December – A Celebration of Community
We ended 2023 with a celebration of community in the offices of Mick McGowan MLC with glorious sunshine and wonderful music provided by Jazz Notes. Our own team of Edwina, Natalie, Gail, Maria and Janni organized the exceptional catering for this very successful event. Although we did not have a huge number attend those that did enjoyed the option to network and chat while watching the sunset over Ringwood from one of Ringwood’s most impressive balconies.
The picture shows our catering team with Nick who makes this wonderful space available to community organizations.
October – Mental Health Awareness Month
Boost your mental health – using your strengths to improve your mental wellbeing.
In recognition of World Mental Health Day we partnered with Maroondah City council to host internationally acclaimed mental health expert, Professor Lea Waters, AM PhD to share with us her strength-based approaches to mental health using strengths to buffer during challenging times.
September – Forgiveness through the lens of Ted Lasso
For our September meeting we explored the topic of Forgiveness. To support us in this journey we used the Apple TV sports drama – Ted Lasso. Ted is an Amercian football coach hired to manage a British soccer team, AFC Richmond; what he lacks in knowledge, he makes up for in optimism, determination and biscuits. One major theme running through all three series is Forgiveness. How despite the choices and mistakes we make, we can be offered forgiveness and a chance to reconnect and become a better version of ourselves as individuals and as a valued member of the groups we belong to.
August – Respect
‘Treat others with respect and others will respect you’ Anthony Douglas Williams
Respect was the theme for the August monthly meeting. The focus of the evening was to explore ideas about respect with exploration through a series of icebreakers, discussions, and practical activities to understand the significance of respect in personal relationships, workplace dynamics, and in society.
Using the ME, WE, and US framework, respect was defined by participants who shared their personal reflections. A collective definition of respect was then established by focusing on its different aspects such as empathy, active listening, and valuing diversity.
Every person was encouraged to embrace and celebrate their unique strengths while respecting and appreciating the strengths of others. The cultivation of strengths to form the creation of a positive community to lead change was emphasised, that will hopefully build community engagement, and develop honest, respectful authentic people who respect opportunities and encourage personal growth.
A few thoughts for contemplation:
As a community how might WE move us toward greater wellbeing, resilience, understanding, and success?
To cultivate wellbeing how can WE play our part to develop relationships using our strengths?
July – Gratitude
For our July event, we were excited to present the much-acclaimed movie Gratitude Revealed. Almost 150 of us experienced this wonderful film in the awesome Hoyts Extreme cinema at Eastland. Prior to the screening many of us gathered at Eastland’s Centre Management where we enjoyed one another’s company and some delicious nibbles and drinks.
The film was generously made available to us by its Director Louie Schwartzberg. Louie Schwartzberg is best known for his time-lapse art and films, but the films are not the story. His story and his truth are what make the films possible. Louie is on a mission to share the beauty and intelligence of nature to protect the planet and create a better future. He believes this is how we’ll change the world.
Born to Holocaust survivors who miraculously found each other and built a new life in Brooklyn, Louie has spent his lifetime cultivating the gratitude his parents instilled in him. He uses that reverence and curiosity for life to ask the big questions.
An epic journey forty years in the making, Gratitude Revealed took us on a transformational, cinematic experience of how to live a more meaningful life full of gratitude. Louie’s intimate conversations with everyday people, thought leaders, and personalities reveal gratitude is a proven pathway back from the disconnection we feel in our lives — disconnection from ourselves, our planet, and each other.
We are grateful to Eastland and the Maroondah City Council for their generosity in providing the funding to host the movie in a premium theatre so that everyone attending could get the full benefit of the cinematic experience. A huge thanks to Louie and his team for making the film and curriculum available to us.
June – Celebration of TRUST and RAISE mentoring program
We were delighted to host the RAISE team to celebrate the programs they are running in three of our secondary schools in Maroondah. We also hoped to increase the profile of the program and recruit mentors and supporters to ensure its ongoing success.
We heard from Kathleen Vella, RAISE’s program director, about the program and its impacts right across Australia and how the program is growing exponentially. Thousands of young people are benefiting from having an adult spend 18 weeks 1 on 1 exploring themes like hope and resilience and how to communicate what’s on their mind to ensure they feel seen, heard, and valued. We know through our experience here in Maroondah how impactful the program is and appreciate the generosity of RAISE and their team for making it available to us. Our three biggest secondary schools, Ringwood, Norwood, and Heathmont are running the program in 2023 and for Ringwood and Norwood it is for the second year and Heathmont for its third year.
Sarah Buckley, RAISE’s Partnerships director then spoke to us about how organisations can get involved either as mentor providers (it is a 2 hour a week commitment for 18 weeks) or financial supporters. RAISE is a not for profit that relies on its corporate partners and is looking for more to join them. In Maroondah, our COWB partner Eastland got on board to advertise the program and provided $22,000 worth of free advertising. This had a huge impact with RAISE confirming that the fulfillment of the program mentors in the east of Melbourne was easier than elsewhere. Again we are grateful to Eastland for their generosity and willingness to support our wellbeing programs.
Lastly, we had a panel made up of RAISE program counsellor Naz Ersan, RAISE Mentors Pauline and Michael and RAISE school program manager Lachie Hunter from Heathmont College. COWB’s Edwina Ricci asked the panel questions about how the program runs and its impacts both on the students and on them as mentors and leaders. Unanimously they all sang the praises of the program and how it was making a big difference in the lives of students and mentors in the present and into the future.
A huge thanks to the RAISE team for their support of our event and to the COWB members who attended on the night. We are grateful for your support and we hope that we can continue to partner with you and keep the program running for many years to come. Thanks in particular to Michelle Tuck and Jodie Harris who lead the Victorian team and helped us organise the night.
May – Diversity
At our May meeting, Louise Weston, outlined how her own practice https://creatinginsights.com.au/ uses art therapy in a wide variety of settings. We participated in some simple exercises to demonstrate how she approaches art therapy and she gave a very detailed explanation of diversity and in particular neuro-diversity. She explained that art therapy is highly beneficial for neurally diverse individuals, such as those with autism or ADHD. It provides a non-verbal means of communication, allowing them to express thoughts and emotions effectively. Art therapy also aids in sensory exploration, helping individuals regulate arousal levels and improve focus. It fosters self-esteem by providing a sense of accomplishment and acceptance. Moreover, art therapy promotes emotional regulation, allowing individuals to express and process their feelings in a safe environment. It reduces stress, anxiety, and meltdowns. In summary, art therapy empowers neurally diverse individuals, enhancing communication, sensory integration, self-esteem, and emotional well-being.
April – Empathy
Our April meeting had us celebrating Empathy. We enjoyed our first night for 2023 in the HOPE Centre at Heathmont College. We explored the difference between sympathy and empathy via a short-narrated video from Brene Brown (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbFU164yHkc) reminding us that our best empathy mostly comes from deep connection rather than our responses. Edwina then led us through an exercise to support how we create deep connection from Nancy Kline’s “The Thinking Environment”. Nancy outlines 10 elements of how we attend to a person when we are listening to generate “their” best independent thinking. Those elements are Attention, Equality, Ease, Appreciation, Feelings, Encouragement, Information, Differences, Incisive Questions, Place. Each one of these will create the conditions for better thinking but together they create the best environment, one free of interruption and the possibility to create the best solutions to their own problems.
March – Courage
Our March topic was Courage and we all took the brave step to lean into our own “limiting assumptions”, acknowledge them, and create ways to overcome them. A nostalgic look at the lion in The Wizard of Oz got us thinking about how his vulnerability and willingness to show emotion was a sign of courage, not weakness. We all then reflected on our own acts of courage in the past and what they might look like in the future if we could put aside our limiting assumptions. We then connected in our groups via the sharing of our stories.
Peter took us through the latest in workplace wellbeing data and how the previous compliance processes need to move to creating cultures of “care” (Compassion, Appreciation, Responsibility, and Emotional Wisdom). This is not just a “nice to have anymore” as businesses are mandated by law to look after psychological safety in the same way as physical safety.
For further reading and watching on COURAGE we can’t go past Brene Brown.
READ/LISTEN: Dare to Lead – Brene Brown. A book that explores the best of leadership practice including finding our values and how we develop trust. (also on Audible)
WATCH: A call to courage – Brene Brown – 2019 Netflix.
February – Self-Compassion
Our first meeting for 2023 was a celebration of Self Compassion and Random Acts of Kindness. We were delighted to welcome back long-time friend of Maroondah Kathryn Lovewell, who ably led the group in an experience of Self Compassion all the way via Zoom from the Isle of White in the UK. Kathryn got us to think about how we would treat a friend in need compared to how we might treat ourselves. She challenged us to think of “the kindest thing we could do for ourselves right now” as one way to give ourselves the “oxygen” to ensure we can be available to support others we love and care for.
To finish off our evening and in solidarity with International Random Acts of Kindness Day on February 17th, all of us wrote down one Random Act of Kindness for ourselves and one to do for another person. We put these into a bucket and randomly selected a different one that we have all committed to carrying out before our next meeting on March 1st.
