EDL 640: Module 6

February 24, 2025

Daily Peace Action: Uplifting Literature

As I was searching on Kindle, a book called 1000+ Little Things Happy Successful People Do caught my eye. Firstly, it was rated 4.8 stars with over 1,400 reviews, which I find very helpful, but the brightly colored cover also made me think it might be an enjoyable read. I am not hugely into nonfiction, but after reading The Power Paradox, I felt like I might enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone again.

The book was written by a couple, Marc and Angel Chernoff, who started a blog as an accountability tool after experiencing devastating events in their lives. Their message, to me, is very positive and encouraging for people who want to overcome emotional turmoil and become their best, most productive selves.

The book is divided into nine different parts: Happiness, Adversity, Relationships, Self-Love, Passion and Growth, Productivity, Goals and Success, Simplicity, and Inspiration. For my peace action, I plan to read one section each evening. So far, I have read two sections, and I feel they have been very practical without feeling too mushy or unrealistic. The section on happiness, for example, provided a list of quick actions to give yourself a boost, titled 19 Quick Tricks to Feel Better Instantly. I was reading this during a four-day weekend due to snow days, and the first action suggested was to take a shower and freshen up for a fresh start. It certainly helped me get off the couch and face the day without being a couch potato!

Daily Reflection

Social Identities Awareness Activity

While completing the social identity circle, I found myself thinking about certain identities that I had not given much thought to. Identifying my individual identities wasn’t necessarily difficult, but I was surprised by the observations that I had when I began connecting the question numbers to each identity. It made me pause and reflect on how these identities shape my experiences, even when I’m not fully aware of them. I think that this exercise, for me, highlighted some of the privileges that I enjoy as someone who enjoys some positions of power within society as a white female from a Western country. If I were to add another identity category, it would be education. I think that a person's level of education is an important factor in their identity and how they view the world.