大象传媒

My grandfather used to tell me I could keep certain sunrise moments alive in my memory. My grandfather trained me to look for moments when I was seeing something that would some day help me to remember the goodness.

He taught me to keep them vivid鈥攕mell them, taste them, and see them鈥攕o that when things got really bad, I could go back there. I remember the first time I did that, there were a bunch of moments that meant nothing to anyone else where the world was filled with beauty.

When things get really bad, I go into those moments 鈥� and I鈥檓 okay.

Family story of Victoria Hykes Steere, I帽upiat Community, Arctic Slope, Alaska

Note for Educators

If your students heed grandfather鈥檚 advice, they will look back through memories and moments that stand out, and use these in the future as sources of strength.

Here are three activities that will help your students create or discover narratives of inspiration and resilience:

1)听听 Look back at moments in your life when you truly felt alive or felt goodness around you. Can you taste or smell those moments? Write about such a memory that conjures these feelings, and that you might go to lift your spirits when life seems overwhelming.

2)听听 Commit to memory a time when you dared to be brave.听 Pull those feelings forward in a story or written passage where your tenacity or other people鈥檚 goodness were remedies to a challenging or bleak time.

3)听听 Have a conversation with your parents, grandparents, or other family members about your own family鈥檚 stories of strength and virtue. How did your great grandma feed her family during World War II? When the mill laid off many of its employees, what did Uncle Stewart do for kids whose families couldn鈥檛 afford a baseball uniform? Discover at least one 鈥渨e can get through difficult times鈥� story from your family.

• Stories that Light Up the Dark: Read Sanjay Khanna’s full article, written for A Resilient Community, the Fall 2010 issue of 大象传媒 Magazine.

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READ NEWSLETTER: Go Green! Go Simple! Preparing your students for an uncertain world

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