Speakers: Odun Longe, Nigeria
How did you come to know WCCM and WCCM Academy?
Odun Longe: Hi, my name is Odun Longe I am from Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria, but I live in London. I actually shuttle between London, the US and Nigeria. I participated in the WCCM Academy and started the programme in 2023 when as at the time when I applied to the WCCM Academy, I wasn't a member of the WCCM. I had stumbled on the website in a search for some form of contemplative Christianity practice, and I was going through a workaholic phase in my life. One of the things that attracted me to applying to the Academy was Sean Hagan's course, his course on 'Living a Contemplative Time and Living a Contemplative Life and the Workplace', because that was a challenge I was facing. I was overworked. I was stressed. I had both physical and mental issues as a result of my work, as a result of my job and seeing that there was a course that may address this... it was one of the reasons why I put in an application, and I was glad when I got selected and it was a class I was looking forward to. The class did not disappoint. I like to think I have a more balanced life now, just going through the readings, listening to Sean, understanding that you can live a contemplative life even within a career and finding that balance between being passionate, between being attentive, as against being driven and being just committed to a hustle was something was a big takeaway for me from Sean's class. I'm glad I took it. I learned a lot. It's my current lifestyle, my current work lifestyle is evidence of passing of my learnings from those classes. Before joining his class, I was always a journaler. I journaled. We were encouraged to journal every day during his class. So I became more active. It is now a daily practice for me, and it has deeply affected the way I approach work, the way I interact with my colleagues. I am a lawyer. I run my own law firm in a very Intense, sector it's you know, it is a job I enjoy doing, but at the same time, I had always found it difficult balancing my contemplative practice with my job, but participating in the WCCM Academy, particularly Sean's class, really did help me with getting some insights and helped me with being more, having a more contemplative approach to how I work, to what I do, and to seeing even my job as a service where contemplation can be actively incorporated. Thank you.
