My Experience, The Future

Everyone can learn something from serving the community. I participated in the Walk for Hunger this weekend and it was such a wonderful experience to see how many people came into Boston to walk TWENTY MILES in the hopes of eradicating hunger. Our team here at Lesley personally raised over $1,000 and I can't even imagine how much the whole entire walk raised. Project Bread, who sponsors the walk, gives money to food programs in Massachusetts, giving food to pantries, soup kitchens, food banks and more. I was very happy to see the amount of people who were so passionate about the cause. 20 miles is a whole heck of a long way to walk!

In every type of service I have done, I have grown myself. I have learned to not judge people at a first glance. This comes from the many homeless people I see who are disheveled and unkempt, yet are the sweetest people you will ever talk to. I have learned that simply looking someone in the eyes and saying "have a great night!" is a great act of kindness. I have learned that there is no service too small. I have eliminated the personal stigma I once held for many different populations by falling out of my comfort zone and diving in.

I get to try my hand at something new this summer: I'll be working with Unite Here in Boston, organizing unions and fighting for workers rights. This is another way to help- to change policy, to show support, and to stand in solidarity with people who cannot stand up for themselves. Many of these workers cannot afford to feed their families or pay for healthcare, things which should be given. I am so excited to help people to find their voices, and I am even more excited to work in this field. I know I will gain something from this experience of taking a risk and doing something I've never done before. This counts as service.

People can learn so much from simply volunteering, and I think it's really important to make that known. If only people knew how great it felt to help others, maybe they would do it more often. Next year, we will have a new Director in the Office of Community Service, and she comes from a Service Learning background. I am hoping that she uses everything she knows to try and implement a program like that here at Lesley, because everyone could benefit. There are so many Professors and Staff behind service that I think we could make a big difference in the community.

I think it is clear that I am passionate about service, but how can I spread this passion to others? I really try to put myself out there, and I think that my passion can be contagious. In leading different activities on campus (Alternative Spring Break, REAL Retreat, Day of Service, etc.), I can support new students and help them to be involved in the Office. I think, in the end, all I can do is stay passionate about what I love. Somewhere along the line I will run into someone just as passionate as I am. I have had that moment, and can safely say that Lesley Delivers will be in good hands when I graduate next Spring. I will be passionate about serving my whole life, and will stay open to learning many new things on my journey.

Lesley University Walk for Hunger 2013

Benefits of Education in Service

Not only do those who volunteer benefit themselves, but the organizations they work with gain so much as well. In being involved with service learning, students bring so much knowledge to the table. Through their education around the issues they are working with, students are enabled to make even more of a difference. In a setting where students are encouraged to learn more about their population, what they gain from studying has a clear impact on the organization they work with. The learning component in the classroom of reading scholarly journals and knowing policies is almost an explanation as to why impoverished people are in that position. The research part removes the stigma from many populations the students work with. While many think people are poor simply because they are lazy, research shows differently. Because the students are able to learn about this, their perspective can change.

In Who Learns from Service Learning (Roschelle, Turpin & Elias, 2000), the authors explore relationships between students and the organizations they volunteered at through their service learning classes at University of San Francisco. Many of the students, like me, had a change in perception once they started to volunteer and learn more about a population. In becoming passionate about a population because of the things you learn through scholarly research and volunteering, the result is great performance at an organization. Supervisors and volunteer coordinators recognize these types of things. “The supervisor reported that Karen was exceptionally well suited for the job because she had a ‘real grasp on the causes and consequences of homelessness and was not a typical do-gooder who flakes out at the first sign of chaos’” (p. 844).  Students learn from the groups they serve, but those groups can also benefit greatly. Having a college student who is so willing and passionate is a wonderful thing for a non-profit; you can’t be in that sort of business for the money.

This brings a connecting loop between education and service. So many people in this country choose to turn their head and ignore the problems we have. We ignore the fact that there are homeless people right around the corner, sleeping on the sidewalk, and that the majority of them are children. We choose to ignore the fact that there is more to poverty than simply laziness, and that situations and circumstances have a lot of pull in these situations. We choose to ignore that we can stand up and do something about all of this, there are so many options. Education provides people with the knowledge to not only recognize our world situation, but to also do something about it.

For me personally, coming to Lesley was an eye-opening experience. It still is. I learned so much in class that I never even knew was real, and I still learn something new every day. In learning what is going on in the world, I was sparked to take action. There are so many opportunities in the city to be involved with social change. How can you learn about poverty and homelessness and just sit back and let it happen? I know that I sure can’t. This passion is reflected in all of the volunteer work I do, and I know people can see that. So take a moment, educate yourself, and do something. We have the power to change what we do not believe is right and fair.

References

Roschelle, A., Turpin, J. & Elias, R. (2000). Who learns from service learning? American Behavioral Scientist, 43(5), 839-847.

Our Lack of Psychological Diversity

Biomimicry is the practice of taking designs from nature to apply to human technologies and systems.  The natural processes of our world have created ingenious designs - everything from small bacteria, to human beings, to entire ecosystems have aspects worth copying.  As an example, humpback whales have a series of bumps on their flippers that allow them to spin very quickly underwater despite their large size.  This design is being copied and applied to windmills so that they spin faster and are able to harness more wind energy.  Also, the human lung has a complex filtering system designed to manage carbon dioxide intake.  Scientists are trying to figure out how to copy these properties and apply them to factory flue stacks to prevent CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere.

 

One basic principle of nature is that diversity supports survival, especially in disasters.  The more diverse an ecosystem the better that ecosystem will weather change.  I believe this principle is also true within the collective psyche of a large culture such as ours.  Following the ideas of biomimicry we can think of our collective cultural psyche as an ecosystem.  If there is large "psychological diversity" people will have a wide variety of ideas.  When presented with problems a culture with a large pool of approaches will be able to find and follow through with novel solutions.  But if there is little diversity with regard to how people view and live their lives the culture will more likely remain stagnant when faced with issues.

 

I would argue that currently our cultural and social systems are not emulating this principle.  Although we all share biological aspects of being human, the brain is flexible enough so that each human can develop a very unique perspective and way of being in life.  But instead our culture encourages us all to develop in essentially the same way.  People develop differing political opinions, beliefs about religion and spirituality, and different career paths.  Opinions and viewpoints differ, but ways of being in the world do not.  For the most part people all live their lives within a similar parameter.  Everyone is brought through the same school system taking the same classes - everyone is expected to try to find the highest paying job they can so they can consume at least what average people consume and hopefully more.

 

To an extent every cultural model will do this.  Humans are social creatures born with a biology that encourages them to copy the people they are surrounded by.  Those in the in-group, the accepted members of the "pack", have a better chance of survival when supported by their fellow humans.  No matter what the nature of culture will draw humans to think, act, and be similarly.

 

The issue is that our modern culture is so pervasive that humans all over the world are buying into it.  We eat different foods, listen to different music, have different hobbies, and even speak different languages.  But we all essentially live the same way.  We live to consume.  We live to go to work then watch TV before we go to bed and do the same things the next day.  Societies all organize themselves - organize the way human lives are lived within them - the same way.

 

As we live through this routine every day we reinforce the neural connections associated with it.  Our habitual ways of being become ingrained in our psyche.  Our culture becomes less and less psychologically diverse as our one way of being is repeatedly imprinted in the minds of the people.  But we live in an age where we need as much psychological diversity as possible.  We need as many perspectives as possible if we have any chance of finding new ways of being which will solve our current crises - environmental, social, political, financial, et cetera.

I can't say I have the solution to our losing psychological diversity.  I think a good start would be making our culture more accepting of the wide variety of individual perspectives and paths of growth that are possible.  If more people's natural way of being were respected and nurtured instead of being molded to fit the way of being of our culture then we would grow more psychologically diverse as more people developed their own unique approach to life.  At this point I believe any attempt to encourage different ways of living to emerge would be worth trying.  Hopefully we can find better solutions to our problems as different approaches to life are taken on.

Changing Perceptions of Poverty

When I first came to Lesley, I never gave a second thought to homelessness. In working with Lesley Delivers over the past 3 years on campus, my perceptions have changed dramatically. Initially, I was afraid of the homeless. This is a natural reaction, especially for people who have never been around this population before. The more exposure I had to them, however, the more I realized they are people just like you and me. Through many reflections and discussion around the issues of homelessness and poverty, I have seen that many people are fearful of homelessness because they do not want to be reminded of the problems in our society.

It is so easy in this day and age to slip into poverty and homelessness. For families who are living paycheck to paycheck, an event as simple as being laid off from their job can throw them right onto the streets or into a shelter. Because this issue is so close to home and so relevant in today’s society, people tend to avoid it. In recognizing these perceptions in myself, I was able to turn them around. It’s not easy, but with enough exposure and experience, I was able to understand where many of these people are coming from. Many of the homeless I run into have simply had bad luck, or are inflicted by a mental illness that leaves them unable to live a “normal” life. In having conversations with people I meet, I came to realize that they are people too. Many of them simply want the connection of talking to a human being since they have been ignored all day long. At the end of the day, they just want to be recognized. In doing service, both parties gain something here: my friends on the streets gain some recognition, and I learn something new from them.

The lack of knowledge around homelessness and poverty in general perpetuates the stigma around these issues. Many Americans believe that people in poverty are responsible for their own economic predicament. In learning more about their personal situation, this stigma can be thwarted. Students can gain this knowledge through the experience of service learning, which “integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, 2013). Research has shown that college students who have been involved in serving learning projects have changed their perceptions around poverty. Students who participated in a particular program at Boston College “came away from the experience with a greater recognition of the structural factors that contribute to poverty and inequality in comparison to their peers” (Seider, Rabinowicz & Gillmor, 2011).

In allowing ourselves to get to know the people we serve, we gain a larger understanding of their life experience. Their personal stories are almost always different from what we perceive. Community service and service learning both act as catalysts in changing the stigma around poverty and homelessness.  This change in perception is important for everyone living in this country. If all Americans gave service a chance, and if they took the time to get to know the people they saw on the street corners every afternoon on their way home from work, the stigma would leave.

References:

National Service –Learning Clearinghouse. (2013). What is Service-Learning?  Retrieved from: http://www.servicelearning.org/what-service-learning

Seider, S., Rabinowicz, S. & Gillmor, S. (2011). Changing American college students’ conceptions of poverty through community service learning. Analyses of  Social Issues and Public Policy, 11(1), 105-126.

Many Implications of Service

Last week I had the privilege to go with a group of students down to South Carolina and participate in Alternative Spring Break. I could not be happier with the experience I had—doing service AND making so many wonderful connections with people I never would have talked to otherwise. This made me think that one important aspect of service is that it brings different kinds of people together. There are so many different facets surrounding service: those receiving, those giving, the umbrella organization one is working with, and everything in between such as feelings, personal interactions, sense of community, etc.  In being involved in community service, I have been a part of building community through service.

During ASB, we did a lot of reflecting as a group. We made meaning of the things we were doing, whether it was exploring our larger impact in the community, talking more deeply about homelessness, or elaborating on how the work had influenced our lives. Often times, reflecting can be difficult, because seeing the disparity frequently leads to feelings of guilt around our own lifestyles. Mostly as a group, we talked about what more we could do to change the current situation of homelessness and poverty. This allowed for us to put aside our feelings of guilt and know that what we were doing was beneficial. In talking this through as a group, we built a whole web of connections with each other. Working together for the same cause, bonding over a specific activity and then reflecting upon experience is such a wonderful way to unite.

In participating in community service projects you can learn a lot about yourself and the group you work with, whether it is the volunteers you’re working alongside or the people you’re serving. Community service is a learning opportunity, and many sources I’ve looked at have assured that fact. “The shadow of poverty, under which many of the students learned significant aspects about themselves and others, also provides the backdrop for my life and struggle as a student and as a scholar” (Rhoads, 1997, p. 207). Service allows us to think more deeply about our personal lives as well as educates us about the lives of others. In delving into service, you learn much more about the type of person you are and the types of people you work well with. For instance, working with the homeless is not for everyone, but they can explore other service realms to find there are other ways to be involved. Community service gives us the opportunity of experiential learning—being out in the field, hands-on, living and learning. “I learn more from volunteer work than I ever do from any of my classes at school. Talking to people from diverse backgrounds provides so much insight that people just can’t imagine” (Rhoads, 1997, p. 209). This type of experience allows us to get to know ourselves in ways we cannot in a strict classroom setting.

In experiencing the wonders of Alternative Spring Break, I learned so much about myself as a leader and as a volunteer. I made connections with beautiful people while working for a greater cause. Community service not only affects the person who is utilizing the service, but it does a whole lot of good for those who serve. In the next upcoming weeks I am hoping to look for personal accounts, both scholarly and on my own, which will give me some more insight into how service affects those who do it.

ASB Columbia, SC 2013

References: Rhoads, R. (1997). Community service and higher learning: Explorations of the caring self.  Albany: State University of New York Press.

Why We Can't Go Back

            In reaction to our current ecological crisis I have come across people who say the only way to get ourselves out of the whole mess is to "go back" technologically.  The line of logic is that man-made technology is the cause of the destruction of the environment and the only solution lies in humanity renouncing the use of our most modern technologies.

            I would argue that this is not the answer.  Not only because it is impractical and won't happen, but also because this answer goes against our nature as evolving beings.

 

"... one is hardly conscious of the extent to which "nature" acts not only as a driving force but as a helper - in other words, how much instinct insists that the higher level of consciousness be attained.  This urge to a higher and more comprehensive consciousness fosters civilization and culture, but must fall short of the goal unless man voluntarily places himself in its serve" - Carl Jung  (Jung, 1996). 

            This "driving force", or "helper" quality of nature, seems to be synonymous with syntropy - the tendency in the universe for things to become more complicated, more whole.  In relation to animals (including the human), it is the general force of evolution.  Beings are always becoming more and more complex while adapting to their environment.

            Carl is saying here that the natural instincts within us are always pushing us toward higher levels of complexity.  He states that "civilization and culture", which must inherently include the technology that has come about because of them, has been a result of this tendency.  However, the key is when he says our syntropic tendency "... must fall short of the goal unless man voluntarily places himself in its serve".  Although our ever-evolving nature has driven us to create all of the technology we have, this nature is still "falling short" as we are not yet fully acknowledging it.  What exactly does this mean?

            I would say, because man is a product of nature, and technology is a product of man, ultimately technology is a product of nature even if that technology is harmful to nature.  Our current technologies, and the modern mind which relates to them, is just as valid a part of humanity's syntropic evolution as any other stage.  However it is time to recognize that the syntropic tendency of our world, of our environment, is calling humanity to evolve to another level. 
 

            Evolution happens when changes in the environment cause the way of being of a species to become obsolete in the context of the newly emerging environment.  The species in question must then develop a new way of functioning which is appropriate within the environmental context.  If the species does not, then it will inevitably die out.  However, if the species evolves and adapts to the environment, it will continue life in a new form. 

            It is clear that currently our environment is being changed by the way humanity is functioning.  But the environment is being changed in a way which will demand change of our way of being.  The wide-spread adoption of a lifestyle which consumes so much has resulted in well-known environmental consequences.  These consequences demonstrate that humanity's current way of being is not appropriate in the context of our environment.  This demands that we change the way we function, or we die out.

            I believe the "instinct" Carl says we must voluntarily place ourselves in service of is the part of our instinct connected to the environment.  Although we have survival instincts to keep ourselves alive, which utilize our ego, I would argue there is a more intuitive instinct within us that connects us with our context - with our environment.  Most modern humans have lost touch with this instinct as it has been so long since we needed it.  But I would imagine this instinct has its roots in the same instincts animals tune into when they predict a major storm and are naturally driven to find safety.  There are also records of modern indigenous peoples who's senses are keenly attuned to the natural world.  Reconnecting with these kinds of instincts could give us an intuitive understanding of our urgent need to evolve.  Recognizing our connection to our environmental context and acknowledging the messages our environment is sending us would force us to begin changing our lifestyle - changing our way of functioning.

          It seems to me that the message syntropy is trying to give us is that over-using our rational, logically-oriented parts of the mind leads to behavior which is insensitive to the overall context, to our environment.  The over-development of these parts of the psyche has led to an enormous technological capacity without nearly enough responsibility to use it.  These functions of the psyche are best used in conjunction with the more intuitive instincts inside ourselves that, in the modern world, we hardly realize need acknowledgement and development.  All in all it is most important that we change our behavior - our way of functioning - so that we save ourselves from environmental catastrophe.  But for a true syntropic step of evolution I believe a change in the way we use our consciousness must also occur.

            As I stated before I do not believe the change in functioning we are being called to would be a renunciation of human technology.  In fact, I would say the development of new technology would play a very major role in our evolution.  There is much promise held in sustainable technology efforts currently being made.  The fact that we have come as far as we have with technology - and with culture at large - shows us that the syntropic forces of our universe made the possibility of developing these inherit in the human being.  This seems to be evidence enough of their validity.  The question is whether or not humanity will recognize it's need to evolve - it's need to use technology and culture in a responsible and appropriate way within the context of the natural world.  And ultimately, whether or not we will develop the intuitive sensitivity needed to fully recognize our responsibility as highly-evolved beings in the natural world.

 

References

 Jung, C.G. (1996).  The practice of psychotherapy. In RFC Hull (Trans.), Collected works of C.   G. Jung (Vol. 16).  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

 

Community Service & Psychology- Intro

Over the course of this semester, I will be investigating the overarching effects of community service on a person’s psyche. Personally, I do so much community service that it doesn't even seem like that anymore! I just really like to help people, and community service has become such a huge part of my life that the label no longer does it justice. Doing service and helping others has shed such a positive light on my life, so I want to know what it does for other people. There are so many different directions this research can take me, so my plan is to just go with it.

I will be analyzing the scholarly research around the topic, involving research studies, technical testing and other things like that, but there will also be a personal/anecdotal piece. In working in the realm of community service, there are so many people I can converse with to learn what community service has done for them. If I have the time & resources, I would also like to investigate the effects of service on the people being served. This would be people who attend shelters, soup kitchens, etc. In seeing the other side of community service, we can learn that there is a whole range of people who utilize these services. I have come across people who are extremely grateful, but I have also encountered those with a great sense of pride, not wanting to accept help. I think the dichotomy of the two sides is important in people’s experiences in doing community service.

Really, I just want to know how community service can shape a person. I know for me, doing service has made me a better person. It has made me less judgmental towards those I do not know, and really assume the best of everyone. Everyone has their own experience. Community service has also allowed me to know myself in ways I never knew existed. By helping others, I am able to help myself. So, when others help, are they helping themselves too?

Eco-Psychology Intro Post

The experience of every human being is made up of different "dimensions" of awareness.  Each dimension is a medium by which the human experiences the world.  The dimension of our senses give us input from the physical realm - we look at the colors of a sunset, hear emergency sirens in the distance, feel a cramp when we exercise right after eating.  The dimension of thinking helps interpret, categorize, and symbolize what we are experiencing.  Thinking helps us clarify the meaning of things in relation to ourselves, to our experience.  "If I don't do this paper tonight, it'll be a pain to do tomorrow", "This job pays more, but I would enjoy working for that agency", "We need to figure out a business plan, I propose...".  The emotional dimension tells us what value something has in relation to us.  When we don't care about the outcome of a situation, it is obvious that the outcome doesn't hold much importance for us.  But when we do care, when we are angered at one result and pleased by another, obviously the outcome of this situation held importance.  A proper balance of development and attention to all these dimensions is needed to best understand our experience; they all provide valid, essential information that can help us guide our lives.  I do believe we have more dimensions, but mentioning these will do for now.

 

In our culture there is an emphasis on the value of the thinking dimension.  Our social structure requires us to develop this part of our being both to make enough money to live comfortably and to be respected.  Those of us who by nature spend a lot of time paying attention to this dimension end up over-developing our rational side while ignoring our other sides.  Those who are more right-brain, more emotional and intuitive, doubt the validity of the part of their being they find most natural to live in and express.  They limit how much they develop the part in which the majority of their potential lies.  And those in the middle eventually become more rational as they are encouraged to live more and more in this part of themselves.  In general, the left-brain rational side grows more and more, while the other dimensions of our awareness are ignored and their capabilities atrophy.

 

Now, the right-brain emotional side is the part that connects us to our organism.  The dimension by which we feel helps us get in touch with our emotional and physical sensations.  The better we are able to feel the more of an awareness we have of the physical part of ourselves.  If we balance the time we spend between our rational selves and our emotional selves we can know what our organism needs, and then use our rational parts to help get what it needs.

 

However, because so many people over-develop the rational part and leave the emotional part undeveloped, they have the capability to fulfill their needs but are without a clue of what those needs are!  We know how to make moves in our lives but are not connected to the source that tells us what moves to make.  Our biology intends for us, for our moment-to-moment conscious experience, to be more connected to the physical organism.  But because we spend so much time in the thinking realm we do not take time to pay attention to our physicality.  We do not spend time developing a connection to our bodies.

 

This lack of connection to the physical body causes us to ignore important signs.  We do not realize when our body is telling us we are working too hard, not getting enough sleep, not eating well or exercising enough.  We prioritize fulfilling obligations set by society over caring for our organism.  We skip breakfast but still get coffee to keep up with our work, we spend hours in front of a computer with poor posture and little movement, we ignore signs that we are getting sick.  All of these smaller factors add up to make for poor physical health.  Poor physical health causes stress and poorer emotional health.  And without physical and emotional health we have no kind of foundation for our mental and spiritual health. 

 

I would argue that this lack of connection goes a step further.  Our body and its senses are our closest link with the physical, natural world outside.  We experience the natural world through our body.  Given this, not developing attention to our physical and emotional being severs our connection to the natural world.  This cuts off a vital source of emotional and spiritual rejuvenation.  The human being evolved in nature - nature has been the greater context, the greater medium, in which we came to be what we are.  Humans evolved paying attention to nature - in fact, for the overwhelming majority of the time humans have been on earth they had nothing to pay attention to except nature!  If we are cut off from the part of our being which pays attention to, which appreciates nature, then we cannot make contact with that which has guided our evolution for our entire history.  I believe that this severely stunts our progress in whatever kind of evolution nature is trying to guide us toward next. 

 

In this I find the importance of ecopsychology.  I think if we can figure out how to re-connect our psychology to our biology, and from there consciously better our biology's ability to "tune in" to the natural world, we can find steps to take in our lives that will help us evolve personally and collectively.  I have no doubt nature is trying to give us signals as to how humans need to start living if they are to avoid extinguishing themselves.  It's time to start listening to those signals and to start living in accordance with them.