Little Letters with Jo Jeffries
Welcome back to the start of a new school year! We hope you are settling in well, whether you are returning to school after the long summer break, or even starting school for the very first time! Kate Bartram-Brown and the team here at Mini Me Yoga continue working towards their mission to help support children’s physical health, wellbeing, and creativity through kids yoga, mindfulness and most importantly… having FUN!
This month, we say hello to our guest blogger Jo Jeffries, who will be talking to us about inviting the wise elders in our lives to share their wisdom. We will also be holding a competition for our readers to connect with any elders they know and asking them to share a letter of advice for children and young people growing up now. Enjoy!!
I think it’s fair to say we live in very challenging times. It’s easy to find ourselves lost, and questioning the state of the world and the very meaning of our lives: What is the magic formula that brings us happiness and fulfilment? Should we worry about these things? Is it ok to worry? This is my fortieth year and I can honestly say I haven’t scratched the surface when it comes to answers; I don’t have them and I’m not about to pretend I do… But in tough times I know where I like to go. I seek out the wisdom of the older generations; my older friends, grandparents, mentors and neighbours. I go and have a good old cup of tea and digestives and enjoy a hearty old-fashioned natter. Those times bring so much joy. I’m very aware however that fewer people than ever are doing the same, and in a dangerous world where communication happens more and more through a TV screen or a digital device or a social media forum, we need to ensure that we maintain human connection, and the passing of true life experience and learning from the old to the young.
I recently made an amazing new friend; a wise old 80 years+ Scot who perches himself at the end of the bar in the pub, usually alone and in his own little world. When I take the time to study his face and his little wry giggles I know he’s taking small comfort in the sense of being surrounded by community, by groups of friends chatting, kids running riot, bar staff stressing. I am the only one who speaks to him and when he sees me his face fills with delight at the prospect of merely having a conversation. No one else talks to him, he says people rarely even acknowledge him. But his stories and anecdotes have me in absolute stitches; they resonate; I want to learn from him. He has the same effect on my ten year old daughter. When he leaves (his Guinness budget is gone and he won’t let me buy him more than one on principle) everyone else in the pub quizzes me on why I speak to the ‘mad old guy.’ They assume he’s weird, or a drunk, or God only knows what. How I wish they knew how much they were missing out on.
So I asked my wise old friend to write me a letter, or rather a letter to reach out to the much younger generations, a letter from someone who has lived a life so full and has learned so much along the way. So he can pass down a golden nugget of wisdom and maybe even start a little movement that might call upon the cynics in the pub not to be so quick to judge.
And maybe this could lead to a bigger goal: Maybe we could publish a little book of letters from older generations to younger generations! Maybe this little book could even become a philosophical ‘bible’, a go-to comforter to draw from in times of uncertainty, when we question ourselves, our purpose, and all that is happening in the world.
Little Letters could challenge older people to empower younger people in our turbulent world, and together we can overcome the generational disconnect that costs us so gravely.
Little Letters invites older people to contribute a letter: One page of A4, handwritten, easily transferable to print. We reach out to the generation that modern day society so often overlooks. We welcome letters from people of all walks of life, all nationalities, religions and journeys. And let each letter be valued like gold, for our elders have lived it and learned, they are our book of knowledge, wisdom and guidance, they are those who know.
Let this not be the generation where we ignore the simplicity of a lesson from someone who has already experienced our struggle, our confusion, our pain, our dilemmas. Chances are, they may well have all the answers we need, and guess what? Passing that knowledge down has rekindled their sense of purpose too. And if there’s one thing I have learned it’s that giving back to others is integral to happiness. They give to us, and one day we will pass it down too. Did I just figure out the magic formula?!
Little Letters Competition!
Little Letters is thrilled to be launching a competition with Mini Me Yoga to find a letter to publish with our collection! We would like you all to ask the older and wiser people who are special in your lives to write a letter to the younger generations. We want your special older person to share a nugget of wisdom and any valuable lessons life has taught them, so we can pass their knowledge down, and spread comfort and joy, exactly as human beings have done for millions of years.
Please email your letters to info@minimeyoga.com. If your elders are happy to recieve replies to their letters, please also include their contact email address. One letter will be published each week during the month of September… it may just be yours!
About Jo Jeffries
Jo Jeffries has enjoyed a twenty-year career in entertainment and broadcast media, starting out in the music business, where she released a hit record and became a major label act. Jo went on to become a hit song-writer and artist manager, before moving into commercial TV and radio (where she worked with media giants including Bauer and Global) to talent management, to programme production. Jo currently runs her own business in PR, publishing talent management and music. Jo spends her time enjoying an entrepreneurial portfolio career so she can focus on the things she loves to do and the people she loves most- her beautiful children.
Do you have any questions following our blog? Or maybe you are a grandparent and would like to find out more about kids yoga, meditation and mindfulness? If so, please email Kate Bartram-Brown at info@minimeyoga.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!