Welcome to May's Slim Down
What's Your Story?
If you told us the story of your life what would the main themes be? If we categorised you in a library (imagining the autobiography section didn't exist!) where would we find you…? Travel? Parenting? Art? Politics? Sport? Horticulture?
We've all got a tale to tell and any life could be told in many different ways. Some of us choose to play up the positive, to focus on what's good and tell a tale of triumph. Others might linger on the disappointments, problems and churn out a misery memoir. One famous life development guru, Stephen Covey, says we should imagine the story that'll be told at our funeral and use that to shape our lives into something we'll be proud to have lived. A bit morbid but it gets you thinking!
So this month we wanted to focus on doing something different about the way we tell our story to the (different) people we meet. Ronni Abergel recently brought the first UK 'Living Library' (www.living-library.org) event to London. Here readers could borrow a person for a 30-minute chat instead of the usual paper and print. Imagine being able to talk back to a book and delve deeper into the bits you find most fascinating….Brilliant!
The movement, which started in Denmark 8 years ago, is about dispelling prejudices by getting people together who would be unlikely to otherwise meet. At this first UK event the 'books' for borrowing included a police officer, a gay man, a vegan, a male nanny as well as 'person with mental health difficulties' and an ex-mobster.
Anecdotes about what went on between the 'books' and their 'readers' suggests that everyone learnt something about themselves as well as someone else. Back in the office, we wondered how the human 'books' spun their tales of handling prejudice and shaping their lives. And what of the readers - having had a chat with someone they may have had preconceived ideas about, how had they been changed?
When we come into contact with different people we unconsciously take on some of their character traits. Two Dutch psychologists, and Dijksterhui and van Knippenberg, carried out an experiment where people had to think themselves into the role of either a University professor or a football hooligan. They then played Trivial Pursuit and those who'd imagined themselves a professor outperformed those who'd thought about being a football hoologan. General knowledge tests also found differences between the two groups, even though there was no difference in their intelligence at the outset. The effects didn't last, which is a shame because if they did our own imaginations could make us cleverer. But they did show the profound impact on our minds of simply putting ourselves in someone else's shoes for a short time.
One thing's for sure, talking to people we might usually not - be they from a different community, ethnicity or background - is an excellent DSD because it opens us up to new ideas that might lead us to new ways of thinking and being.
Which gets us thinking about meeting you all at the DSD forum - there's a growing community of people from different backgrounds supporting one another on their No Diet Diet journey and we're all the richer for every new person that comes to share their ideas, so thanks for joining in. Espeically the latest DSD-er who told us how she's changed:
If I had to sum up the predominant change I have made it would be becoming more of a risk-taker, and learning how to "purposely'' change my attitude and perspective on things that would have normally stressed me out. Thus, I'm a more peaceful person.
So that's our little mind-moving thought for this month and until next time, may you enjoy conversations with unusual suspects and crafting your stories with sparkle.
Yours with open minds and attentive ears,
The No Diet Diet Way Team