2020: Year of the Self

This piece was published in The Egyptian Gazette on January 16th, 2020

On New Year ’s Eve, I and one of my best friends discussed our resolutions for the year. She laughingly said: “I have a single resolution this year:  I will dedicate this year to myself.”

This was a bit of a surprise to me; my friend is one of the most caring and giving persons; she is always preoccupied with the well-being of everyone to the point that she sometimes forgets about her own.

The conversation inspired a new idea in me:  what if everyone made 2020 year of the SELF? Self-discipline, self-awareness, self-respect, self-development… And above all, self-love?  Will such a resolution to commit to the Self lead to a better world?  Or to unlimited struggle and conflict?  Questions kept rattling in my head for the first week of the year. On the 10^th of January, it suddenly dawned on me that making 2020 year of the SELF is an idea worth trying. 

Here are the reasons why:

Because a BETTER YOU is better for everyone around you, especially those you love. A better you is better for this world. It’s all about you. YOUR-SELF. Creating your BEST SELF. How you show up each and every day MATTERS. It matters to you, and how good you feel, but it also matters to everyone and everything connected to you… which is the entire planet. Your energy affects everything.

The overall effect of how you live your life flows throughout this world in ways so powerful you might not believe. The immediate effect of you living your greatest life, and setting the best example has a huge impact and flow on those you love.

Visualize yourself every day:  you wake up healthy, happy, prosperous, and you love your life.  Your cup is full and ready to overflow on those around you.  Your family and friends are BETTER when you are better.  If you are at your happiest, your most positive, your healthiest, your wealthiest – that example and that energy will be seen by those you love and will lift them up.

If you are sad, miserable, angry, negative, in poor health and broke – do you think that will have a positive effect on those around you?

The general effect of who you actually are, what you do and how you feel reaches out like a tree branch and touches so many people.  They then, consciously or unconsciously spread that example to others. A happy mother will make her family happy, a happy teacher will spread joy in her class, a happy manager will get the best work possible from his consequently happy employees and list keeps going on and on.

You being at your BEST has more of an impact on this world than you can ever know.

Your duty this year is YOUR-SELF.  CREATING YOUR GREATEST SELF is the best way to change this world for generations to come.  Shine the light for others to follow. Show the world how amazing life can be when you master YOUR-SELF.

Self-discipline

Show everyone you love what life looks like when you have self-discipline:  you are willing to delay gratification on meaningless things that may be pleasurable or easy now, but lead to a lesser quality life later. You show the discipline to sacrifice trivial stuff, for a greater life, a greater WORLD later. An example of this might be something that tastes good in the moment, but poisons your body, dilutes your energy and therefore affects your quality of life in the future.

Self-awareness

Show the world how amazing life can be when you have self-awareness. The awareness to follow your intuition and gut feeling. The awareness to take responsibility for everything in your life, and consciously choose the best path fearlessly. The self-awareness to take moments to yourself, in quiet and TRUST your inner guidance to make the changes you need to make in your life. To KNOW what is right for you and act on it no matter how others think about it.

Self-respect

Self-respect  keeps you alert to Exclude anything that does not suit you from your life. It is never to let anything in your body, mind or spirit that you wouldn’t want for a loved one.  Self-respect is accepting things in your body, mind, and spirit that enhance your life, not drain the quality of it. It gives the power to say NO out loud to toxic people, toxic circumstances, toxic words, foods and drinks that will not nourish you and all that does not suit you.

Self-development

Show the world how amazing your life can be when you dedicate yourself to self-development in all areas of your life. EVERY SINGLE DAY do things to make you a better version of yourself:  read a good book or article , learn a new skill, listen to things that uplift you and apply everything you learn.  Take small steps every day, knowing that when you keep growing and moving forward… eventually you will look back with PRIDE in amazement at how far you have come.

Self-Love

Show the world how magical life can be when you can look in the mirror and genuinely love the person staring back at you. When you can look in the mirror with PRIDE. With zero sense of comparison with another, just love and appreciation… knowing how far you’ve come and feeling blessed to be alive and to have the opportunity to set an example THIS DAY.

A final word

Don’t take your old-self just as it is from last year into this year. LEARN the lessons and focus on creating this new self. Set a new standard for your life and commit to making this year your best year yet! Create a daily plan to work on YOUR-SELF. Lock in SELF-time every single morning and make it the most important time of your day. NO ONE can take this time from you. No appointments. No work. No social media. Nothing. This is your time, and it is absolutely more important than anything.  It’s time to step into a new YOU.  A new SELF and it’s not just for YOU. It’s for the entire world.

Reaching out to hearts

Reaching out to hearts

By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban

Chairperson of the Department of English

Professor of linguistics

Faculty of Arts

Kafrelsheikh University

 Last Ramadan, I was invited to a cultural event honoring a key intellectual icon in my home city. Few people, most of them had received an invitation like me, were dotted around in the big, elegant theatre at the center of a newly-constructed building, downtown. Paradoxically, the streets were overflowing with people, most of them shoppers . Since then, a host of questions have kept buzzing in my head. I wonder who do cultural and art centers address? How can they reach out to the audience segments who never make it to such events? And how can they become more in tune with the challenges we face as a community?

 Maintaining diversity is the key

This week, I came across many news stories on the growing need for arts and cultural centers and institutions, official and unofficial, to build more bridges to further population segments. "I think it is important to present shows that they can identify with and that they can see themselves represented onstage." BBC quoted  the new director of Arts Center in Bangor, Wales, as saying . "So the important thing is diversity, talking about diversity and communicating diversity in the right way." I thought to myself " Maybe things are not okay there, either".  Problems seem to be far beyond financial shortages, the ghost we always blame.  Rather, they have to do with working in a brutally challenging environment. It becomes so difficult to stick to the old tricks and policies which no longer fit in a world brimmed with diversity, where everyone is  eager to be in the picture and have a say to be heard and respected.

  Furnishing minds and hearts

Culture is in everything in us and around us. It is the way we view the world and act accordingly. Imagine life without a sense of belonging to a community, a set of ideas and values to embrace with fellows, or a common history and future to share with loved ones. The very main tasks of local and national arts and cultural organizations are: to nurture all aspects of culture which shape our identities, foster and educate arts, furnish minds and hearts, raise awareness, promote tolerance and peace, offer a safe haven to endangered crafts and craftsmen and constitute  a key part of everyone's interest and hobbies.

The vacuum left

The vacuum left by the institutions in the cultural arena is usually filled by extremism, ignorance, violence as well as "eccentric", non-mainstream ideologies. This definitely summons a global fight in all possible ways, including offering good education fighting poverty, inequality and unemployment, as well as creating hope and opportunities.  

Failing the test of time

Unfortunately, the current, rustic approach most cultural  and art centers adopt, which has been inherited from past generations, fails the test of time and reflects the deep abyss between the public at large and such organizations, which commonly  target a thin layer of the society, namely the elite, and give priority to elitist arts.

How can cultural and arts institutions rise to the challenge? 

Rising to the challenge may mean that cultural institutions have to deeply revise their  operations and vision  so as to address the needs of a society that is culturally more  diverse than ever and bring about the necessary changes in 

the existing system.

Engaging Diverse Audiences: Try this!

To this end, let us have a look at a summary of a report entitled An introduction to Engaging Diverse Audiences, in which professionals in local and national arts and cultural organizations are urged to try the following procedures to reach out to a wide range of citizens. One is "establishing a foundation" by formulating a clear, inclusive vision, a mission and an action plan. All staff should participate in formulating them, giving priority to equity of  representation to all segments of society. Officials must provide true leadership and creative solutions to the problems ahead. The second step is "assessing your current audience." Data about the audience, their interests as well as  their social , educational and occupational backgrounds must be available directly and indirectly. This is meant to know how the audience see cultural organizations' activities and programmes and whether they are really resonating with their lives. It is super important to know where you are before proceeding any further. The third procedure, according to the report, is  "defining audience segments", with a view of targeting some marginalized ones such as people with disabilities and low-income families. "Determining programming and events" is the fourth procedure. It aims to test the waters and identify the most appealing work to audience. Furthermore, cultural and arts organizations must seek out and embrace ways to connect to audience and share them their local and national events. A YouTube channel, for instance,  posting videos about the rehearsals of upcoming events makes the fans connect with artists and organizations alike  on a deeper and  more profound level. The fifth procedure is " developing a marketing and communications plan". It is about how to sell the programmes and make the necessary publicity utilizing all forms of advertising: flyers, posters, banners, social media, etc. The final procedure  is "evaluating progress". Cultural and arts organizations need to make sure that they managed to hit the target. If the number of audience increases, this is an indication that a progress is being made. If not, amendments to the plan become mandatory. One is to hold focus group sessions, inviting some community members  to hear from them about what went wrong and their suggestions to save the day.

 

No culture is flawless

Finally,  it is so urgent to redefine what is meant by cultural components and re-set cultural agenda to embrace  all activities of a given community. Opera, drama, concerts,  exhibitions, and other forms of fine arts  should be supplemented by all arts appealing to all population at large. Equally important is a deep and serious study of our culture's drawbacks  as no culture is flawless.  This would be the topic of further articles, God willing.

2020: A Fresh Start to Get back on Track

2020:  A Fresh Start to Get back on Track

Has 2019 been a tough year for you?

Have you lost someone dear? A parent or a dear friend?

Have you suffered some setbacks in your career or relationships?

If your answer is a Yes to any of these questions, make sure to finish reading this article to the end.

Rest assured you are not alone; there is not a human being on this planet who goes through life feeling UP 100% of the time. We all get caught up in things we hate and we all lose our way.

Some of us remain lost forever, and some of us find our way back to the path we were destined to travel.  Eckhart Tolle once said: “the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”  Whether you stay lost, or find that path is a choice. If you beat yourself down or lift yourself up, it is a choice… and that choice starts in your own mind. Your reality is not what has happened, but how you frame what has happened.  Change your thoughts and you will change your life.

Here are 5 ways to get back on track, whenever you’ve lost your way.

Number 1. Ignite your inner fire; you need no external motivators.

Why MUST you do what you do? Why MUST you succeed? Why must you get healthy, develop yourself, set a positive example? Why MUST you earn more money, change your attitude, mend your relationships? Who are you doing it for? Why must you keep fighting?

There IS always a reason… and when you find that reason it will keep your fire kindled. It will get you up early and keep you up late. It will inspire you to push harder, to fight longer, to try a different way… to find a way… To never… ever… give up. You’ll still have low moments, but you’ll never stay there.  Find that reason.

Number 2. Know That Life Is Short

Understanding at a deep level that life is short, and you only get one shot at this human experience can be one of the most powerful ways to get you back on track. It’s not a recipe for recklessness or craziness… it’s a knowing that life is short, and everything you are stressing about will likely not matter in the end.

It takes the heaviness off almost every problem. Let it go and focus on doing the things you love: follow your passions, surrounding yourself with great people, be grateful for the life you have inside you, the time you have left… and make the most of that time. Ask yourself:  how do I want to be remembered? How can I conduct myself, today and every other day, so I am remembered that way?

Number 3. Feed Your Mind With Something Positive and Powerful

Consume as much positive, transformative and powerful self-development material as possible. Write your own affirmations, read motivational books, listen to good audios, videos, talk to mentors. It doesn’t matter how to motivate yourself – it only matters that you do. If you feed your mind with powerful content every day, and really take it in,  it is very unlikely you will lose your way.

Ask yourself what you would LOVE to improve in your life, with your personal skills or traits… and then seek the best mentors and content on those topics. You can also feed your mind with your own inner content… this is known as GRATITUDE. There is no more powerful force on earth than gratitude – and if you are really feeling it deep, and practicing it every day, it will ensure you remain in a powerful, positive state.

Number 4. Keep moving

Science has proven physical exercise can lower depression, reduce stress and release endorphins or “happy” chemicals from your brain. So, next time you lose your way… get to the gym… go for a run… sweat – release that tension somewhere positive. Do it daily and continue to grow your physical strength. Your physiology and posture also have a lot to do with how you feel. You will feel very different by standing tall, with your shoulders back and a smile on your face, than you will slumped over, shoulders down and frowning. Take note of your posture when you are down. Be conscious of it. Learn all you can about it and make the needed changes.

Number 5. Set your goals

GOALS are important because they clearly define WHERE you want to go, and keep you on track to getting there. Science (and common sense) will tell you those who set specific and clearly defined goals are much more likely to live successful and fulfilled lives than those who don’t. Here are a few secrets to goal setting:  

Firstly – Be very specific about what you want. Second – Be clear about WHEN you must have it. Finally – DEFINE HOW you will reach that goal.

By getting clear about what you must have and defining how you will get it and by when, you now have a clear purpose to work toward. The chances of you getting off track when you have something IMPORTANT to work towards are very slim. The key is to make it meaningful to you.

Now you know how to get back on track. You know that there are ways to get back on track. You know you don’t have to stay lost. You know next time “THIS TOO SHALL PASS. It will pass.  Keep going and keep growing.