foroigeadmin
March 23, 2020
Feed Your Soul - Love Your Life is the first of a three part campaign to support young people through the difficult time we find ourselves in . It focuses on mind, body and soul addressing empathy and self care through music, art,craft & design and food.
What does music mean to us? Music is a means of communication like no other. We listen because it speaks to us, sometimes without using words. We share it because it has ignited something in us, when we want to empathise with someone, it makes us happy, smile and laugh, music can help us to express anger or sadness. It’s power can make us dance, dream, imagine, think and even cry. The right music can soothe or even help us sleep. It can invoke long lost memories with just a few short notes and it can unite nations through it’s universal language. All over Europe we are currently witnessing spectacularly heart rending scenes of people turning to music to communicate when they are practicing the gift of social distancing. For all of these reasons we share our music with our friends and families. It has often been at the centre of community events and rituals and in Ireland it has always brought us together; helping us to relate to the world around us and to the people in our lives, through music we can empathise and somehow we begin to understand how we are feeling about our world when there are simply no words to describe how we feel.
The events of the past few weeks have left many of us lost for words and so, this week we are asking our young people to suggest songs that motivate and inspire them to understand, reach out and help each other.
On Instagram we are asking our Foróige community to nominate a song which feeds their soul. We will then produce a playlist which we will share will the community. So come on, join us over on Instagram @Foróige and nominate your song and listen out for the Foróige-Feed Your Soul playlist coming to Spotify soon!
At the moment in Ireland and across the world we are all facing the Covid-19 crises together. It is worth remembering that music can be of enormous benefit to us in difficult times. Numerous scientific studies have shown music has the power to lift our mood and offer a range of health benefits. It can be an effective stress reliever, improve memory and even relieve physical pain.
Above all, music is about enjoyment and the deep connections it forges between people. We want to encourage you to find some time in your day to enjoy your favourite songs. Better yet, help others enjoy these songs by sharing them with Foróige this week.
Empathy is about being able to understand how another person is feeling and to step into their shoes
to view a situation, it is also about using this understanding to connect with and help others. As part of the Activating empathy programme, Foróige are asking young people to consider how, during social distancing, we can help others and inspire and motivate others to do so.
The Activating Empathy programme, developed by Foróige in partnership with NUI Galway and Penn State University aims to develop empathy skills in young people and to promote the practice of empathy among young people to inspire positive social change. The programme will be available to young people in Foróige. If you are interested in finding out more about the programme , please contact [email protected]
Get head over to instagram and get nominating now! https://www.instagram.com/foroige/
One of our young people Katie wrote a fabulous song for Foróige. While she is practicing social distancing she is keeping all our spirits up.
It's here! The Foróige Feed Your Soul Playlist is now available on spotify! This playlist was compiled through a joint effort by our instagram followers.
