Do you know I think I did one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things in the whole of my local government career last week. Jo Sheedy, the amazing Manager of the Fairfield Centre asked if I could help with the event being held to celebrate Black History Month. I said “yes – what would you like me to do?”….and I ended up talking to a room full of incredible people about some incredible women throughout history – Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), Harriet Tubman (1822 –1913), Mary Seacole (1805-1881), Lilia Bader (1918 – 2015), Ella Fitzgerald (1917 – 1996) to name just a few. Do google them if you have time (and I’m sure Jo wouldn’t mind if you would like to see a copy of the presentation.) I even had the chance to draw the raffle and do a spot of dancing.
I’m probably stating the obvious, but it made me realise so many things – how much we owe to people in the past who have gone unrecognised for their contributions and are only now being credited for their contribution to society, the phenomenal work of all the staff and volunteers at the Centre, including Julie and Jean, who provided a scrumptious three course meal for 52 people, and the camaraderie and sense of fellowship and support amongst all of those who attend the Fairfield Centre.
I felt honoured to be able to share those precious two hours with everyone at the Centre on that Wednesday lunchtime and I will be adding that to my treasure trove of memories.
A lot of my time in recent weeks has been spent on Monitoring Officer duties. I have just completed drafting a local protocol for our elected Members to refer to when things go wrong between them – political differences do arise and more often than not it is possible to resolve misunderstandings in an amicable way. The local protocol is intended to assist with that and Standards Committee Members will consider this next week before making their recommendations to Council in December.
The final thing I wanted to mention in my Blog this time was the resilience/mindfulness session I attended this week. Mindfulness is a word that seems to be mentioned a lot and I appreciate it is not a new concept, but it’s not something I know a lot about. After the session we had with Claire Griffin on Thursday afternoon, I realise that it is actually a very powerful thing we can use to help if feeling stressed or anxious – a bite size form of meditation I suppose. And it’s probably something we should try and do every day anyway – just a few minutes is all it takes.
So, I leave you with the five senses practice:
- Sit or stand upright. Eyes can be open or closed. Take a deep breath in and lift the shoulders up to the ears and then on the out breath drop the shoulders down and breath out quickly through the mouth. Repeat 3 times.
- Now notice 5 things you are feeling in this moment. Count 5 things you can feel in the body or on the surface of the body (eg cold, warmth, aching, tightness, relaxation, tingling, restlessness, calm, stillness etc).
- Now notice 4 things that you can hear.
- Notice 3 things you can see (even if you have eyes closed)
- Notice 2 things you can smell
- Notice 1 thing you can taste
- Expand your awareness to the whole body and take a stretch.
I do hope you give it a go.