Tag Archives: change

Culture

5 Ways To Listen Better

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In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, “We are losing our listening.” In this short, fascinating talk, Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening — to other people and the world around you.

Julian Treasure studies sound and helps people and businesses to listen, speak and use sound well.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. For the Silo, David J. Hensley.

Transcript


00:03
We are losing our listening. We spend roughly 60 percent of our communication time listening, but we’re not very good at it. We retain just 25 percent of what we hear. Now — not you, not this talk, but that is generally true.
00:18
(Laughter)
00:19
Let’s define listening as making meaning from sound. It’s a mental process, and it’s a process of extraction.
00:27
We use some pretty cool techniques to do this. One of them is pattern recognition. (Crowd noises) So in a cocktail party like this, if I say, “David, Sara, pay attention” — some of you just sat up. We recognize patterns to distinguish noise from signal, and especially our name. Differencing is another technique we use. If I left this pink noise on for more than a couple of minutes, (Pink noise) you would literally cease to hear it. We listen to differences; we discount sounds that remain the same.
00:56
And then there is a whole range of filters. These filters take us from all sound down to what we pay attention to. Most people are entirely unconscious of these filters. But they actually create our reality in a way, because they tell us what we’re paying attention to right now. I’ll give you one example of that. Intention is very important in sound, in listening. When I married my wife, I promised her I would listen to her every day as if for the first time. Now that’s something I fall short of on a daily basis.
01:28
(Laughter)
01:29
But it’s a great intention to have in a relationship.
01:32
(Laughter)
01:34
But that’s not all. Sound places us in space and in time. If you close your eyes right now in this room, you’re aware of the size of the room from the reverberation and the bouncing of the sound off the surfaces; you’re aware of how many people are around you, because of the micro-noises you’re receiving. And sound places us in time as well, because sound always has time embedded in it. In fact, I would suggest that our listening is the main way that we experience the flow of time from past to future. So, “Sonority is time and meaning” — a great quote.
02:08
I said at the beginning, we’re losing our listening. Why did I say that? Well, there are a lot of reasons for this. First of all, we invented ways of recording — first writing, then audio recording and now video recording as well. The premium on accurate and careful listening has simply disappeared. Secondly, the world is now so noisy, (Noise) with this cacophony going on visually and auditorily, it’s just hard to listen; it’s tiring to listen. Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces like this, shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles. In this scenario, nobody’s listening to anybody.
02:51
We’re becoming impatient. We don’t want oratory anymore; we want sound bites. And the art of conversation is being replaced — dangerously, I think — by personal broadcasting. I don’t know how much listening there is in this conversation, which is sadly very common, especially in the UK. We’re becoming desensitized. Our media have to scream at us with these kinds of headlines in order to get our attention. And that means it’s harder for us to pay attention to the quiet, the subtle, the understated.
03:23
This is a serious problem that we’re losing our listening. This is not trivial, because listening is our access to understanding. Conscious listening always creates understanding, and only without conscious listening can these things happen. A world where we don’t listen to each other at all is a very scary place indeed. So I’d like to share with you five simple exercises, tools you can take away with you, to improve your own conscious listening. Would you like that?
03:55
Audience: Yes!
03:56
Good. The first one is silence. Just three minutes a day of silence is a wonderful exercise to reset your ears and to recalibrate, so that you can hear the quiet again. If you can’t get absolute silence, go for quiet, that’s absolutely fine.
04:13
Second, I call this “the mixer.” (Noise) So even if you’re in a noisy environment like this — and we all spend a lot of time in places like this — listen in the coffee bar to how many channels of sound can I hear? How many individual channels in that mix am I listening to? You can do it in a beautiful place as well, like in a lake. How many birds am I hearing? Where are they? Where are those ripples? It’s a great exercise for improving the quality of your listening.
04:40
Third, this exercise I call “savoring,” and this is a beautiful exercise. It’s about enjoying mundane sounds. This, for example, is my tumble dryer.
04:49
(Dryer)
04:50
It’s a waltz — one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three. I love it! Or just try this one on for size.
04:58
(Coffee grinder)
05:07
Wow! So, mundane sounds can be really interesting — if you pay attention. I call that the “hidden choir” — it’s around us all the time.
05:16
The next exercise is probably the most important of all of these, if you just take one thing away. This is listening positions — the idea that you can move your listening position to what’s appropriate to what you’re listening to. This is playing with those filters. Remember I gave you those filters? It’s starting to play with them as levers, to get conscious about them and to move to different places. These are just some of the listening positions, or scales of listening positions, that you can use. There are many. Have fun with that. It’s very exciting.
05:46
And finally, an acronym. You can use this in listening, in communication. If you’re in any one of those roles — and I think that probably is everybody who’s listening to this talk — the acronym is RASA, which is the Sanskrit word for “juice” or “essence.” And RASA stands for “Receive,” which means pay attention to the person; “Appreciate,” making little noises like “hmm,” “oh,” “OK”; “Summarize” — the word “so” is very important in communication; and “Ask,” ask questions afterwards.
06:18
Now sound is my passion, it’s my life. I wrote a whole book about it. So I live to listen. That’s too much to ask for most people. But I believe that every human being needs to listen consciously in order to live fully — connected in space and in time to the physical world around us, connected in understanding to each other, not to mention spiritually connected, because every spiritual path I know of has listening and contemplation at its heart.
06:46
That’s why we need to teach listening in our schools as a skill. Why is it not taught? It’s crazy. And if we can teach listening in our schools, we can take our listening off that slippery slope to that dangerous, scary world that I talked about, and move it to a place where everybody is consciously listening all the time, or at least capable of doing it.
07:07
Now, I don’t know how to do that, but this is TED, and I think the TED community is capable of anything. So I invite you to connect with me, connect with each other, take this mission out. And let’s get listening taught in schools, and transform the world in one generation to a conscious, listening world — a world of connection, a world of understanding and a world of peace.
07:29
Thank you for listening to me today.

Finance

African Shaman- Devotion To Your Business Is Key To Success

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What does it take to make $1 Million Dollars at a business in just six months? Devotion. However, according to one expert, devotion and commitment are two totally different things.

Makhosi Nejeser, known as “The Royal Shaman”, is an authentic African shaman specializing in energetic alignment and human potential.  She helps individuals create powerful transformations amplifying success and mentors high performing entrepreneurs. Makhosi is being recognized as a Spiritual Guide For Business Empires. Asked about devotion versus commitment she said:

“You have to be all in. Devotion is that. It’s the same thing that generates $1M in revenue.

Right now, as a society we suck at this.

Devotion is a different energy. When you’re devoted to something you’re approaching it with your whole heart. Commitment is about what you can get out of a situation. Devotion is about what you can give. Commitment equals responsibility while devotion is love.  

It’s the ones that are devoted to their message and vision that really win big.”

With years of experience in mental & spiritual wellness, Makhosi can give valuable insight on:

  • Her journey from making $8/hour to generating $1M in revenue over just 6 months
  • Becoming your best by taking aligned action and implementing incremental change
  • Turning obstacles into opportunities and portals of evolution that improve yourself
  • How using integration can bring fulfillment, freedom, and mastery to your life
  • Understanding the energetic blueprint to reach your greatest human potential
  • Rewiring C-Suite executives and guiding their teams to maximize themselves

Referred to as “The Get Sh*t Done Shaman” by Refinery29, profiled in Business Insider, and featured for her expertise in POPSUGAR, Entrepreneur, Authority, Thrive Global, Nicki Swift, and on LA news station KTLA 5, Makhosi can provide incredible insight.

Culture

Women Of 1970s & 1980s Punk Rock

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Z.Z. “Carrot Woman” Howell

The punk rock scene of the 1970s and ’80s in Southern California is widely acknowledged as one of the most vibrant and creative periods in rock and roll.

Over the years, many books have come out exploring this explosive time in music and culture, but none have exclusively focused on the vitality and influence of the women who played such a crucial role in this incredibly dynamic movement.

“Almost a decade ago- IN THE SUMMER OF 2012, I attended an oral history workshop by the social justice organization Voice of Witness. I’m a librarian and professor at Santa Ana College and I participated in the workshop to discover projects I could do with students. I ended up imagining something entirely different: interviewing other women like me, now in our middle or later years, who grew up in the punk rock scene in Southern California. Did punk rock influence the rest of their lives? What attracted them to punk rock and how did they get involved? What was it like being a woman in the scene?

What you can now hold in your hands is the final result of a project that took several years and countless hours to complete.

How did I do it? I created a flyer about the project. I posted the flyer a few places around Orange County and Los Angeles and on Facebook. Women started contacting me to participate. I wrote up a list of questions and bought two digital recorders. I emailed some women directly and asked if they would be willing to participate. Then I started calling women and meeting them, mostly in their homes. A friend called it “punk rock anthropology.” I had no idea what an amazing experience this would be.“

Stacy Russo has created a unique book about the punk rock era, focusing on the women who were such a huge part of it. We Were Going to Change the World: Interviews with Women From the 1970s & 1980s Southern California Punk Rock Scene (Santa Monica Press/2017) captures the stories of women who were active in the punk rock scene in Southern California during this historic time, adding an important voice to the cultural and musical record. Recommended reading. For the Silo, Trina Kaye.

Politics

Commonwealth Sec. General- Young People Need Our Support

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Our world seems to be changing faster than ever – technologically, environmentally, socially – and in so many other ways. It is hard for any of us to keep up with the astonishing pace and scale of developments, and their impact for better or for worse on our own lives and the ways in which they affect the future of our planet. 

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Yet too often it seems that those with the greatest stake in the future, are least empowered to shape it: young people. This is something the Commonwealth has for more than 50 years been working hard to change; and never more so than today.

Population growth means that there are now more young people in the Commonwealth than ever before, and this offers choices and challenges for all involved in planning and making policy, and for young people themselves. The combined population of the Commonwealth is now 2.4 billion, of which more than 60 per cent are aged 29 or under, and one in three between the ages of 15 and 29.

Through social media, young people are more connected, informed, engaged and globally-aware than ever before. Even so, their potential to drive progress and innovation is often overlooked or remains untapped, despite pioneering Commonwealth leadership over the decades on inclusiveness and intergenerational connection.

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Since the 1970s, Commonwealth cooperation has supported member states with provision of education and training for youth workers, who have a central role to play in encouraging, enabling, and empowering young people. Practitioners may be of any age, and operate in many settings: youth clubs, parks, schools, prisons, hospitals, on the streets and in rural areas.

Commonwealth approaches and engagement recognise the dynamic role youth workers can play in addressing young people’s welfare and rights, and in connecting and involving them in decision-making process at all levels. In some Commonwealth countries, youth work is a distinct profession, acknowledged in policy and legislation to deliver and certify quality of practice, including through education and training. In others it is institutionalised less formally through custom and practice. In some countries there is little or no youth work activity – formal or informal.

To advance the cause of young people, and their direct participation in nation-building and the issues affecting them, the Commonwealth Secretariat supports the governments of member countries with technical assistance relating to policy and legislation in professionalising youth work. A pioneering Commonwealth contribution is the Commonwealth Diploma in Youth Development, which has been delivered in almost 30 Commonwealth member states.

The new Commonwealth Degree and Diploma in Youth Work provides countries with a resource for developing human capital using a consortium business model that makes the training resources accessible at low cost for persons in low income contexts.

The Commonwealth also supports the global collectivisation of youth work professionals through the emerging Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Workers’ Associations (CAYWA), an international association of professional associations dedicated to advancing youth work across the Commonwealth. CAYWA facilitates the cross-pollination of ideas and collegial support among youth work practitioners, and is developing into a unified global influence providing support to governments and all stakeholders in youth work profession.

Expertise is offered by the Commonwealth Secretariat with the design of short courses and outcomes frameworks that support just-in-time and refresher training to augment diploma and degree qualifications. Guidance is also offered on establishing youth worker associations that can help towards building and sustaining professional standards, thereby safeguarding the quality of services offered to young people.

In 2019 a conference in Malta bringing together youth workers from throughout the Commonwealth continued to build recognition and professional standards of youth work in member countries. Among outcomes was the establishment of a week-long celebration of the extraordinary services of full-time practitioners and volunteers – recognized as youth workers – who support the personal development and empowerment of young people.

Youth Work Week, with the theme ‘Youth Work in Action’, was observed 4 -10 November 2019 in the 53 member states of the Commonwealth including Canada.

Looking forward to the 2020 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda next June, Youth Work Week will bring into sharper focus the challenges young people in our member countries face, and the opportunities they are offered – including through Commonwealth connection.

By recruiting and placing appropriately trained and properly supported youth workers, communities in Commonwealth countries can help young people channel their energies and talent in positive directions, especially during the transition from education into work.

Supported by positive role models and with mentors to whom they can relate, young people can be guided towards healthy and productive lives. When equipped to develop as well-rounded individuals and to contribute to the societies in which they live, young people can make immense contributions towards transforming our communities and our Commonwealth and – above all – to their own future.

For The Silo, by Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General

Culture

A Basic Visual Guide On Helping Your Children Through Divorce

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For children, divorce can be an extremely upsetting and stressful time. Their world changes and it’s confusing. They may feel uncertain, scared, angry, hurt and depressed. As a parent, you can make the process less stressful for your children by being aware of ways to make the process less unsettling for them.

Your understanding, patience and reassurance can help greatly in your child’s adjustment. The infographic below via our friends at Browell Smith & Co Solicitors shows ways for you to reduce your child’s pain by making their well-being the most important part of the transition.

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Culture

Ontario Girls Camp Stands Apart Via Social Action And Self Esteem

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Our future- values and esteem guide young girls development at Camp Stella Puella

Camp Stella Puella (“star girl” in Latin) is a summer camp “with a higher purpose,” says co-founder Mina Kazemi. Since she began in Dunnville,Ontario in 2008, along with cousin and co-director Julia Salco, the goal has been to provide young girls with a fun environment in which to explore issues of self-esteem, as well as introduce them to social action on a global scale, in hopes of instilling a passion to make positive change in the world.

It wasn’t long before Mina’s older sister Yasmin joined the team, two young women uniquely qualified to bring the world to Dunnville’s children. Mina is studying global health at the University of Toronto, has taken a world literacy trip to Ek Balam Mexico, and travelled to Kenya in 2009 with the Me to We program who, along with their charitable partner Free the Children, seeks to empower youth through activism at home and across the planet.

Yasmin also studies science and global health, has spent time in Ecuador volunteering at a childcare centre, and has been active since 2009 with Community Living. Last year she was president of the Best Buddies program, which matches a university student with a developmentally disabled adult to provide mentoring and friendship. All three young women are lifeguards with National Life Saving and first aid certification.

An emphasis on self-esteem and social action is what “sets us apart from other summer camps,” Yasmin says. Here’s how it works: at the beginning of the week, counselors introduce their campers to three issues of global significance—could be child labour, global warming, and how to find slave and sweatshop-free merchandise for more conscientious consumption. Or, perhaps, why girls can’t go to school in India. Through the process of building consensus with the children, a theme for the week is chosen, and the kids begin learning through age appropriate activities. Always they are taught that thinking globally begins with how we act locally, right here at home. Every week, as well, the children help plan a fundraiser based on their chosen theme. As an example, last year, after a week of learning about environmental issues, they organized an eco-spa with proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund to help save endangered species.

After 5 summers, things are going well. This year a sister camp is active in Hamilton, and the Dunnville contingent is adding some overnight trips to their agenda. When I asked Mina what her motivation for all this work was, she told me that when she was a little girl, she loved going to camp. “It’s a place where long lasting friendships can be forged. And it can be character building too.” It sounds like these three ambitious young women have come up with a formula for a summer camp experience that can be both fun and formative. Every day there is some self-esteem building activity. Building on that foundation of self-love, a bunch of young girls are discovering there is a whole world out there waiting for people of conscience, just like them. For the Silo, Chris Dowber.

UPDATE March1, 2017– Camp Stella Puella does not currently have an active camping program but they continue to engage and offer services. There are plans in place to renew the camp program to learn more, visit www.stellapuella.ca or call 905-774-8601. Please mention The Silo when contacting.