“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make” – Jane Goodall
We are all interconnected. That’s why it’s important to help each other; to offer support, advice and inspiration based on our own experiences. NOW has been running a competition in the lead up to World
Environment Day, inviting people to share their own tips on the themes of ‘Growing, Sharing and Caring‘, using the hash tag #GrowShareCare. We really appreciate the inspiring entries received so far, some of which are shared in this post, and we’d still love to hear from you!
Also this week, we’ll be sharing a special series of blog posts and videos, featuring gardener Monty Don, Embercombe’s Mac Macartney, and Green Space Life Coaching’s Karen Liebenguth. So, watch this space for more inspiring content in the lead up to World Environment Day! Plus, for those based in Totnes, you’re welcome to join us at a Forest Festival that we’re co-hosting on Sunday 5th June.
Inspiration on Growing, Sharing and Caring
Growing, sharing and caring are all simple activities that encourage us to take note, to give and to connect, which are all routes to improving our wellbeing. Growing, sharing and caring are also themes that have a deeper significance, and are closely intertwined. We invited some of those we know working on wellbeing-related projects to share their tips on the themes of growing, sharing and caring, and we received some wonderful responses.
Felipe Viveros, from the Gross National Happiness Centre, shared the following:
- When I think about growing, what comes to mind is really about cultivating the seeds of wellbeing that lay deeply in our consciousness. If we spend time watering wholesome seeds in our minds we can literally flourish.
- Sharing is something embedded in us, however our current way of thinking tends to hide that. We can all take a stand to create a new story, through small and big acts of kindness done with great love, paraphrasing Mother Theresa.
- Care is everything; it is what keeps us alive and working to create a better world.
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Master of Emmanuel College in Cambridge and Chair of the Green Alliance, suggested the following three tips:
- Growing – always keep learning, whether it’s reading a new book, learning the names of flowers or learning a new language.
- Sharing – be generous with your time as well as your money, especially in your local area.
- Caring – if people have helped you in life, make sure you’re helping others, especially the young.
And Sherry Clark from Happiness Works also offered her tips on the ‘Growing, Sharing and Caring’ theme:
- Growing means change and change happens at a snail’s pace. Grow slow.
- Sharing is all about giving and receiving. Practice receiving as well as giving. It’s a lot harder for some of us!
- Caring means striking a fine balance between “we” time and “me” time! What’s your balance like these days?
How do you Grow, Share and Care in your daily life?
Don’t forget, it’s not too late for you to contribute (details on how to do so are below): If you’d like to share your own #GrowShareCare tips they can be as short or as long as you’d like – share whatever you feel has helped you and could be helpful for others, and you’ll be in with the chance of winning some great prizes! We’d also like to share some of the #GrowShareCare competition entries we have already received, from a range of passionate and engaged people – we really appreciate all of the entries shared so far.
Some people have shared brief and simple tips, such as Clare at Wellbeing and Training Hub sharing a short video of a beautiful windy day and simply advises to “let nature take it’s course”, while saimaalife shared the lovely photo to the right, saying “growing food is so rewarding! In 7 days these tiny sunflower seeds turned into delicious sunflower shoots!”
Others have chosen to share a tip for each word of the theme. For example, Karen Liebenguth, says that this is what the theme #GrowShareCare means to her:
- Growing – Calendula flowers from seed is easy, delightful and keeps away snails as they don’t like them.
- Sharing – Empty Office Day on 17th June – a wonderful initiative to inspire organisations and their staff to spend an enjoyable day out and about to foster health, connection and creativity.
- Caring – for my clients because it allows me to practice compassion, to give something for the wellbeing of others, to learn and develop. It’s deeply satisfying.
Some entrants have used the theme as inspiration for sharing a particular project around the themes of growing, sharing and caring. For example, Cat Turner shared that, “wonderful relationships that have arisen out of our new community garden initative, the Coronation Community Garden in the Isle of Man – established between Ecovannin (who worked with NOW on a Wellbeing Week on the Isle of Man), and Braddan Parish Commissioners. We’ve been amazed not just at the enthusiasm of the residents and volunteers, but at the generosity of seemingly unconnected people in donating everything from compost to birdhouses, hay bales to picnic tables. But the biggest and best thing has been that a number of other groups have been watching, and coming to our meetings to learn from our experience, and now about five others are being established around the Island.”
As you can see people have been sharing diverse tips around the #GrowShareCare theme, sharing their own experiences and ideas in inspiring ways! We’d love to hear from you too – you have until 6th June to join the sharing and enter your tips too!
How to enter #GrowShareCare Compeition
To enter the competition, simply submit your tip(s) on growing, sharing and/ or caring, ideally together with a photo, and share
- Via Twitter, tag @NetwrkWellbeing and include our hashtag #growsharecare
- Via Facebook, tag @Network Of Wellbeing – NOW and include our hashtag #growsharecare
- Via Instagram, tag @networkofwellbeing and include our hashtag #growsharecare
- Via email, send your photo to florence@networkofwellbeing.org
The deadline for entries is June 6th at 12pm UK time.
The best entries will be re-shared and the main prizes will be a choice of:
- A year’s subscription to Resurgence and the Ecologist magazine
- Satish Kumar’s book ‘Soil, Soul, Society’
- Monty Don’s book ‘The Complete Gardener’
- Yes! Magazine’s book ‘Sustainable Happiness: live simply, live well, make a difference‘
We really look forward to hearing your tips!
As well as entering our #GrowShareCare competition, you can also keep an eye out for some new blog posts and videos in the lead up to World Environment Day this week, plus, those in Totnes are welcome to join us at our Forest Festival on Sunday. However you choose to mark World Environment Day, we hope that it is filled with some form of growing, sharing and caring! 