Sowing seeds of compassionate inclusion- In conversation with Aarthi
Aarthi is an operations manager in a global EdTech start-up, and in a CauseAChatter story, she shared her insights on the importance of personal, professional, and social work. Her extensive work has enriched her understanding of various cultures and the practices that drive human behavior, which has helped her design and deliver impactful initiatives. Let’s dive into the conversation!
Aarthi, tell us a bit about your work currently
I divide my work into three main areas: personal, professional, and social. In my personal life, I focus on sowing seeds of change and making a positive impact on the world from the comfort of my own home.
Professionally, I work as an Operations Manager at Lurnable, a global Edtech start-up. My job is to foster a workplace culture that promotes growth, trust, and inclusivity, both for the organization as a whole and for the individuals working within it.
I also volunteer my time and efforts to several organizations, where I contribute to various initiatives such as designing communication strategies and curriculums for spoken English, developing strategies to strengthen communities and relationships, and mentoring and facilitating programs like ‘ChangeMakers’. This program equips young adults with the skills and knowledge to become future change-makers through problem-solving, critical thinking, self-awareness, mindfulness, and more. I’m also trained to facilitate the Google Initiative #IamRemarkable, which empowers underrepresented groups, especially women, to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.
Apart from my professional and social work, I’m also a proud parent, spouse, daughter(-in-law), sister, and many other roles that I embrace wholeheartedly. I’m fortunate to have a supportive and loving family that values healthy relationships, which is something we consciously work towards every day. All these roles and initiatives I take on are driven by my passion for creating a more compassionate, inclusive world where love and humanity are at the forefront.
You’re interested in and pursuing Counselling Psychology and you’ve studied Physiological reasons for human behaviour. Any interesting learnings that have helped you in your interaction with people?
I have an integrated dual degree in Biological Sciences & Masters of Management Studies (MMS) from BITS, Pilani– an institute of eminence. I also completed a PGDBA in HR from Symbiosis, Pune. This helped me understand the physiological aspects of human evolution & behaviour and a part of the sociological aspect (with respect to the work context).
The yearning question of why people behave the way they do has been residing in my subconscious mind, since my childhood.
This has driven me to seek out for knowledge on this area, including Child Psychology, Counselling Psychology, Inclusion, Cultural Sensitization and more. After an 18-year hiatus, I am back to university to complete my M.Sc. Counselling Psychology, to enhance my subject matter expertise in Psychological Wellbeing (PWD) & Subjective Wellbeing (SWB). My Glomadic (Global Nomad) lifestyle and lived experiences in 4 countries also add to the theories that I have studied in each of these fields.
You’ve been working a lot with people and communities. Why is it so important to go to the roots and activate local communities when we want to drive change?
As mentioned earlier, my knowledge is enriched through my glomadic experiences and practical life instances. Despite this, as a change enabler, I am still limited in my knowledge and understanding of the local culture and customs that can drive a community’s actions, as that is not where I grew up e.g., when I relocated to France.
I can only learn when I unlearn my acquired knowledge and have the openness to adopt the best practices from the local communities, I reside in. While this helps me expand my social and cultural understanding, for any change initiation to work, getting connected to and earning few goodwill ambassadors from the local community and including them in initiatives to drive a change is absolutely essential for the community acceptance.
Any change becomes successful when the local community is included right from the stage of brainstorming ideas by establishing the need for the same and creating the awareness regarding the benefits of the said change among the locals. When they are involved and engaged, the acceptance is congruent and hence the change adoption gets better with little or no resistance.
During this involved and engaged process, knowledge transfer is both ways and I also learn a lot about the place and its people & culture, which helps me gain deep insights that I can take away for my future impact programmes that I design on the needs that arise, or the organizations that I might work with.
Your work also revolves around tapping into the narrative of positive mental health in various places and cultures. What’s one element that connects all cultures in this aspect?
Research in the area of psychology has always supported the fact that we humans are social beings who flourish when we are among peers and loved ones.
In various narratives of history also we see this to be a reality and this need to belong and flourish is the one common element that drives human behaviour. Everyone seeks happiness. Flourishing is defined to be strong and healthy; to develop in a successful way. Psychology defines flourishing as “when people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time,” living “within an optimal range of human functioning.”
This constant urge to seek happiness and peace, to flourish, is the one common element that connects all cultures. In my extensive travel that is filled with enriching experiences, I have seen this exhibited in various forms of group & individual activities where people find meaning and purpose to their lives, there by making it an engaged, meaningful, & pleasurable life all around for them and their loved ones in their circle of influence.
How has your extensive work helped in your blogging and writing journey?
My blogging and writing journey started as a place to record my various experiences and learnings from the journey of life through various developmental stages, roles, countries and more. My passion to leave behind my learnings for my future generations made me take up certification courses to enhance my art, seek for mentors who could guide me in my writing exploration, and get outside my comfort zone of verbalising my thoughts and sharing it to the world through my writings on my blogs and articles on various platforms, despite the fact that I am an introvert who would be happy staying in the shadows, way away from the scrutiny and judgment of the world’s eyes.
Today I have more than 100 articles on my blog at Free Rein to Thoughts. I am an active contributor on Momspresso. I have published a few articles on my LinkedIn too. I share answers on Quora and write guest posts on different online magazines, including ParentCircle, Growth Matters Forum when I can spare the time. Recently, I also published an eBook of 100 selected quotes & shorts on Blogchatter.
The responses from the readers of the e-book gave me the confidence to accept the offer that I received from Let’s Author to collaborate for a Parenting book.
This book is currently a work in progress and pre-orders can be placed. If you are curious about how the book project started and where it currently is my blog will give you a glimpse into this. The book launch is scheduled for 30 October 2023.
How can mental health become a way of life? Your top points for the audience?
We have all probably heard the phrase,
“There is no health without mental health”.
Mental health is not possible without understanding the concept of holistic wellbeing that includes the mind, body, and soul.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is probably the most used (and abused) concept to explain the drivers of human behaviour. Understanding this with respect to our own self-needs, enable us to embark on the path of self-awareness. Without self-awareness, self-acceptance isn’t possible. These two virtues encompass the basic components of holistic wellbeing.
By self-awareness I also mean the mindful awareness on everything about self – physical, emotional, intellectual & social drivers. Examples include knowing what food is accepted by our system and which is harming it, identifying and addressing the emotions we feel without suppressing or ignoring any of them, feeding our intellectual & spiritual thirst, and gaining new experiences and exposure through social exploration that can expand our perspective.
All the above, when practiced consistently and mindfully, help in a transformational experience, enhancing our positive spiral of our mental health, as it becomes a way of life. We can build resilience (physical & emotional), healthy boundaries creating a personal wellness bubble, and a rich social life filled with varied interpersonal relationships. My hope is that, someday we (each one of us) can reach the stage of transcendence, which marks the top of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as deduced in the recent times.
Steve Jobs said “The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” and that sums up Aarthi’s work, both on the professional and personal front.
Aarthi’s journey is a testament to the power of being a change enabler through active involvement in personal, professional, and social areas. Her interest in counseling psychology and her knowledge of physiological reasons for human behavior have helped her in her interactions with people.
Aarthi’s experiences highlight the importance of tapping into local communities to drive change, and the common thread of seeking happiness and flourishing that connects all cultures.
Aarthi is a multi-faceted Consultant in Life Skills & Mindful Parenting, collaborating with several EdTech startups & NGOs, a Glomad and a GenZ Parent. Driven by the statement “No health without mental health” (by Surgeon General David Satcher), through Blogchatter’s #CauseAChatter, she shares her learnings from her life journey towards mental wellbeing, emotional intelligence, and mindset shifts.
Have a story you’d like to tell the world? CauseAChatter stories is your place. Also, read more about what CauseAChatter is here.
