Marcus O'Donnell
Director, Cloud Learning Futures at Deakin. He has worked in the media & health industries, & his research includes digital learning, contemplative pedagogies, & student resilience.
Location Deakin University Melbourne, Australia
Activity
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Lindsey Frew
These are good examples @LindseyFrew of how different circumstances or the different "ecologies" we live in will influence us. I noticed in the last step you talked about "role-modeling" that's another example of an ecology that you create to inspire your selves and each other. In talking about "resilience towards gossip/jealousy" did you mean that we take...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Hayley D
I love that phrase you used @JenniferWilson "controlled, stealthy resilience" do you have any more thoughts on what that might mean...?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to LEIZEL QUITE
Thats a great example @LEIZELQUITE what is interesting for me here is that this not only helped you reframe the current situation, but if I hear you correctly it is contributing to a larger reframing about the ways learning can take place!
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Thanks for sharing this @AmandaLeaS and @JonathanAina I think this fear of public speaking or fear of sharing our real thoughts in a group is very common. I'm interested to hear from you about what happened next. After you learned that you could speak in public and gradually came to be a little more at ease with that, did it have a wider effect on your...
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Thanks @PatriciaBenvenuti the balance of finding resilience through our own inner resources and finding resilience with others is something we will cover later in the course...so I appreciate how difficult it must be going through the pandemic in Italy right now away from family and friends. I'm very interested in your comment about exposing yourself...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Vibeke P
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to John Lateano
Unflustered is a lovely word isn't it? It has the ring of simplicity. Thanks for sharing @JohnLateano
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Mary Akinyemi
Thanks @MaryAkinyemi I'm interested in the way you have linked tenacity and self-care. What does "tenacious self-care" look like for you?
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Hi everyone - it's great to be with you all here in this course. Every time we run the course I am amazed at the stories that emerge and the many different ways people find to build resilience in their life. So I am particularly thankful that we can share and support one another in this stressful time. As we navigate this pandemic where one of the main ways we...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Zara Rubenstein
Thanks @ZaraRubenstein really appreciated your perspective from Zimbabwe
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Murdina Campbell
That's a great question @MurdinaCampbell I know many people really enjoy the Monash Mindfulness courses - also here on FutureLearn https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mindfulness-life
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That's a wonderful tip @AnnalisaRivoli
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Thanks for sharing your story @ZaraRubenstein it's fantastic to have you with us on the course from Zimbabwe. Your story here hits many of the notes that we will be touching on in the course but what struck me was the connection you drew between your self-confidence and your love of learning. What is it about that learning-loving process that renewed your...
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Thanks @Ashley glad to see you returning for another course with us. It definitely makes a difference when learners engage and "pay it forward" - as we will discuss later resilience is very much something we do with others so engaging with one another here is a great place to start. Anyone else have 'tips' to add?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Lynda B
Thanks @LyndaB interesting parallels with your professional life and your personal life do you find any differences in the way your react as a nurse or as a partner/friend?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Rose Gardener
Thanks @RoseGardener that's a great summary of the different approaches that are being talked abut in the comments from other learners - we will look at mindfulness later in the course
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Great question @TündeHerda choice is an interesting part of the resilience puzzle. Certainly the traditional notion of resilience is that it happens as a response to a major adverse event. Such events whether they are big single events or some sense of ongoing trauma over time can leave us with a feeling of "no-choice". But psychological theories like...
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That's a great question @IanChambers - we will look at how community and resilience come together as we move through the course. What are your thoughts on this?
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@DharaJoshi That's a really important point - we all have different and developing capacity and I think part of compassion is "self-compassion" which we will talk about next week. Being self compassionate allows us to focus our capacity in a gentle way. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Welcome everyone - great to see so much discussion on day one. I love seeing the many different perspectives emerge as people talk through their ideas. Looking forward to engaging with you all over the next few weeks
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Thanks everyone for your comments and stories there seems to be a common theme here: about fear and lack of confidence. Some learners have mentioned how weighing things up - trying to see all aspects of the problem - helps confirm their instincts and gives them more confidence, for others this endless rationalising can be a way of avoiding a final jump. I'm...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Yvonne Simpson
thanks for sharing this @YvonneSimpson
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Fiona Forrest
I think that's very true @FionaForrest resilience over the long-term is often harder than resilience over the shortchanged-term. Thinking back on the experience you mentioned can you see now something that might have helped that insight to grow at the time?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Michaela W
That's a great thing to focus on @MichaelaW and it brings in a lot of the other points learners have raised as points of focus such as self care and better communication. What kind of support or resources do you think you need to do this?
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I love the idea that resilience has a lot of different "moving parts" - thanks for that comment @SandraO'Hara
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Thanks @EllieCrouch @MlamliKentane I think you are absolutely right "resilience" has often been co-opted in a corporate context but I am encouraged by more and more big companies who are taking a very sophisticated and employee centred approach. Good luck with your journey.
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Thanks Peter. Good luck on your next life experiment - perhaps you can come back on our next run and update us!
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Thanks for the comment @RitsukoTAMADA I do hope that you find some practical ways of using some of the techniques and that this helps you in dealing with your depression. Very best
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That's a great insight and a very practical way of putting it into practice @EmmaCampolucci
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@ParveenMann you will retain access for the next two weeks and we tend to have new students beginning all the time so please feel free to dip back into areas you found helpful
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Thanks @robinbanks - I think you are right it is often hard to gain that sense of real connection online, but hopefully you will begin to have some conversations with other learners in this course
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to J N
Glad you are back with us @JN and glad you have such find memories
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Pauline Girling
Thanks @PaulineGirling - "intuitive" is an interesting word in terms of resilience - can you share more about why you chose that word - I think it does open up an interesting point of view on resilience.
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Lora Ibrahim
Great summary of a lot of the themes we will be exploring! Thanks for sharing
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Irene Wyndham
That's a really interesting perspective @IreneWyndham - one of the things we will talk about is getting that balance right and the way we involve or draw upon others in our resilience journey. Can you imagine ways others might help you build that internal resolute focus?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Karen Vidler
Glad first impressions are good @KarenVidler
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Hi Everyone I'm looking forward to working through the course with you and to hear everyone's thoughts and experience. Each time we run this course it is really exciting to listen to the diverse range of ideas and people's reflections on their own story. So I would really encourage everyone to jump in and share.
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Laura Jorgensen
Thanks @LauraJorgensen and @RajGill-Harrison for raising the complex cycle of nurturing relationships. I am also touched that you mention "Gratitude" @RajGill-Harrison even in what seems to have been a very difficult time. How do you think we carry "gratitude" when we are in a difficult place?
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Thanks @MaxineThomas that's an interesting definition from Rick Hansen. It starts with the standard "cope with adversity" through a "push" or "bounce" but then adds "in pursuit of opportunities" - which adds a sense of forward focus and perhaps optimism or hope. Is hope the lever of resilience? What do you think?
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You have raised an important point @HenriettaCoker - resilience is about our own internal process, but it is also something we navigate in public. I'm interested in other people's thoughts on how these internal and public journeys intersect with each other....
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That's definitely a challenge @AlisonTeague. What are your first thoughts on strategies for this?
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This is an interesting example @BethanDye thanks for sharing - it is often easy to do the "bounce" the first time but when we have a reoccurring challenge the 'bounce' perhaps has to be a little more deliberate or focused. Does bringing this extra energy to bear, help us to understand resilience, in a deeper way, do you think?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Carol L
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That's a really good idea @FranLight - learners do tend to come in at different times.
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Welcome everyone, great to see the discussion here started in such a vibrant way. Interesting that in the word cloud and in people's thoughts here there is an emerging balance between "strength" and "flexibility" and other related concepts. But I'm also interested to see people mentioning concepts like 'wisdom' 'love' and 'focus'. I'd be interested in people's...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Emma Cunningham
I like that @EmmaCunningham resilience demands we pull all sorts of things from all sorts of places!
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Thanks @ColinWarren - I think you are right connection underpins everything - particularly online - but for me its different to the three "Cs" which are more about the attitudes we bring to the way we connect. Does that make sense? or do you see it differently?
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"Habit bundling" That's a useful phrase @GeorgiaPapaioannou @JuliaP - the idea of a bundle also implies that things knock around together - it can be a lose bundle or a tight bundle.
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great take-away @AntjeCastien-Runge it is so important to focus on both how we succeed and how we fail but as you say with an eye to future success
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Terrific 3 point summary @Hans-GeorgWillmann - thank you
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Isabel Rouco
not sure how to take that comment @IsabelRouco :)
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That's a great question @KateLeech - very keen to hear what other's say.
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I know that feeling @AmyD - it is often hard to think in the moment in a job interview. But if we gradually become aware of the types of broad skillsets we need in our sector, its a good idea to keep a notebook. When you find yourself in a "dealing with difficult people" moment, for example - jot down some of the ways you find yourself dealing with them. It's...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Hans-Georg Willmann
The teeth and clenched jaw are a real tell-tale sign aren't they! I often check-in with my teeth to see how I am going - I find just letting go of tension in the mouth and jaw can have a really big effect - brings you back to the moment as well.
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We'll be looking at self-talk in the second week @GemmaBoyd and @SuzanneB - I think its one we all struggle with this.
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Andre H
A very perceptive comment @AndreH framing this in terms of possibility is a great way of thinking through possible strangeness!
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Thanks @ChrisCahill & @AndrewJ we look a bot more at meditation and self care in week 2 I agree this is very important - mindfulness is part of fostering that open attitude of "observation, curiosity and intuition" Chris mentions.
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That's very true @KateReillyJames - having skills is one thing, being able to tell the story of your skills is a skill in itself and one that is particularly needed in job interviews. As someone who has done a lot of interviews on the employer side, I know I am always looking for people who use very concrete examples and can confidently talk through how they have...
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A really rich discussion here and some great points. @CarolinaBaioni makes the point that perhaps motivation and determination are important at different points in the process - beginning and follow through. This links with @ElenaFossati's point that self awareness is important - so we have to be aware of how we are going in a process and what point we are at,...
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Thanks for sharing this @Gemma, I think this attitude of purposeful waiting, committing to the process of discovery is just as important as "Purpose" with a capital "P"
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Alan Yost
Thanks @April, that's right a digital credential is really some kind of certification provided in digital form. This can range from a MOOC certificate of completion to mini courses which stack up together into a university level credit. It's all about providing learners with shorter more flexible ways of building up a learner portfolio. The digital bit means...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Shayna Shaw
Thanks for sharing this @Shayna, what you share about your journey is really instructive: "Adopting a learning mindset is part of how I got to the point where I work without supervision". and "I want to show I'm worthy of it by self-managing as best as possible" This really points beautifully to the cycle of self-management skills and confidence: once we begin...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Alan Yost
Thanks @AlanYost that's a great analogy.
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Thanks @Penny we haven't dealt specifically with the digital aspects of self-management but thanks for raising this it is a very important part of the contemporary challenge.
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Thanks James that's a good way of seeing the inter-relationship between the two aspects of self-management. And glad you mentioned resilience - that's an important part of the puzzle
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Really pleased to see the responses and the discussion around determination, motivation, purpose and self awareness - we will unpack some of those tricky relationships over the next two weeks. I'm particularly interested in everyone's point of view around the relationship between determination and motivation. Some people seem to think that motivation is more...
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Thanks for making the effort to post @JamesPaveley - looking forward to hearing more over the next two weeks
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Alan Yost
Thanks @AlanYost and @KarenSoutar - I'm glad that you have been able to share here and hopefully we can all build a great learning community over the next two weeks. Looking forward to hearing more of your ideas and experiences.
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Hello everyone, its great to see such a diverse group of learners and thank you or sharing some of your current ideas and challenges. I can already see a number of emerging common themes: people in new situations or stages of transition; aiming to find balance between work and life; aiming to face up to difficult personal challenges; moving from ideas to...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Alan Yost
Thanks for sharing this Alan. You have touched on one of the key dilemmas we will discuss further in the course - how do we move from our old ideas and good intentions to find ways to put them into practice. Is part of the challenge here finding the creative aspects of both the idea development and the idea implementation? What do others think?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Vikki Chan
Great time to focus on self-management, Vikki. Welcome
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Joanne Gould
That's a really great idea @JoanneGould I am not sure how we would organise that but I will give it some thought. Would others be interested in something like this if we prompted learners with an email?
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Dee W.
That's a great topic to think about @DeeW. the relationship between our personal resilience and the resilience of the planet is becoming particularly important. Gaia theory is a fascinating take on our interconnectedness @RoseScott and certainly can inspire a sense of personal resilience through becoming more aware of this great web of life.
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That's really interesting @IlonaLandgraf. Why do you think we listen better in some situations than in others?
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
It's really fascinating reading through everyone's comments and seeing the variety of things that people are interested in trying out in prototyping their life! Health, energy, exercise are big themes that I have noticed. Also enjoyment, humour and gifts. Can you see connections here between the different goals people have laid out?
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Wow! It should link back to Step 2:8 where we asked you to consider the words you used in the first step to describe resilience and then compare it with your personal definition of resilience in the light of the course so far.
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All fixed now - we have loaded a new version. Sorry about that!
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Thanks for pointing this out @NickyAllen - I will get one of our team to look at it and load up a new version
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Thanks for sharing this @ClaireK writing stuff down like this is so helpful isn't it. I really like the way you have approached this from all the different angles and then there it is that insight: What's the worst that could happen? this is a great example of how making explicit some of our past strategies for resilient behaviours helps us craft resilience...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Laureen Pope
I like the way you link attention and intention @LaureenPope they are both about directed focus and they are both such necessary parts of each other. Thanks for sharing this.
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Alice Ferraro
Absolutely, @AliceFerraro you've picked up on one of the key messages in this course. Resilience is a broad skill set not a single thing and certainly not a an internet or static character quality. Thanks for highlighting this in such a clear way
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Beverly MacLean
Thanks @BeverlyMacLean some nice distinctions here. I like the way you have talked about time here, the ability to take control over time that the bounce isn't instant, but that's where the learning is.
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Thanks for sharing these powerful examples @AngelaSaard it sounds like you have been a great strength for us as well - we talk about this next week - in reaching out to help others we often find a new resilience in our own life
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That's a great insight @RavjeetKour - in talking with those close to us, we are reflecting and in reflecting we are playing out possible scenarios, and imagining our selves forward into our lives.
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Great to hear that James and thanks for sharing with us. There's certainly a power in the kindness of others isn't there?
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That must be pretty frustrating @SueMascarenhas - but it shows real resilience!! I've noticed you really getting in and sharing quite a bit with others, so thank you for finding ways to share with us
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Liz Williams
Your last comment @LizWilliams reminds me of the title of a book about meditation and the spiritual life: "After the ecstasy, the laundry". It's certainly in our mundane everyday tasks that we, as you say, "sharpen our sills"
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Carlos Sousa
Thanks for raising this @CarlosSousa that's an interesting perspective but I suspect you and LL are not that far apart in your thinking. The "sweat of training" as you put it, is the generative part that helps you to be flexible and agile, to bounce, in the hard times of battle. The strength you generated allows you to doge the blows, or get up after you were...
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That's an important point @CarriePixie can you think of some strategies to disagree or to respond to disagreements without turning it into an argument?
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that's great @lydiakhelil I'm so glad you did
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
Thanks for sharing all these wonderful stories. The thing that strikes me reading through them is that most of you are saying you combine gut instinct and some sort of logical or reasoned evaluation and that these two approaches are not contradictory but can complement each other. What seems to enable this is "listening". We often talk about listening to our...
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Thanks @SueMascarenhas - that's a lovely little video - I particularly like the notion of "dynamic tension" and the interplay between persisting in the face of change and navigating turbulence
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Robustness is a very nice word isn't it! It is such a full sound, implying lush strength to me somehow. Thanks for sharing that @MonicaLauraVittadini
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I'm glad you've found the relationship to ecosystems @DeeW. we'll look at that later in the course
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Billy R
Interesting perspectives @BillyR and @SharonvdV is there a connection between the idea of not *feeling* defeated, even when you might be relegated from the league, and your ability to regroup and come back? I'm interested in the connection between *feeling" resilient and *feeling* defeated or not defeated. Any further thoughts?
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thanks @PeterWainwright indeed it is often those precious little moments that stay with us and inspire. Great story.
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What a hard beautiful story @JohnLim thank you so much for sharing. It sounds like you gained strength both from your best friend and indeed from your dad. It's a great lesson about how important others are in our resilience story and how when we give time and love to others we often gain strength from that ourselves. And that's not just optimistic thinking...
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Marcus O'Donnell made a comment
I'm so pleased that the idea of the 3 Cs has resonated with so many of you and that you have felt inspired to jump in and share your stories with others. I'm particularly pleased to hear from those of you who say they are not used to sharing like this or don't usually do this in courses. What a privilege to have you join us. Let's really work hard at showing...
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Marcus O'Donnell replied to Chloe D
Welcome to the FutureLearn family @ChloeD hope this is the first of many courses for you
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Thanks @CatherineLuke I'm glad you have joined in and I'm glad the idea of breaking down walls and barriers resonated with you. It's so so important at the moment.
