Find Your Space

The summer months offer a cascade of colour across LWC’s 1200 acres. In this blog post, Houseparent and Teacher of Art, Holly Hunter-Wright takes inspiration from her surroundings and suggests we could all learn a lesson or two from the natural world.

 

If you get a moment, look up.

 

I often find myself drawn to trees, especially their structure and colour. My current favourite is the Wisley Queen, which evolves in each phase of growth, to offer a different kind of structural beauty.

 

If you take time to cast your glance skyward, you’ll see meanders of light weaving their way through the tree canopy. In some forests, it’s pretty stark; the heads nod against each other but don’t seem to overlap. Turns out this phenomenon is called ‘crown shyness’, yet I’m not sure there is any shyness about it.

 

Maybe it’s more the case that the trees are finding their own space to exist and thrive. Pretty similar to the Lord Wandsworth experience.

 

LWC’s mission is to ‘nurture inwardly self-confident, outwardly modest, curious and passionate individuals, who are ambitious to go and make a positive difference in the world.’ But how can we break this down into tangible and achievable goals for us to work towards?

 

Firstly, I’m conscious that adults, as well as young people, need to model this behaviour and self-esteem, generated by emotional intelligence, is right at the heart of it. EQ is central to all education and a catalyst for success. It allows you to better motivate yourself, develop resilience, be adaptable to change or challenges. It improves engagement in learning and consequently, results in higher levels of achievement and attainment.

 

Despite this, often it’s the result that is celebrated over the strides it has taken to get there. Most teenagers want to seek outward approval, but if we tap into the inward approval first, then that’s where we see the most profound impact. Being our own cheerleader is hard (as much as we might shake the pom pom), but by building a positive momentum, we can move forward collectively.

 

So how do we take those strides to develop self-esteem, which is so vital to becoming that inwardly confident, outwardly modest character? Have a ponder on these:

 

• You are the people you choose to surround yourself with. Gather people who inspire you to be better, who care enough to challenge you and who are curious about you.

 

• In the digital world, apply the same philosophy and surround yourself with positive influences. Curate your feed and make the algorithms work for you. Flood social media with positive people to expose yourself and others to optimistic outlooks.

 

• Practice celebrating your strengths, whilst reminding each other that there needs to be a variety. You might be a whizz at tech or a gifted musician. Or maybe you’re brilliant at noticing the needs of others. Maybe your superpower is simply saying hello. They all have an equal value.

 

• Find your Ikigai, or reason for being. Realise the value and worth that you bring to a space. If we recognise this, then we feel we belong and have confidence in ourselves.

 

• If you are a parent and want an insight into your children’s likes and ambitions, then follow the people they are interested in. Be the lighthouse parent, providing firm boundaries and emotional support. Provide them not with the solutions to fix problems, but the tools to solve them.

 

• Understand people. If we can read people (and ourselves), then we can understand how to get the best out of a person.

 

• Practice compassion. To others and to yourself. If you are struggling, seek support from the voices around you. Have a compassion advocate.

 

And remember to keep looking up.

 

Whilst those trees may be subtly jostling for space, it isn’t a competition. Instead, it’s a recognition of each other; a nudge to move forward, a shaping of character and the result is a glorious canopy.