Becoming a changemaker

[becomingachangemaker]

Being a changemaker

I became who I wanted to be. Now working as an Organizational Developer and Process Designer with self-organized circus collectives, Ministries and large Corporations. Find more information here: https://about.me/annawohlesser

[becomingachangemaker]

What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life? 

[observando]

[becomingachangemaker]

[becomingachangemaker]

In my opinion, anytime a professor accepts responsibility for his students' learning, he denies their existence. He doesn't respect them very much, if at all. If students permit the professor to accept responsibility for their learning, they don't respect themselves (or the professor) very much either

Jerry B. Harvey: Learning to not teach. 

[becomingachangemaker]

there is the concept of every person having a comfort zone, a learning/stretch zone and a panic zone. As the name already says, learning occurs in the stretch zone. How you know you are there? It usually feels a bit uncomfortable, you might be doing things you never did before, you are not completely sure. The good thing: your comfort  zone is constantly expanding. So something that was challenging some time ago, might be really comfortable now. 

[szymon]

[becomingachangemaker]

workisnotajob.com - interesting how we will call work in the future if we all manage to do what we really feel is connecting our talents and interests. 

[becomingachangemaker]

Know what you need! or How to work efficiently and creatively?

"Know when you need to rest, when you need to work, and when you need to socialize. Don’t waste time in one state when your brain or body needs to be in another."

Found this today on my tumblr feed from bustr. And found it inspiring. Especially the part about not wasting time in one state when you are wanting to be in another one.  

Writing my thesis at the moment is making me very aware of how to work efficiently and creatively at the same time. 

Things I have been trying to do: 

Doing the fun and creative things first (did not work, I felt to much drawn to my email inbox, working on this one though)

Writing morning pages (3 handwritten pages to start the day, write down everything that comes to you mind and empty your head) as recommended by Judith Wolfsberger. A book about writing yourself free. In German. Helped me to try to form a new narrative about the usefulness of academic writing. Still working on this one as well. 

How to accomplish more by doing less, an article posted on 99% and recommended to me by my friend Magdalena Jensen about how going for walks and taking breaks help you work more efficiently during the time you focus on work and work only. Still trying to find out the work and walks/sports/food correlation that is working for me

And finally making my working space into a creative space. A room for change. With Naomi den Besten' blog spaziale.org as a huge inspiration. And the first steps I did, then, somehow, I just fell back into my old routine.  So, another: Working on this one. 

So, big need for change. Hm. Somehow I would like to be writing about how I have already overcome my not-so-efficient-and-inspiring-work-moments. And still. I am trying. Will let you know more about it. Next (connected) step: How to do what you really love in life? 

Would it not be great if this somehow would all fall into place. And it will. I keep you posted. 

[becomingachangemaker]

[becomingachangemaker]

[becomingachangemaker]

How systems change is a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time. Not in these concrete words, more as a feeling that I have gotten when trying to explain some new ideas or new approaches to people I am working with. 

I like change and to look at my work from new perspectives. Especially in the field of education I see a big need to find a new system that is more directed towards people's passions, needs and dreams. 

So, here is a video about how systems change. I tried to write up a short summary, however, just watch the video, it is 6min and explains it really well. 

The woman talking in the video is Deborah Frieze. And more background information on the system changes and Berkana you can find here. 

[designdelight]

[becomingachangemaker]

designdelight:

© Zara Picken

[becomingachangemaker]

Creative workspaces - inspiration

At the moment I am very excited about how a creative working space can look like. It is for sure due to the fact that we just moved and I finally get to have my own space. Somehow it is a bit awkwardly placed in the room and therefore I am trying to get inspiration of the internet. (is there anything you cannot get from the internet) I told you about Naomi's blog spaziale.org and here are some other things I found: 

http://fromyourdesks.com/ -> A Desk is where we work. Symbolic.  Physical.  Present. A second and third home. A Desk is a platform.  A heart.  Roots are planted.  It’s a place, a sanctuary, where hours upon hours pass.

She asks people to take pictures of their desks. Uncensored, so with the mess and all. And on her blog she shows the results. 

http://workplacepdx.com/ -> The aim of work.place is to understandcreative processes and the places that contain them.

Creative workplaces in Portland Oregon.   

[becomingachangemaker]

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity. (Christopher Morley, writer 1890-1957)

[becomingachangemaker]

How to create an inspiring working/learning space?

My friend Naomi den Besten (yes, she is called "the best") has a blog since several months that is all about creative working and learning environments called spaziale.org . When I asked her why on her blog she mainly talks about working environments she said: I use those two words, working and learning, interchangeable. To learn is to work and to work is to learn. 

That speaks a lot I think about the kind of environment Naomi is working in. She writes that her blog is about room(s) for change. She is explore how fysical space can contribute to learning, innovation and change. So that we can make the places we find ourselves in as beautiful and inspiring as they can be."

  I wanted to make you especially aware about some very concrete things you can do for your own working space. These articles are especially interesting to me as I also am planning on redoing my working/learning space. 

How to design a personal creative workspace 

Design your own creative space 

[ohsnix]

[becomingachangemaker]

At the moment when people ask me what I do I answer: I am working in education. Somehow those last months I have not been really satisfied with this answer. At the moment I am trying to come up with a new one. 

Some of the descriptions might be: 

I support people in finding their own way.  I empower people to take responsability for their life. I am questioning the way education is perceived by our society. I am connecting people through what is alive in them. I am trying to find out how we can connect through our needs. Supporting people to construct their preferred stories.

And still, all of this seems so abstract. The initial intention of my blog was to spread what it is I am doing. And I forgot about this a bit lately. I will try to do that more. I have some really interesting trainings and topics coming up I would love to share with you.