About Feelings, Systemic Thinking, Sustainability, and the Milky Way

This practice, like the previous ones, can be done by participants of different ages, both indoors and outdoors. There are no age restrictions. The practice time is 45 minutes or more, depending on the number of participants, age and location. You will need: colored paper, colored pencils or paints, glue, scissors, and 7 sheets of white A2 paper. If you don’t have this format, you can connect several A4 sheets together using tape, which should be on one side only. Also prepare 7 multi-colored circles of colored paper, 2-3 cm in diameter, in advance and paste one of them to each A2 white page. Colored pencils or paints are better than markers because they can create different colorful shades. Well, we have outlined everything you need for the practice, and now about the practice itself 🙂 Welcome!

Olga and Conscious Creativity Team 😊

Practice “Shining Stars”

Take sheets of colored paper, preferably thick like cardboard, and cut strips of 2 cm X 5 cm. Seven colors to represent the seven feelings that we are already familiar with from the previous newsletter practice: Love – red, Joy – orange, Gratitude – yellow, Inspiration – green, Benevolence – blue, Respect – indigo, Faith in the best – purple. The number of strips of each color is equal to the number of participants, so that everyone has an equal choice of any color.

Put all the strips together in a large box or plate. Invite the participants to form groups according to their chosen color. To support the choice of colors-feelings you can find additional resources at the end of the post. * (Resources) When the participants have created groups based on their chosen colors, invite each group to create one picture together, coloring a star using colored pencils, paints, colored paper and glue. If it suddenly turns out that one or more colors are left unnoticed, you can go back to them with all team after and together create additional pictures.

Each picture is dedicated to feelings: Love, Joy, Gratitude, Inspiration, Benevolence, Respect, and Faith in the best. The basis of the picture is a star. You can draw light dots on the white sheets of paper, which are the basis of the drawing, and show on the sample how the participants can connect them together to make a star. And of course, the most important resource and inspiration comes from Nature, which is always with us 😊

P.S. The previous letter discussed a system, a process and conditions. In this newsletter we will continue the conversation. Why?

• Life is an evolutionary process of creating and improving systems under the influence of external and internal conditions, based on its properties: Advisability – Sustainability – Improvement – Flexibility. We are participants of this process.
• The participation of us people in the process of Life determines our future, in unity with other systems of which we are a part, among them our own Home – the Earth.
• Our participation in this process is determined by the development of Consciousness and is the result of the process of developing the Culture of Thinking.
• Systemic thinking is the path of developing the Culture of Thinking, which is reflected in all spheres of our human activity supporting Sustainability.

Summarize: a system is a structural unit of the Life process, this is about you and me, and it is directly related to the resources of Systemic Thinking, and the practice discussed above. Therefore, let’s pay more attention to this topic, so that the value of these practices discussed in the newsletters will be more understandable, and will benefit the development of children and adults.

A system, as all in Life, is a unity of uniqueness and interaction.

• Each system is unique, and its boundaries are relative. The boundaries define it as a system, but each system is part of other systems. A dandelion is different from other meadow plants, and at the same time, it is part of the meadow system. Our planet is a system, and a part of the Solar system that is also united with many other systems, which in turn is united with other systems. And so on, ad infinitum: ∞System∞

• Each system exists due to interaction. Each atom has its own name and position in the Mendeleev periodic table, and at the same time interacts with other atoms, creating an infinite number of elements, each also interacting with each other. Our Earth as a participant in the Solar system is in interaction with the Sun and with other planets. Each of us, the inhabitants of Earth, is an example of interaction.
• Any isolation of a system is a conditional concept. It helps researchers in laboratories to understand the influence of conditions in a process. However, in Life, isolation of a system is not the path of evolution, since this violates its basis of existence and finally it is destroyed. Can a dandelion in a meadow grow without soil, air, water, and wind that carries its seeds?

• Limitations of Consciousness are the result of the isolation of a system. In human activity, it is expressed by the absence of Responsibility for “What and Why I create”. Lack of Responsibility creates a corresponding Result. If we do not take responsibility for our choices based on Why (for example: “Why do I need this?”), this choice will be made for us by conditions that influence the development of a system, both external and internal. This is about the Garden that was discussed in the previous newsletter.

“Stars, a garden . . .  so, what is Systemic Thinking?” – you may ask, tired of reading these lines 😊 This is the process that is in us. We people create at every moment of our lives, creating that influences the development of each of us, and all of us together.

Systemic Thinking is the process of improving our Consciousness as a system based on unity of uniqueness and interaction, by our choices of conditions that influence our development. We are people and we create. Systemic Thinking helps us to create better 😊 Before summing up, let’s return to the questions “Why?” – “What?” – “Who?” – “How?” They will help us combine what has been said in this and the previous newsletter:

• “Why?”- Advisability – Beauty of Feelings | Our choice of Feelings is the first step to the Quality of thoughts. Feelings are flowers in our Garden, the same one that was discussed in the previous newsletter.
• “What?” – Sustainability – Thoughts | The quality of Thoughts determines the unity of uniqueness and interaction of I and I, I and You, I and World, World in Me. The Garden, which each of us has, and in which the tree of Consciousness grows.
• “Who?” – Improvement – Activity | Activity is based on Freedom of Choice, and Responsibility for what I create and Why. Each of us is a Gardener in our Garden.
• “How?” – Flexibility – Garden Maintenance – Result | The result is not the goal, but the next step of constant improvement. Everything can always be improved.

We are participants in the process of Life. Every action we take is part of a universal action. We have the freedom of choice: to participate consciously, or not. Systemic Thinking is a way of developing Consciousness, is a bridge between the heart and the mind, and the bridge to our future. According to research by the World Economic Forum, analytical and creative thinking skills remain among the leading core skills necessary for future jobs.¹ (Resources*) These skills are based on Systems Thinking.

The Green Transition transforms all spheres of life through technological, geo-economic and demographic changes based on the transformation of Consciousness. “It promotes understanding of the interconnected global challenges we face, including the climate crisis, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, each of which has ecological, social, economic and cultural dimensions.” ² (Resources*)

The three pillars of sustainable development: society, economy and environment are integrated with the fourth – the Culture of Thinking. The Culture of Thinking is developed through Systemic Thinking, which helps us see our gardens as a part of the Universe that begins in each of us, and is reflected in all areas of our lives.

Research by the World Economic Forum over 10 years and forecasting until 2030, confirms the enduring value of human qualities, which is the basis of activity no less important than the development of technology. The process of synthesis as a harmonious combination in the creation of new encompasses the moral sphere.³ (Resources*)

Systemic Thinking is based on Synthesis, Collaboration, Unity, and Beauty. Where Beauty are those Feelings that grow in our Garden, and those very Stars that are created by the participants of the practice “Shining Stars”: Love, Joy, Gratitude, Inspiration, Goodwill, Imagination, Hope for the best. It is the unity of our moral values. Is it possible to remove one color from the Rainbow?

“These are not all feelings!” – you may say. “Of course!” Is it possible to name an infinite number of shades of color? It is enough to look at the sunrise or sunset, the sea or lake, the mountains or the field. . . . Nature constantly tells us the Beauty of the diversity of Life in its manifestations. You only have to look around. The practice “Colorful World” in the first newsletter will help you with this 😊 By developing the skills of Systemic Thinking in ourselves, and helping children develop these skills, we build the foundation for Sustainability.
“Sustainability should become a part of the entire spectrum of education and training, including curricula, professional development for educators as well as buildings, infrastructure and operations.” ¹ (Resources*)

Life is the Beauty of Creation. Developing the ability to create consciously we begin to live the same way.

The value of this practice is that it develops:

• Awareness of our morality of feelings, and value of feeling we choose
• Uniqueness and expression through our art creativity
• Harmonious interactions: I and I, I and You, I and World, World in Me
• Green Transition skills through Systemic Thinking and social responsibility “What and Why do I create”.

One more P.S. A few years ago, I sent my fairy tale about “Little Star” as a gift to the father of a 4-year-old boy. He said: “Thank you! But my son does not know what stars are. He mostly watches cartoons on TV or his tablet.” “You can find them in the sky together,” I replied. They found them! Now the father has the Milky Way as an avatar on his social networks 😊

We can only share what is in us, and we can always improve what we have. And even if there are many things that take up time, you can always look to the sky, the stars, the leaves on trees . . .  smile and add to our lives something that will help us feel the Beauty and Infinity of the Universe, which begins in each of us and in which we live together.

We can see what we can. If we notice and choose the color of a star, then it is in us. If we decorate it with different colors, then they are also in us. And when we see different colors during the day, and see different stars in the sky, then they are in us.

And . . . the stars in the sky shine brightly because they know how to shine together 😊

Resources* 1 – “Priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme” | https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-a/priorities-of-the-erasmus-programme | 2 – World Economic Forum, “Future of Jobs” | https://www.weforum.org/publications/series/future-of-jobs/ | 3- “Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition” | chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9242-2022-INIT/en/pdf, #3.page 3 |  the post based on “Conscious Creativity Education Technology”, manuscript  ISBN: 978-1-963690-77-4; 978-1-963690-74-3 | 2025 © Olga Verasen | https://olgaverasen.com/conscious-creativity/#education-technology

The fairy tale about Feeling is here: https://olgaverasen.com/fairy-tale-journeys/ Welcome!

More resources for you:

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