‘Listen – are you breathing a little and calling it a life?’ MARY OLIVER

Positive mental and emotional wellbeing is the vital sign that says you are living the life you were born for.

Instead, suicide rates are on the increase. In the UK, suicide is now the biggest killer of people under 35 years old. Many of these young people are in universities and colleges, where not only students, but also teachers and staff, struggle to manage anxiety, depression, overwhelm and burnout. Many to the point they want to quit.

Places of higher education should be the launch pad for hugely needed deep, transformative impact on the growing crises of this world. Places that generate positivity, creativity, and empowerment – not misery and endurance.

LifeRoute is a hub that invites and incubates new thinking, new pedagogy in education, and new languages of expression that are values-based. Its Caring on Campus initiative especially focuses on the creation of a culture of compassion that can ripple out to give greatest societal impact. There is no better solution if we are to hope for a future where we all can grow and thrive together.

Encouragement in Academia

Ego? or Humility?

There are two forms of Ego. One shows itself through behaviours that suggest a sense of superiority over another. However, feeling and acting inferior to others is also ego. It can become like a game that we feel compelled to play – constantly switching from…

Encouragement

‘Even an old pit pony needs the occasional pat on the nose.’ A word of encouragement goes such a long way, especially when it is a long road that is less travelled. Most small children when they are learning to walk are given loads of encouragement to take…