Sangha of Auspicious Companions

April 5, 2024

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Friend or FOMO?

Ever felt like something was missing in your life while mindlessly scrolling through social media feeds filled with seemingly perfect connections and adventures? Well, you’re not alone. A fresh look reveals the often overlooked social pressures and one-sided portrayals of social media that can cause one to question their own friendships. Understanding that meticulously curated posts might be glossing over complex realities can help combat the feelings of isolation when we’re seemingly on the outside looking in. YES! Magazine reminds us that the trick lies in remembering everyone grapples with ups and downs in their friendships, and less-than-perfect moments aren’t shared with a click or swipe. It takes time and commitment, care and shared experiences, mistakes and forgiveness, to cultivate a deeper context of genuine friendships. { read more }

Be The Change

Take a moment to reflect on your friendships. Send a heartfelt message or call a friend with whom you’d like to reconnect or deepen your relationship. Build on genuine connections rather than comparing yourself to the images portrayed on social media.

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April 3, 2024

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How to Reboot After Disappointment at Work

“You might experience disappointment at work in many ways: a long-term project does not come to fruition, a new position opens up and you don’t get it, or your hard work does not pay off. Faced with a sense of loss and disappointment, we have no choice but to respond.” Greater Good Magazine outlines three practices with relevant research that can personally alchemize a setback into possibility. Through paying attention to our internal dialogue and applying positive affirmations, exploring uncharted territories within our mindsets, and asking big questions, our responses to unmet expectations can be doorways into moments of grace, learning, resilience and transformation. { read more }

Be The Change

Reflect on a recent disappointment in your life. Observe your reactions and emotions as data that mirrors your stance of the situation, and give yourself the grace to be in a process of learning. { more }

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Inspiring Links of the Week

April 1, 2024

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How Sisterly Love Transformed a Brothel in Delhi

Fresh out of her university studies, Gitanjali Babbar embarked on a two-year fellowship that had her conducting health surveys with women in Delhi’s red light district. Struck by the raw humanity she encountered in the brothel workers, Gitanjali began visiting the women in her free time, sharing meals and listening to stories from their harrowing life journeys, where they were often trafficked at young ages. Then, one of the women asked Gitanjali to teach her how to read and write. Having never been an enthusiastic student herself, Gitanjali was caught off guard. But she agreed. Soon, impromptu classes sprang up for the women. Not long after, a school for their children began. And eventually, a “dream village”. For thirteen years and counting, through a foundation of deep mutual respect and kinship, a community of selfless love continues to blossom in one of the most unlikely places. { read more }

Be The Change

Ask someone you about their life journey. Listen with an open acceptance, and connect with the humanity in their experience.

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March 31, 2024

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When Melodies Unlock Memory Reservoirs

Candy Cohn often would speak with her late mother, Lillian, in English, with a few words here and there in Yiddish. Then, one day, Lillian “started singing a beautiful Yiddish love song called Sheyn Vi Di Levone. ‘I’d never heard her sing it. I never heard her play it. The look on her face and the joy. I hadn’t seen that in her in a long time,'” Candy Cohn described to WLRN Public Radio. Cohn started playing a video of that very song. “It brought back so many memories for her,” she noted. “She started telling me how she first heard it, what she was doing, and when she would sing it.” Music can get encoded in the brain through an episode of our lives; the trigger of a song from one’s youth can unlock a storehouse of experiences from that same time. Tino Negri, who’s brought interactive music programs to people with memory disorders told WLRN, “Music is the one thing that opens up people’s brains, and it helps fire off neurons on both hemispheres of the brain.” Through music therapy personalized with songs that deeply resonate with patients, people with dementia have a chance to tap into vibrant memories. { read more }

Be The Change

Make a new memory through the joy of music shared: play or sing a song that has a significant meaning for you to a friend or loved one or complete stranger. Relish in its expression of the human spirit.

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March 30, 2024

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Transforming Stress into Self-Identity

Ever noticed how your ‘stress’ becomes who ‘you’ are? This intriguing characteristic suggests that unresolved emotions get stored in our physical and emotional bodies; and, over time, these built-up residues create a ‘state’. This state, if sustained, soon morphs into our identity, becoming our new ‘normal’. We start identifying ourselves with these states, for instance, ‘I am an anxious person’, when in reality, these traits reflect our past troubles, not who we truly are. Even our cultural and familial traits share this quality. Real healing comes from identifying these states as survival adaptations rather than our true identity, thus allowing space to process, understand, and release them. { read more }

Be The Change

Take a few minutes each day to introspect your emotions deeply. Try to identify if any trait or state that you identify with is a result of past unresolved emotions. Instead of resisting, try understanding them better. This could be a step towards healing.

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How Language Shapes the Way We Think

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March 28, 2024

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What Emotions Can Teach Us

Susan David and Adam Grant dialogue on pitfalls against toxic positivity, and instead give tips on how to reconnect with all emotions to stay true to ourselves while growing from them. It is a fine line between running away from emotions and fusing with them. But there is a path, accessible to anyone. Being avoidant of difficult emotions disconnects us from ourselves and from others affecting our well-being. A proposed approach is to look at all emotions as serving a purpose: guilt can be looked at as a class for wiser decision making next time, disappointment a class for better preparation. Language can also prove to be our best friend by rewording our thoughts. Instead of saying, “I am sad,” one can say, “I notice that I am feeling sad.” This will bring helpful detachment and awareness — the seed for healing or growth. { read more }

Be The Change

Pay extra attention to your emotions today. Ask yourself what particularly strong emotions may be telling you.

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March 27, 2024

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Author Drops Everything To Visit Bronx Students

Tommy Orange, author of There There, dropped everything amidst an active book tour to visit a Bronx high school class. Their teacher, Rick Ouimet, had written an impassioned email invitation, sharing how deeply transformative the book had been for his students. “It’s not often that an author walks into a room full of readers, let alone teenagers, who talk about characters born in his imagination as if they’re living, breathing human beings. And it’s equally rare for students to spend time with an author whose fictional world feels like a refuge,” wrote Elisabeth Egan for the NY Times. Orange later noted the class visit was “the most intense connection I’ve ever experienced.” { read more }

Submitted by: Aidyn Laurynz

Be The Change

If there’s a book or author you feel deeply connected to, write a thoughtful email expressing your connection and maybe ask for a personal engagement like a book club discussion or a Q&A session.

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March 26, 2024

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Defining World Happiness

Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks 146 countries by their level of happiness. Scandinavian countries are usually found at the top of the ranks, while war-torn or deeply impoverished countries are generally at the bottom. In recent years, psychologists have been looking at how cultural bias affects these rankings. Authors of a 2022 study invited: “How can one reasonably conclude that country A is happier than country B, when happiness is being measured according to the way people in country A think about happiness?” Researchers say incorporating cultural perspectives could potentially give us a more accurate representation of global happiness. How so? It appears individualistic cultures, where happiness is seen as personal experiences of excitement and fun are assessed quite differently from communal cultures where happiness is considered a shared experience. Rather than just focusing on individual feelings and life satisfaction, psychologists propose incorporating collective and interrelated happiness metrics in surveys. By applying a culturally sensitive lens, we can create undefined, forever-evolving, and more accurate maps of global happiness. { read more }

Be The Change

Invite someone whose values differ from yours to share a cup of tea. Ask them questions without judgment about formative years and moments to learn about the journey that made them who they are.

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