** this blog post is now complete. Read it through again so you don’t miss any updates from Friday)***
Did you think we would be talking about celebrities? HA! Nope, we are learning the tragic, and often heart-breaking history of countries who went through a major breakup … with themselves. In honor of Valentines Day I switched up the order of our lessons — a heavy discussion of communism in the modern world (again?!) has been postponed until next time.
In the name of fun and Valentines and because we’re studying heartbreaks in history I’m asking everyone to come to class in RED, WHITE or PINK (there will be vanbucks for your willingness to be fun and wear these colors and bring Marcie joy). I will also be bringing valentines for the class because I love you all dearly (If you also love this holiday you are welcome to bring a valentine(s) for the group but this is by no means required at all).
Know:
To learn what you need to know you must read the following chapters of SOTW and watch the following Youtube videos (preferably in the order I post them). I also NEED TO SEE NOTES — that’s your ticket to class. I want to see notes from your reading and dates of when things happened so you have a timeline in your head and your notebook.
**Read the section titled “Muslims and Hindus in India” then follow it up with “India after Partition”
**Watch this Youtube video about young adults living in India and Pakistan today (77 years after partition). Tensions between Pakistan and India continue to this day.
**Read SOTW “The Partitioning of Palestine”
**Then watch this AP News reel from the day of the UN decision by clicking here.
**Here is a video summary of the Israel and Palestine conflict that Cael was able to find for me (thanks Cael!). I think it’s good to watch and understand because this conflict has come up again in the news for many months now with the recent conflicts there.
**Next read the section “The Korean War”
**Watch this youtube video about the 38th parallel and how it is guarded today (just because it is interesting!)
**Watch this TedTalk from a North Korean who was able to escape (I find their stories fascinating, if this interests you then I recommend checking out the book “Nothing To Envy” by Barbara Demick, there are also plenty of youtube videos from other escapees and from people who visited North Korea as a tourist)
**Next read “Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh” and “The Vietnam War” (remember how I asked you to put dates in your notebook? Take a look at the dates of the Vietnman War — Martin Luther King Jr. is still alive and the Civil Rights movement is happening in America! Also, holy cow this war is long).
**Read or Watch this speech from President Nixon on America’s stance on the continuing war — this is a hotly contested and controversial war (to this day) in American History so I thought it would be interesting to touch on an American perspective. As you read or listen do you agree or disagree with what the president is saying? What stands out to you?
Understand:
This week you will be using creativity and historical facts to create an online DATING PROFILE for a country who went through a breakup! Please know that I’m not trying to take things lightly — these are sad and major historical events that have continued to create animosity, wars and hardships for millions of people to this day. My hope is that you can put yourselves in the shoes of a country, see things from their viewpoint and possibly have some empathy for why they were for or against the split of their country. If you fully understand the viewpoint of your country then you will be able to personify them in a dating profile — sharing their likes, interests and relationship deal-breakers.
If you aren’t familiar with personification as a writing tool it’s where we take objects or ideas and give them the characteristics of a human. That’s what we’re doing with this assignment!
You can see this clearly done in THIS Studio C sketch (which, I would argue was one of their best sketches of all time, go ahead and fight me on that).
I have a detailed outline for you to follow, but to show you exactly what I am looking for here is an example dating profile for East Berlin (this area was chosen because this is not one of your options, you will be choosing from India, Pakistan, North and South Vietnam and North and South Korea)
I hope reading this made things a lot more clear! You will follow this exact format for your own profile. I’m asking that you add SOME element of design (I went with pink hearts, you could make yours look like a dating profile page if you hate cutesy, or just add a red border– whatever, there are no strict rules here, but I don’t want it to be typed on blank white paper. Show me some effort!
Second, if you didn’t already guess that from what I wrote above I want it nicely printed off your computer — no excuses! If you don’t have a printer then you ask a neighbor or myself or a copy shop to print it.
So to get started choose your country from the list I posted above and create a profile and roughly keep to the timeline of this country at the time of their breakup, give or take 20ish years. So for example, if you chose North Korea then no references to North Korea as it is today, I want you to dig deep into what was happening when Korea was split, what the North fought for and what the South fought for etc. but you wouldn’t mention current leader Kim Jong Un because that isn’t relavant to the time period. This is a country who JUST went through a breakup and is looking for a new relationship or a reconciliation 😉
Here is the exact profile outline that I would like you to follow:
Tinder Profile Name: (Name of the country)
Age: (You can choose — is there a number of years for age that can be related to your country?)
Occupation: (What would their “job” be if your country was a person)
Bio: (Sentences that give me an idea of the personality traits and qualities you would see if your country was a person)
About Me: (This one should include a little history, who you are, where you came from, what has shaped you, what you look like today)
.Interests: (Give us at least 3 different interests your country might have)
Looking For: (Who would make a good match for your country? What would they see eye-to-eye on?)
Deal-Breakers: (List at least three things that would make someone incompatible with your country. You could include religion, political affiliation etc)
Favorite Quote: ( Can you find a quote that would represent your country, their attitudes or interests from a person in that era?)
First Date Idea: (Tell me a place you would go, an activity you would participate in and possibly even food you would eat)
Fun Fact: (What is a fun fact about your country from history)
Swipe Right If: (Two or three statements that your country would wave as a slogan — in other words, things they really believe in and would lead to a good match)
Photo Gallery: (Describe a place in your country that your person would pose in front of for one photo. Describe what they may collect. Describe a candid type photo of what this country would be captured doing)
Relationship Status: (What is your status/relationship like with the country you broke up with)
**In order to do this project successfully you will ABSOLUTELY have to do more research than what was included in SOTW. Rather than assigning more videos for you to watch I’m going to have you dig deep on your chosen country. You’ll be googling and researching for things like “What was (country of choice) like after partition?” or “What did people in (country of choice) do for fun after partition?” “What famous landmarks existed during (these years) in (this country)?”
I realize some of you use AI for these types of research projects, and while I would not outlaw that for a project like this I am asking that you tell the robot to include source information in their response so you can go to the actual sources for more information (Perplexity always gives source info). Also, you are absolutely not allowed to enter questions such as “If my country were a person where would they go on a first date?” Or “If my country were a person what would their relationship deal-breakers be?” — those kinds of questions allow AI to do the thinking for you and the entire assignment then becomes the creativity and intelligence of the robot. Lame. Do not try to justify and say that it was just giving you “ideas” and then you made them your own. That won’t cut it for this assignment.
Become:
I’m going to pivot a bit and focus on our principle of the month. The people who experienced the hardships of war, displacement and partition dealt with very serious life challenges that would affect the energy they can bring to their everyday life. How deeply have you thought about ENERGY and how high or low energy is part of YOUR daily life and impacts how you show up each day?
When we get stuck in patterns of feeling overwhelmed and discouraged our energy becomes super low. Think about it — have you EVER felt energized when your thoughts were dwelling on discouragement and hopelessness? What about a smaller, everyday level: When was the last time you felt overwhelmed or stuck or bored with your school work. Did you feel ALIVE and ENERGIZED in that moment? Probably not– and with that blah state that you were in I’m betting that homework gets avoided, or it gets done poorly, or it gets done in 10 hours instead of 2.
I invite you to consider the power of CREATING energy. I like this quote from Brendon Burchard “The powerplant doesn’t have energy, it creates it”
One of the easiest ways to create energy is to change your state. This is a tool that Trent learned from Tony Robbins and he shared with me and I make it a point to practice it!
Changing your state involves two things: Changing the state of your physical body and changing your focus.
When we change the state of our body we do things like stand up tall and take a deep breath. We look in the mirror and we smile at ourselves. We jump up out of the chair instead of sluggishly standing up. We may whoop out loud or shout “Yee haw!” with enthusiasm 😀 Try one of these ideas– I’m sitting here and all I did was smile widely and I felt different! I didn’t even have to move my body. When our energy is low (and it has nothing to do with physical tiredness, sickness or other natural reasons to be in lower energy), then it’s linked to our mental state. If we can quickly send a jolt to our mental state that says “Wake up! It’s great to be alive!” we are creating energy!
Second, we need to change our focus. This requires flipping the narrative you are telling yourself on it’s head. Thoughts go from “This is so boring. I hate this class. I’m not good at this. I’ll never get that job. I can’t afford that” to “How can I make this interesting? This class may not be my favorite but I’m going to crush it. I can see myself being a master at this if I keep at it. This job didn’t work out but I trust that something better will. I am capable of saving and working hard, I’ll make a plan to afford that.” You get to choose the narrative you are living. What do you want to focus on? Your focus affects your energy.
So we’ve physically jumped up/whooped out loud/ smiled and stretched and then we’ve attached that to a thought we DO want to focus on. Say it out loud if that helps!
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of using your sensations to help you change your state! I have looked forward to exercising EVERY single day this year and the only change I made was I FINALLY made a playlist. It’s 2 1/2 hours of songs that bring me joy and make me want to move. That one sensation (sound) and taking away the burden of choosing music each morning has created a huge energy shift for me.
What sensation can you tap into to help you change your state? Is there a song that pumps you up? A prayer spoken out loud? A lit candle or a fragrence in the room where you are working? How about going outside and breathing deeply? Look at something that inspires you (for me that’s photos of happy memories — surround yourself with those visual cues to focus on if you are a visual person!) Find a way to engage your senses into helping you change your state quickly.
If you want to see Tony Robbins talk about this from a leadership perspective then Watch this video from minute 5:50 to the end.
So I want you to write in your notebook:
*How can you create a radical change in your body? What works for you? What are you willing to try? Brainstorm some actions to physically change your state.
*Brainstorm what sensations around you can help you — music and sounds, scents and breathing deeply, sight and pictures, sunlight, beauty, touch and a hug — how can you engage your senses to create a change in your state.
Take action:
This week I want you to catch yourself in a low energy state that is created from the negative or discouraging thoughts we might be telling ourselves and put into practice the physical change, switching the mental focus and if needed, adding in senses to cue that change. Be prepared to share one example and how you followed through with changing your state and creating energy!
