can tell: “Grin and bank it”‘ wrote a humanitarian professional in a LinkedIn discussion on burnout. I’m not sure how popular the comment was, but … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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Saving the world?
‘To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged activism and aid work, reflection and action
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Mindfulness and ’empty boats’
‘There’s a Zen story in which a man is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming down the river toward him. At first it seems so nice to him that someone else is also enjoying … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged mindfulness for aid workers, reflection and action
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Change and transition
It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. They aren’t the same thing. Change is situational: the move to a new site, the reorganisation of the roles on the team, the start of a new job in … Continue reading
Making space, making time
Creating an oasis of quiet It is easier to do trivial things that seem urgent, than to do important things that are not urgent…. – adapted from John Cleese One cannot make room for care, learning and reflection – which … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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The beggar, the thief and the precious gem
How changing the world starts from within ‘Once upon a time a thief running away from guards noted a beggar sleeping in a dark alley. He secretly put the small but priceless piece of jewellery he had just stolen into … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, humanitarian ethics, reflection and action
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From Mindfulness for NGOs to Mindfulnext
Change and Growth! East Jerusalem, 25 February 2013 ‘The only sure way to avoid making mistakes is to have no new ideas.’ ― Albert Einstein Today is the day to thank all those who have followed Mindfulness for NGOs over the last 2 years of its start-up … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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Refl-action: Reflection and action
Learning to live the paradox of action as reflection, and reflection as action* “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” — Dalai Lama XIV Supposedly carved into the temple of Apollo in … Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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Learning to listen
Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! Once upon a time I was an aid worker, full of good intentions, and ‘fooled’ by good intentions. My Palestinian friends and colleagues have taught me that people need freedom, not aid. … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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Mosquitoes and following your bliss
Easter and Passover are upon us and I happen to be in Jerusalem, so when I was invited at an interfaith Seder for Passover near Jericho in Palestine, I took the opportunity to join in. The event itself had something special as it drew … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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