{"id":20008,"date":"2025-06-30T15:06:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scillaelworthy.com\/?p=20008"},"modified":"2025-06-30T15:07:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:07:53","slug":"love-and-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scillaelworthy.com\/?p=20008","title":{"rendered":"Love and Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is wonderful to see participants from all over the world start to gather for The Mighty Heart\u00ae Facilitator Course starting this September. In these turbulent times I am truly heartened to know that facilitators will be undertaking this transformational training, and taking the essential skills of heart-centred leadership into their communities and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dates and details for the course can be found our eight module course on The Mighty Heart website<\/a>. And if you feel moved to apply for the course please write to Sophia on contact@mightyheart.co.uk <\/a>with a short bio and location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give a little taste of the course, I would love to share this moving testimonial from one of recent graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A New Chapter begins by Kayoko Nemoto<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for me to take a stand. At last, I\u2019ve made the decision to change my life in a big way. I\u2019ve awakened.\u201d \u2014 from my journal, Spring Equinox 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it that awakened me? It was one sentence from Dr Scilla Elworthy during The Mighty Heart <\/a>online course: \u201cDon\u2019t die before you take a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those words hit me like lightning\u2014clear, fierce, undeniable. They echoed in my heart: Don\u2019t die before you take a stand\u2026 Don\u2019t die before you take a stand\u2026 I felt the weight of them, and I knew\u2014I didn\u2019t want to leave this world without standing for what truly matters to me. That moment became the turning point of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kayoko, and I am a Japanese banker living in Japan. For the past 24 years, I\u2019ve worked at the same bank, which is also the largest bank in Japan. In 2022, after a particularly intense and difficult project during the pandemic, I found myself exhausted, burned out, and longing for space to breathe. I did something uncommon in Japan: I took a two-year sabbatical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a leap into the unknown. At first, I was scared. But during those two years, I met extraordinary people\u2014peacebuilders, changemakers, hearts full of courage and clarity. And among them, I met Scilla. Her books, her teachings, and her community became a big lighthouse during my inner storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through those connections, I began to see a different possibility for
my life. I had always admired peace workers from a distance. I respected them deeply\u2014but kept myself apart. I told myself \u201cThey have their path. I have mine. I\u2019ll support them from the sidelines. I can donate. I can care quietly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a quiet voice inside began to ask: \u201cHow long will you stay on the
sidelines?\u201d<\/strong> For years, I clung to my comfort zone. My job was secure, my position well respected. My life was stable. But stability can also be a cage if we\u2019re too afraid to step beyond it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Scilla\u2019s words came again\u2014this time, as a call I couldn\u2019t ignore:
\u201cDon\u2019t die before you take a stand.\u201d<\/em> And I knew: I want to live life fully. I want to stand for something real. I want to be a peace worker!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here I am\u2014back at the same company, but not the same person. I\u2019ve made my decision. I will leave my job with gratitude and grace, to begin a new chapter. This year, I will move to the UK to take the course in Peace Studies and International Development at the University of Bradford. I want to bring my skills in project planning and management into the field of global peace building. I want to
serve in a way that spreads compassion, understanding, and courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This path won\u2019t be easy. But it\u2019s mine. And it\u2019s worth walking. To Scilla I say: Thank you, so, so much. Your words lit the fire in me.
Without them, I might never have found the courage to step into my calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to you who are reading this I say: If you\u2019re standing at a crossroads, wondering whether to follow your heart\u2014I hope my story reminds you that it\u2019s never too late to choose a new path.
Let\u2019s talk.
Let\u2019s listen.
Let\u2019s stand for something, together.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With love and courage,
Kayoko Nemoto<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photograph \u00a9 Jonathan Bachman\/Reuters<\/strong>
Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as riot police charge towards her during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, U.S. on July 9, 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is wonderful to see participants from all over the world start to gather for The Mighty Heart\u00ae Facilitator Course starting this September. In these turbulent times I am truly heartened to know that facilitators will be undertaking this transformational training, and taking the essential skills of heart-centred leadership into their communities and beyond. Dates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLove and Courage - Dr Scilla Elworthy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scillaelworthy.com\/?p=20008\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love and Courage - Dr Scilla Elworthy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is wonderful to see participants from all over the world start to gather for The Mighty Heart\u00ae Facilitator Course starting this September. 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