This is the fourth post in the Reflection and Readiness series. In this series I explore how reflective practice can help prepare us to navigate life’s challenges and opportunities.
In the second post in this series I referred to my PhD research that considered the role of intercultural music engagement in facilitating social connection and community resilience.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded two months after I started my research, I turned to investigate intercultural music engagement in online spaces and implications for community resilience and the creation of shared identity.
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of many societal crises requiring resilience of individuals, families, communities and societies. Indeed the confluence of crises related to health, climate, economy and geopolitical conflict has been named – polycrisis.
In polycrisis the interrelation of stressors, events and forces prompt calls for coordinated responses through policy and governance. But not everyone feels they have a seat at the table to influence policy and governance. How then do we empower people to respond and adapt to crisis?
Resilience and responsibility are interconnected, and in this context responsibility must be shared. While there are individual factors related to resilience such as optimism, self-efficacy, resourcefulness, in polycrisis and disaster recovery, individuals cannot be held fully responsible.
Rather, resilience is a multi-faceted concept that spans individual, social (such as perceived social support), and societal factors (such as access to natural or built resources).
So how do we use reflective practice to build resilience in response to stressors across these levels?
We might ask ourselves these questions:
What skills and resources do I have at my disposal?
What is one small thing I can do in response?
Whose help can I draw on?
Do I have the capacity to organise others to help?
Do I have the capacity to join others who are organising?
What are the mechanisms by which I can influence larger systems?
How can I carve out space and time to rest, recover and return to reengage?
What other reflections might build resilience – individually, socially and societally?