Written by: Taylor Duff | Staff Writer
Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness is a concept developed by Hugh Van Cuylenburg which, when shortened, is commonly referred to as GEM. Cuylenburg has an Amazon Prime special of the same name where he recounts his journey teaching and volunteering in India and his development of The Resilience Project.
Cuylenburg has over 15 years of experience in education, having taught both primary and secondary students. His teaching career was highlighted by a year spent in the Himalayas in the northern region of India. Here, Cuylenburg discovered the purest type of resilience, GEM. Cuylenburg discovered that the people, particularly the children, led relatively stable and happy lives despite a lack of resources.
The children were living without running water, electricity or even shoes, yet they were seamlessly happy with their circumstances. Cuylenburg analyzed many things as he toured the community with a student named Stanzin, he expressed gratitude for everything he had, including his crumbling playground. Stanzin told Cuylenburg how grateful he was for the rice he ate — as his food source was available every day. Finally, Stanzin had shoes that many of the other children lack, and he reclaims ‘this’ to show his appreciation.
Cuylenburg also stated that children in the community practiced meditation every morning before school. Cuylenburg asked why they were required to participate in meditation, and a supervisor replied, stating it was optional. The children and their families join together for meditation and togetherness whenever they can, unlike other places such as Cuylenburg’s hometown, Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia, where people struggle immensely with mental health.
Cuylenburg’s mission through The Resilience Project was to recount the village’s practices. Gratitude, empathy and mindfulness make for a better and more rewarding life. After 10 years of working with over 1,000 schools, it became clear that this message was an opportunity to collaborate with teachers, kids, parents, employers, community leaders and sports organizations.
To practice “GEM,” consider writing once a day in a journal something you are grateful for, whether it is big or small. An example would be a meal you ate, the people you communicate with or your clean water.
Empathy is an ability that you exercise regularly to feel for someone. Empathy can also take the form of allowing yourself to experience your emotions, such as taking a break to explore nature or engaging in hobbies.
Mindfulness is easy yet simultaneously hard, as technology is such a prevalent thing in our lives, but shutting off the technology even for 10 minutes allows meditation to occur. Mindfulness, such as understanding that technology holds such a space in our lives, allows us to evaluate rather than be distracted. Practicing GEM takes a lot of practice, but, again, to become good at something often requires practice.
Contact the author at tduff23@mail.wou.edu
