We have room to change our experiences

We do have room to change our perceptions and so our experiences and memories.

I am working in a favella in the North zone of Rio de Janeiro. I go there about once a week in a school and share that volonteering with other people;

The place is potentially dangerous as there are drug dealers and they can have "serious exchanges" with the police. Weapons are war weapons here. When the situation becomes dangerous, the people of the school where we help warn us and we stay inside the school premises waiting that things calm down.

I went there with different other volonteers.

Once, I felt OK with a very little anxious feeling i hardly could recognise. It built through very little details; to give an example, I put my handbag in a locked cupboard, like the others did; 

It didn't change the pleasure of sharing time with the kids of the school though !

Another time, I felt OK and totally relaxed;  people working with me left their bags on the benches, not locked in the cupboard; practical work with the children was the same, though i felt different,  in a better way

I have had a different perception of my time there, the relation with the kids was at another level; all went smoother in tiny details

Why ?

The scenario was the same both times, exactly. What changed was the feeling I had because of different behaviours. It changed my perceptions of the situation and then my attitude and my pleasure changed as well. Another memory was in place;

We all have the choice to go through a situation in different ways, being 'blocked' or opening out.

Deciding to be worried or letting go

It can take little to make a positive difference for you and people around you;

preconceptive ideas are always always good to be reconsidered

Your feelings affect your whole person, intellectually and emotionally as well and people around you

Be good to you ! Change the details of your scenarii !

I wish you a magical day !

Here is the link for the project of that school i am working in; Yvonne, the creator of that new pedagogy is an amazing person

http://projetouere.org.br/