At the start of this week, I did not know what a paradigm was or how they applied to real life situations. I also didn’t know how to pronounce it correctly and only realized that after hearing people say it multiple times. When I began to do the reading for the class discussion this week, I started to see the application of paradigms. 

The discussion in class that we had over that reading was where I was able to give the most contribution and where I spoke a lot on what I had learned from the reading. I was on the “yes” team and read the paper that explained why globalization was beneficial. In my breakout room for this discussion, I talked a lot about how sustainable globalization will only work if everyone works for it. Everyone has to put in their work to make it sustainable. Otherwise, the industries and factories will continue to release toxins into the environment. In that discussion though, even having been on the “yes” team initially, I ended the discussion agreeing more with the points of the “no” team. However, despite the raw content and facts that I gathered from the reading, it also helped to show me that everyone has certain paradigms that they believe in. 

Paradigms are patterns and thoughts about that pattern, and our belief or disagreement in them depends on the facts that we have knowledge of and even the effects the issue has on our life. A lot of things can affect whether we believe a paradigm or not. This instance was also shown through the reading because when I started, I wasn’t sure where I stood on sustainable globalization, or globalization in general, but being in the “yes” group I naturally leaned towards believing that. However, after the facts and opinions of the other side were presented to me, I decided that those were more realistic and that I believed in those more than the yes arguments. My major takeaway from our discussion on paradigms and the experiences that I have had with them through this week is that you have to know all the facts before you can declare your belief in a certain topic. Also, even if you have declared whether or not you believe in something or what side you agree with, you have to have an open mind and be willing to hear new information and even possibly change your mind. Changing your mind is not being indecisive, it is simply being educated and realizing that things change and when things change your views can change. 

Another experience from the week that I really enjoyed was our focus on mindfulness. I think that mindfulness is very important for becoming connected with your mind and calming both the mind and body. What I chose to do to build my mindfulness was meditate on my own. I meditated before bed and I used the meditation as a way to clear my mind of all the worries and thoughts from the day before. For me, this really helped to calm my anxiety and decrease my restlessness before I fell asleep. It also gave me time to think about the thoughts that came into my mind, and resolve them before pushing them away.