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There is more that unites us than divides us
10th November 2023
Those that know me best will understand that I am at my happiest when I am travelling far and distant places. As a geology and geography graduate, I have become conditioned in finding great joy in understanding the physical processes that have shaped our great world. I feel most at home in the mountains although coastal environments come a very close second in the places which bring me the greatest pleasure.
A decade or so ago, before my life was filled with the demands of Headship and motherhood, I was gifted a year-long secondment away from my busy deputy headship life. Having saved hard for this once in a lifetime experience, I was able to travel with two of my closest friends, work free for a whole year, experiencing thirteen countries across three continents. Predictably, the trip’s itinerary was packed with adrenaline-filled activities designed to connect me to the physical environments that I love so much; trekking to Everest Base Camp, cycling the World’s most dangerous road in Bolivia, white water rafting in Chile and learning to be a master diver on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to name but a few.
However, what took me more by surprise was what this trip taught me about the common values that connect us as human beings, no matter what corner of the land we call home. It was what I learnt from the people I met on my journey that truly shaped me, instilling me with the values that I have used in the decisions I have made as a school leader; values that we endeavour to teach the children at Loseley.
Through my many months spent travelling through the developing world, I was struck, and often very moved, by the generosity of the strangers that I had the pleasure to meet and by the happiness I observed in communities of people who have far less than we do. It was humbling to experience first-hand.
As we enter the month of November, before the hectic run up to Christmas begins, maybe we should all take a step back to pause and remember those things that we have that are most precious to us.
During this month, across the world different communities come together to celebrate their own festivals: The Chiang Mai Lantern festival in Thailand honours Buddha by lighting lanterns as an act of letting go of negativity; Diwali celebrates good overcoming evil; the Niagara Falls festivals of lights in Canada, with its 5 km illumination of water, is just for fun. Such festivals are united by their use of LIGHT, one of the oldest and most meaningful symbols to signify celebration, new beginnings and hope.
During this time, when the news is dominated by stories of conflict between communities across the globe, it would seem to me to be important that when we all stop for our two minute silence on Remembrance Sunday this week, we should not just give thanks to those who fought for the freedom that we all enjoy but maybe we could all also light a candle in the hope that those who are a suffering war or persecution soon find peace and light from their dark world.
Those that know me best will understand that I am at my happiest when I am travelling far and distant places. As a geology and geography graduate, I have become conditioned in finding great joy in understanding the physical processes that have shaped our great world. I feel most at home in the mountains although coastal environments come a very close second in the places which bring me the greatest pleasure.
A decade or so ago, before my life was filled with the demands of Headship and motherhood, I was gifted a year-long secondment away from my busy deputy headship life. Having saved hard for this once in a lifetime experience, I was able to travel with two of my closest friends, work free for a whole year, experiencing thirteen countries across three continents. Predictably, the trip’s itinerary was packed with adrenaline-filled activities designed to connect me to the physical environments that I love so much; trekking to Everest Base Camp, cycling the World’s most dangerous road in Bolivia, white water rafting in Chile and learning to be a master diver on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to name but a few.
However, what took me more by surprise was what this trip taught me about the common values that connect us as human beings, no matter what corner of the land we call home. It was what I learnt from the people I met on my journey that truly shaped me, instilling me with the values that I have used in the decisions I have made as a school leader; values that we endeavour to teach the children at Loseley.
Through my many months spent travelling through the developing world, I was struck, and often very moved, by the generosity of the strangers that I had the pleasure to meet and by the happiness I observed in communities of people who have far less than we do. It was humbling to experience first-hand.
As we enter the month of November, before the hectic run up to Christmas begins, maybe we should all take a step back to pause and remember those things that we have that are most precious to us.
During this month, across the world different communities come together to celebrate their own festivals: The Chiang Mai Lantern festival in Thailand honours Buddha by lighting lanterns as an act of letting go of negativity; Diwali celebrates good overcoming evil; the Niagara Falls festivals of lights in Canada, with its 5 km illumination of water, is just for fun. Such festivals are united by their use of LIGHT, one of the oldest and most meaningful symbols to signify celebration, new beginnings and hope.
During this time, when the news is dominated by stories of conflict between communities across the globe, it would seem to me to be important that when we all stop for our two minute silence on Remembrance Sunday this week, we should not just give thanks to those who fought for the freedom that we all enjoy but maybe we could all also light a candle in the hope that those who are a suffering war or persecution soon find peace and light from their dark world.
