It's More Than Just a Book

This isn't just a book.

This is a movement. A movement to drive more curiosity, courage, and compassion in the world.

Yes, we are ambitious, but we also believe that you make a difference one person at a time. Then, that person makes a difference to others. Before you know it, one small person with one small dream can make the world a little bit better because of their efforts. 'ittle Bear's superpowers were not selected lightly. A lot of research, thoughts, and discussions went into picking the right words. We are also lucky in English that it alliterates (all words begin with the same letter) so we can also say "the three C's". We are not so lucky in other languages. In Swedish, for example, it is Nyfikenhet, Mod, and Medkänsla (maybe I can call it N + 2M's). Curiosity has a lot to do with wanting to know and understand more. It's asking questions. It's researching on our own when we realize the questions might not be comfortable or thoughtful to another (Curiosity + Compassion). It's wanting to explore and go out of our comfort zones (Curiosity + Courage). Numerous studies focusing on expatriate (people living and working in another country), study abroad students, and international cooperation activities identify curiosity as an important factor in the success of the assignment or activity. Courage has to do with a desire and will to go outside of our comfort zones. Curiosity can be a driver to do this (wanting to know more), but courage allows the actual action (booking the trip, speaking in another language, going somewhere you've never been). Courage is also having the ability to speak up for one's own needs and make sure they are met. Courage is best when it isn't rash actions, but combined with curiosity and knowledge (how to be and stay safe and challenge limits in a reasonable way) and compassion and empathy (how to take care of yourself while also being thoughtful of others). Courage is necessary for any successful human interaction. Compassion at its roots has to do with a desire to eliminate others' suffering. In the book, we simplify it to recognizing that there are other ways of doing things and not judging. To get to true compassion, we need to see other humans as fundamentally good and sharing similar needs as us, even if their behaviors and actions might be in contrast to our own. Compassion says we are in this together, we don't want each other to hurt, even if we might define both the process and outcome in different ways. Curiosity and courage then come in to say - how can we solve this in a way that meets all our needs? Compassion is a practice and a choice. Compassion is a philosophy and a skill that needs continuously practiced. In a sense, all of the superpowers are not natural talents. They are skills that need developed. We are not limited to what we are today and we have a relatively infinite potential for development.

So if this is a movement, what are we doing about it?

First of all, we are developing free resources to help people work with the superpowers. In addition to an educator's resource packet, we are offering activity sheets or worksheets that are available to anyone wanting to download them. We only ask that you signup for our newsletter, stay on it, and don't modify the files (remove logos, etc). Here is an example: 

We are also interested in your input. These activity sheets came about because one of our potential Ambassadors asked "What are you doing beyond the book?". She brought up great points and ideas, so that we created these worksheets to motivate and discuss the superpowers. You can sign up for them already today, but access will be released together with the book on April 29th, 1:00 PM Eastern time. Feel free to share with anyone who is with us on this mission to bring more curiosity, courage, and compassion to our world!