I, like many others, grew up with the belief that, “I can’t do that; I’m not good enough”. Over the years I’ve met so many amazing entrepreneurs and activists in the social change space who have experienced these same doubts, and yet they are also achieving great things. These types of people are my daily inspiration.
During a recent ten day retreat in Bhutan called the Slow Change Experience, I spent time with 18 other changemakers and we all shared our personal stories. Listening to some of the hardships others have overcome helped me to understand that we are all the same. All of us have experienced challenges in our lives, yet so many of us continue to strive for better and kinder world, and we can best thrive with a strong supportive community around us.
Following my experiences in Bhutan, I started a Human Kind Stories Instagram page to connect to people who are doing great things in the world and who want to share their efforts with others.
Stories shared so far
So far Human Kind Stories has received some very inspiring contributions. For example, Dr. Saamdu Chetri, who shares details about his work at Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Centre, saying, “we take people on a deep journey of inner transformation and understanding. We encourage participants to ask the right questions about their life and their purpose. We help them to see the world with their own eyes, to return and reflect on their daily lives and to reach a realisation – a deeper calling – to help them prototype what they want to change in their lives so they can make those exact changes themselves”.
The Network of Wellbeing’s Florence Scialom has also contributed. Sharing her views on the importance of connecting to each other, Florence said, “over time, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the importance of interdependence and community. We can’t create wider societal change on our own; we need each other, and there’s a real beauty in that.”
We’ve also heard from:
- Shamash Alidina on the value of ‘kindfulness’; practicing mindfulness and being kind to yourself
- Heshan Fernando on his experiences of being an advocate for a fairer and happier planet
- My own entry about honouring and respecting indigenous peoples and respecting our connection to the land
These stories are all personal journeys of growth, purpose, mindfulness and kindness. Sharing these stories will hopefully help motivate others to live a life in line with their values, while also allowing for people to be honest about difficulties that may be faced along the way. Each and every one of us experience adversities at some point in our life, and it can be really valuable to openly talk about this, while not letting go of hope for the future.
I hope that each one of these little stories can help others to see that we’re all similar in our diversity; we’re all humans looking for meaning, and what we give our time and energy to helps to shape the broader stories that make up our life.
To find out more, follow @humankindstories on Instagram.