Can other people make you empowered?

Can other people make you empowered? This is a difficult question. The essennce of empowerment for me is that we get things done for ourselves, that we feel good about ourselves, that we feel enabled to do the things that we waat to do and are able to say no to the things that people try to force us to do or that are against our will. Saying that, i do think that it is possible for people to help us towards empowerment. Other people can show us the door, can show us possibilities, and can be there for us when we need an extra hand.

One way to empowerment or to find empowerment is to try things out, to experiment to see what will work for us. Role-play is a fantastic tool that can help us in this endeavor. Role-plays work better when we role-play with other people. Not only can they help the role-play move forward and give us obstacles to overcome, they can also give us feedback and poiinters of things to try out.

Two videos I have watched recently demonstrate, in different ways for me, forms of empowerment or ideas for empowerment. I have posted the links below:

 http://youtu.be/waAqJ6727Hk - youth and a whole school approach

http://youtu.be/Qp5QbPnHGUk - Benjamin Zephaniah

Techniques of theatre are great for helping with empowerment - try it some time.