Dear members of our CMCCF community, and our readers- if you’re reading this, perhaps I can assume that you are friends of the Coalition, and that you have interest in the community-centred work we do.…
An invitation…
We invite you, and we hope that in the upcoming year, you will participate more actively, through contributing your ideas, your voices, and your energies to our ongoing conversations, helping us plan activities that can lead to strengthening the leadership potential of cultural community groups. By joining us, you too can help steer discussions hosted by CMCCF in directions you believe are important for the well-being of your own community.
Additionally, by taking initiative to engage with the work we do at CMCCF, you will be helping shape the vision cultural communities in Manitoba and in Canada have for their future. Perhaps you too can join many other individuals and families who are already developing their social networks- of supportive relationships with each other across community lines and differences.
We especially welcome youth from every cultural community to participate-we have opportunities for you, for engagement and training, learning and growth. Do check out if these are right for you, and if you think they can help build your capacity to lead your own community into the future. I will reiterate the above invitations towards the end of this post, but first, let me share some year-end reflections.
Year-end reflections
A look-back
As we wrap up 2023, and get ready to embark on our journey into a brand-new year, maybe it is time to stop and recap a little about what was most momentous for you during this current year-both the good and the not-so-good. What, for instance, are you most proud of-any personal or professional achievements, successes, actions, or behaviors? According to you, did this year go well, or are you left with a sense of unfinished business, even regret?
The above questions are just random examples to spark your own thinking. Maybe other questions you make up for yourselves are more relevant in your situation, and need more urgent answers. My point is that this process of checking-in with oneself is important; such a process- of taking stock- is like doing an inventory; we may even loosely call it ‘asset-mapping’ (although that is a much more systematic and detailed process communities can engage in collectively to get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses).
Even a short review at a personal level can help create deeper understanding of assets (or strengths) we have as individuals-these could be assessed in terms of personal qualities and professional skills, social networks and opportunities. Such a process of self-analysis will also help surface gaps and problems we need to work on.
Further, a deliberate year-end review of memorable events and our responses to them may help bring us clarity in ways we did not imagine possible; maybe this new understanding will be a teachable moment that will come handy when we are faced with other difficult situations in the future. Perhaps a year-end review can lead an individual to experience feelings of gratitude for all the good things that happened; or it might move them to decide to act differently next time. Fact is we won’t know what we will find till we actually engage deeply in `doing the work’ (in case you indulge in this `look-back at last year’ activity, my suggestion is to take notes so you can go back to them later)!
Looking- ahead
As a complementary activity to such a look-back might also be a look-ahead, allowing yourself to dream about how you would like the new year to progress; ask yourself what you are most excited about; or what are you keen to achieve as you step into 2024? Maybe even create a list of priorities so you can build out a corresponding list of tasks (or specific activities) that can set you on a specific goal-setting path, and that in turn, could take you in directions you like to pursue.
Go gentle on yourself though-that’s my additional advice. We’re all unique beings, and we are at different stages in our life’s journey; we have had specific past trajectories, and our paths forward into the future will also not be the same. So, go with who you are. If you find a long list of goals overwhelming, make a short one. If a long to-do-list for 2024 is what you need, and if you think it will keep you excited and on-track, go ahead and create it.
A worthy lifelong goal for all of us-know thyself…
I believe one of the goals we should all pursue, irrespective of the stage we’re at in our lives, is to try to get to know ourselves better each and every day, learning more about our own likes and dislikes, our motivations, and our values. Paying close attention to our own inner voice is really important; the `who we are’ is what often shapes our ways of thinking and the principles we hold dear. This is what also guides our behaviors and our actions. Finally, understanding ourselves deeply can help us make better decisions, and also, it can help us understand the choices we make every day. Importantly, it can lead us to develop more awareness about our own place and purpose in this complex world.
Another one of my beliefs is that this `getting to know ourselves’ is a continuous and ongoing journey that never ends as we are not static unchanging beings; rather, each of us is dynamic and ever changing; we are influenced by our interactions with each other and with the world at large (through social media or otherwise). It’s like we are always in a state of `becoming,’ constantly being compelled to navigate both the shifting dynamics of the external world while trying to make sense of our own responses, attempting to understand our complicated, internal landscapes of the mind and heart, struggling with moral dilemmas.
And if we come to everything from such a growth mindset as well as the ability to reflect and learn from our thoughtful considerations, it becomes a real possibility that in the future we can become better versions of who we are today.
For example, if I see a racist incident play out in front of my eyes today, and I remain a silent bystander, too afraid to speak out; but on reflecting on my own behavior later, I feel remorse and wish that I had acted with more courage, then tomorrow may present another opportunity for me to behave in better alignment with the person I believe myself to be. And this ability to decide who I want to be may make it possible for me to change something about myself.
Perhaps it would also bring me a better sense of control and agency, as well as help me deliberately choose courage over passive acceptance of reality in other situations too-if that is indeed what I want.
This not-being-set-in-stone but being flexible and adaptable is a good thing actually-it is liberating- as it suggests that life is always giving us fresh chances to explore new opportunities. It makes us approach the world from the eyes of a curious learner, and such a learning and growth mindset can help us always stay positive and excited, forward-looking despite all odds, rather than feeling stuck and discouraged when a door shuts in our face.
Our hopes for 2024
Our hope in the new year is that together, we can address challenges like inequality and discrimination, lack of opportunities and exclusion experienced by members of cultural communities. We want to work with you to create conditions where everyone, through working hard, has a good chance to attain their goals and thrive.
One of the objectives of CMCCF is also to bring service providers and policy makers to the table, creating dialogue-spaces where respectful two-way conversations can happen with cultural communities that advance mutual understanding. As you know, and as the name suggests too, CMCCF is a `Coalition,’ and working from a collaborative mindset and a value-driven place where partnership is a key principle, we bring cultural communities, community organizations, and service providers together-to find common ground.
We are indeed excited to announce that in 2024, we hope to offer many more interesting opportunities to our members- for learning and for engagement. We reach out to you-urging you to collaborate and participate actively so that together, we can work towards realizing our goals for a better and more purposeful future where the well-being and cultural safety of cultural communities is a priority.
Wishing you all the best for the new year. Also sending out a wish into the world for peace, justice, hope and compassion. We look forward to connecting with you in the new year, meanwhile stay warm and safe…
The views expressed in this blog post are mine, and I take full responsibility for them. We are always wanting to hear from you – please share your thoughts and feedback by completing our contact form here or by emailing hello@cmccfamilies.ca.
To learn more about our Intercultural and Intergenerational Diversity and Inclusion Engagement Project, go to our J.E.D.I. Initiative landing page here.
Previous Post