As the day had dried off, we did the activity outside to connect with the elements and the environment. Gort has a lovely walled park in the centre of town, and we found a place to gather there for the group activity. This activity turned into a verbal discussion even though art and natural materials could have been used. Key topics discussed included housing, mental health, climate change, group work challenges and what motivates people to participate in activism.

 

The discussion commenced with another really useful question from KOB:

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‘like, what’s on your mind these days’?

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I said at the beginning. like it’s good to be out, but like, what's on my mind is housing all the time, and homes all the time on my mind, and building, and some new forms of building.
And that's on my mind all the time. What do we need to live? What do you need to know? What’s our need now, is it changing? 01:04:25 KOB

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This led to a discussion on housing issues. CI to reflected that having moved countries, home means different things to them. But that on the way to the workshop was thinking about shelter,

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Shelter is this shelter. We all we all should have a home no matter what. Should it be seen like such a luxury? it's not a luxury. It's basic need. 1:06:30.

 

The relationship between the conditions under which people are living and working and how that impacts their capacity to participate in changemaking activities was highlighted.

 

KOB feels that when people are in constant survival mode… change is not possible for someone in that mode. 01:07:58

CI shares a concern about how people are motivated by frustration which can show up with them in group work contexts and suggested that our bellies need to be full, so that we can perform in collaborative work.

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 I think it puts different intention because for instance if you don't have basic needs for yourself, you start changemaking with the frustration of it, and I don't think you can. You cannot take communities with you to fight together if your intention is very frustrated and probably you don't have the energy to give. So, it's like it's coming somehow based on the frustration that you haven't covered the basic needs for yourself. 01:08:05

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I offered a counter perspective here in the interest of deepening dialogue, particularly as in social movement history it is often the most frustrated that must act and do so with limited resources, and are acting from a position in informed by oppression. CI offered a deeper elucidation of their reflection.

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I was thinking more in terms of leaderships, those that are taking the role of activists. You know they can be led only by frustration. So, in communities, we all come together for different things. We have different needs that are not covered, but like to make social change, I think that you need to figure some things out for yourself in order to have something to give to the others. Like self-awareness and I think you need to have some sort of basics. I think that you go with your belly full your full belly to make change but like probably self-awareness. 

 

CI also highlights the need for groups to identify goals and values to figure out what are the visions for change in general.

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E.g. this is a very democratic issue, let's say. Is it in the centre, or this is like more lefty? In this way you know what perspective the group is going and then you apply praxis to that part to see, OK, so how do we do this? Is it, according to our values, how we define that for all of us as a group?

 

Picking us on Cis really useful question - what are their visions for change I invited people to share their visions. This brought the discussion round to mental health, and concerns and frustration working within mental health services, where two participants worked.

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01:14:17 CM

 I feel there needs to be a huge change within that [ mental health], how it's approached, it's something I'm very passionate about. How we're not schooled with our emotions, it affects everybody in some kind of way. You know when I feel that there can be an intervention.

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01:15:05 KOB

I think everything needs to change, doesn’t it!?
The mental health systems which I've worked in make me so angry. A lot of systems that I've worked in, I realized. That I actually got really angry, yeah. 01:15:14

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CM: I feel angry too yeah

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01:15:25 KOB

The change is so small in any of the systems that I've worked in like healthcare, and little bit education recently, like the rate of change is so slow.

This is what made me so angry, is that it's so miniscule and small, that that's all you can work on. Once there's a bit of movement, that's all there can be. You never know if what you want to see it Is going to manifest or not.

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01:17:38 CM The shadow is it. Kind of another part of ourselves.

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CI reflects on mental health within group process, and also raises the issue of assumptions we can make about what is stopping change occurring and barriers to people participating in changemaking.

 

 Anxiety and feelings of powerlessness can be present. And,

Sometimes we think other people around us are not aware, or that they are oblivious about some things, but I think there's also the anxiety to think about the change generally.  Everybody is stuck in their jobs and families trying to, you know, take it day by day. And I don't know where the time and space is to actually reflect about bigger issues? I would say it's connected also to the way that we define work nowadays, because we tend to kind of measure even our self-worth based on, I need to do this for work because my boss waits for this result. Or they are focusing on that they have to do at home, especially for people with kids. They have to, care about them. So where is the room to actually think about issues and reflect and see about change actions?

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KOB: So how am I connected to this? What can I do? What's my power in this?

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01:40:55 KOB added to the discussion on what is stopping change. They recalled hearing a podcast in which the following perspective on people and changemaking was offered :

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There are three types of people, the people who want to change, the people who don't ever want to change, who want to remain the same in full, and then the people in between. And he was saying, never talk to people who just want to stay in between or the same, you have to always find people who are willing to change. I never heard that, I just presumed that everybody wants to change in a way. But no.