Mellissa was first introduced to Art of Brilliance during a staff meeting with Hannah Knowles. That meeting took Mellissa on a journey from being in quite a low place to becoming a full-blown 2%er.
“I think it’s fair to say I was sceptical about Art of Brilliance at the outset, but I can truly say it has not only changed my practice for the better but has changed my life forever!
“I used to joke with Hannah, our Wellbeing lead, that it’s like being in a cult the way that it creeps into the psyche and the phrases 2%er, bouncebackability, mood hoover, sausage machine, ripple effect slowly become part of your everyday speech! This has been such a positive experience for me personally and came at a time when I was personally feeling quite low.
“Hannah introduced us to the Art of Brilliance during a staff meeting and shared their Brilliant Schools Outstandingly Happy School programme. She gave us tips and tricks to implement simple, fun and engaging messages into the school day and gave us activities and strategies not just for the children to do but also staff and parents!
“Due to Covid, I had to isolate and, as a teacher, I found being away from colleagues and pupils tough. What I had taught the children from the Brilliant Schools programme gave me skills to ‘flip my thinking’ and it really helped. In one awe-inspiring assembly, Hannah, our Brill Schools guru, challenged the children to do something that would boost their happiness levels and said that to do that you must do things that genuinely give you joy.
“The old me would have dismissed this. Being too busy to find ways to boost my happiness and seek out joy. But after being on this journey for nearly a year, I found myself thinking about this outside my daughter’s dance class one night and it led me to enquire about tap classes. That week I returned to dance classes after a 33-year gap!
“I can honestly say this has changed my life. I have met a fab group of people; I get a bit more exercise and I have carved out my ‘joy’. Time for myself in a busy life. This week I am in a show! I am so proud of myself, and the ripple of happiness is in full effect!
“It’s amazing how colleagues and people in my life keep commenting and noticing that I seem different, something in me has changed. I cannot thank Art of Brilliance enough for giving me this gift of botheredness and allowing me to become my own pig of happiness!”
