3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV

Issue # 39 /  April 6th , 2021

Are you angry with the pandemic? with your friend? your neighbour? your spouse? your colleague? yourself? Are you an anger erupt-or or an anger stuff-or? How does it impact your behaviour, your own mental and physical health? Did you know that anger reveals boundaries, anger heals trauma, anger inspires action? Anger is an emotion that is most hated, more than hate in the world and yet, there are ways to make anger our ally. Want to know how? read on.

Three Images For The Week

Two Thoughts For The Week

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
― Buddha

“The best fighter is never angry.”
― Lao Tzu

One Video For The Week

How do we create a healthier relationship with anger? Most of us either stuff our anger or we suddenly find ourselves erupting in rage. In this pioneering talk, Juna Mustad reveals how neuroscience and mindfulness techniques can help us unlock the power of the world’s most stigmatized emotion, anger. Juna Mustad has been coaching leaders and visionaries for the last 13 years to develop emotional intelligence, create healthy relationships and embrace their full potential. She works with individuals, groups and companies globally to develop mindfulness tools, foster leadership skills, and enhance overall wellbeing.

Juna is a coach, mindfulness facilitator, intuitive and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. Through her work she offers an accessible, non-threatening approach to creating a healthy relationship with the world’s most stigmatized emotion.

Student voice :

Watch Out, She Has Opinions!

Men think women exist for them. Women exist to be attractive to men, to attend to men. In this world, you either be attractive to men or endure the jarring reality that you can’t have an opinion. Conventional attractiveness meaning, to conform to cultural norms of what is considered to be attractive. These norms are created by men and somehow define the amount of respect and value you merit as an individual.

As a woman, if you make the controversial decision to share your opinion on a subject, you will be immediately invalidated, unless of course, you are conventionally attractive. Men think we exist to be attractive to them. A man will only find a woman worthy of respect and dignity if she proves attractive to him. It is not only about looks, women are expected to be quiet, not sharing their opinion, just sitting there looking pretty. And if you are unattractive to them, definitely not! You cannot live and breathe as a normal human being.

As a 13-year-old who comes from a place of privilege in a country where many don’t, I experience such internalized beliefs very commonly. Such darknesses prevail amongst many. It’s just the little things that make me realize how common such things are. More respect is given to my friends because someone finds them more attractive is something I experience daily. It is not about being friends with them or anything, it is about the basic respect and dignity that every human deserves to be treated with. If a non-conventionally attractive woman shares her opinion, she is labelled as “crazy” and told to “calm down” and the problem at hand which angers her is thought of as not major and just another one of those things. I cannot tell you the number of times I have simply stated my opinion only to experience people telling me to “relax” and “calm down.”

When you switch genders in the situation the difference is huge. When a man throws a tantrum or states his opinion it is shown as normal and instead of being told to calm down he is praised and the issue at hand is demolished instead of him. Let’s take an example, when a woman is sexually harassed on a street by a man and loses her cool, people will immediately tell her to “chill” and “calm down” when no one approaches the man and blames him for causing the problem.

It may seem like the position of women has come a long way, but the sad reality is that it has, but only for conventionally attractive women.

• Written by a teenager who has an opinion 🙂

And Finally…

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Dear reader,

I have been a research scientist, a journalist and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and I write.  With this weekly newsletter, I intend to share what I read, learn and experience while I engage with students, parents and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions and ed-tech organisations.

3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms Niv  is a newsletter for you to subscribe and enjoy your learning journey with me. This week, it consists of:  3 images, 2 thoughts and 1 video.

If you have created any material, virtual or physical that you think can be reviewed and/or featured in this news letter, please feel free to write to me at : niveditamukerjee10@gmail.com

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