A Change in Perspective
I’ve been paying extra attention lately to how easy it can be to get wrapped up in the silly details of my own life. It happens more often than I’d like to admit, but I think its important to acknowledge the reality of it.
I think of how my perception of the world changes when I’m stressed out or when I’m overwhelmed by homework; most of the time I shrink into this invisible bubble consisting only of my own thoughts. Its during times like these when I almost forget other people have their own struggles they’re dealing with.
Eventually, reality hits with a side serving of guilt as I realize how self concerned I’ve been acting. Although I can’t speak for others, I am confident my experience is atleast somewhat universal.
When I’m wrapped up in my world of personal issues and thoughts, it becomes difficult to concern myself with the things other people may be going through.
This self-absorbed attitude I’ve caught myself demonstrating reminds me of a short film I watched last year called Shop ‘Til You Drop: The Crisis of Consumerism. One of the issues discussed in this film is the way our society often turns a blind eye to serious issues occuring in places we don’t live.
They refer to it as “The Sunny Day Syndrome” (Room, Shop ‘Til You Drop: The Crisis of Consumerism). The Sunny Day Syndrome refers to the way you can look outside and see nothing except a perfect day; a day so perfect you can’t imagine even comprehend the fact that a problem might be occuring elsewhere.
I know this all seems very off-topic from my usual inquiry posts, but bear with me here. When things in our lives are going well, we often take a lot of it for granted. I can rattle off an extensive list of the things I take for granted on a daily basis.
I have somewhere to live, I have access to heat, I have clean drinking water and hot water to shower, I have access to daily meals, I have a fully functioning body that doesn’t limit me, I have friends and family I can talk to, I can hear them talking to me. There it is.
This is something I want to make a point of dicussing with my future students. Even if everything in our lives is going perfect, it doesn’t mean that we should ignore the fact that other people might be struggling and need our help.
Compassion and altruism are values I want to encourage any chance that I get. Bringing American Sign Language into my classroom is a small way I can start doing that.
Teaching students the importance of caring for others and giving them a foundation to start making a friendlier world for those who are not as privileged is something I would be proud to accomplish as an educator.
Brockhoff, G. (Director). (2009). Shop ‘Til You Drop: The Crisis of Consumerism [Film]. The Media Education Foundation.
This is such a valuable point to make and very fitting for your exploration with ASL and thinking about your future classroom!