After a frantic few months in 2020 working in the background with a talented group of students, designers and managers (FUSA, Oasis, HCD, Student Ambassadors, Mango Chutney), The Good Vibes Experiment was launched in 2021 and is still active here at Flinders in 2023.
At the core of the campaign is the invitation, to all in the Flinders community, to experiment with different types of wellbeing activities in your life, as a way of balancing out the inevitable challenges of life.
The formal Launch (which feels so long ago now!) took place on Wednesday 17th March 2021 with activities across multiple campuses. My favourite was the big gratitude wall at the Hub.
The launch had:
Live music
A free activity book
An interactive gratitude wall
Art therapy workshops by FUMA
Free lunch at midday
Friendship bracelet making
Henna
Drop-in planting and flower-crown making at the Community Garden
Fairy floss at Law & Commerce
Popcorn at Tonsley
Early morning at the Bedford Park Campus Launch.
At the launch we distributed a tonne of activity books (see below) and merchandise such as pins, cards and t-shirts. The response from students was really positive.
Even a couple of years later, we continue to distribute books and merch. In fact, to date, we’ve distributed over 5000 activity books and I’ve lost count of the number of pins distributed.
The reason the campaign has had this longevity is that the concepts explored in the campaign are timeless. They were and remain good principles upon which to live our lives.
Nowadays, connection to the campaign is via the Activity Book (see picture below).
You can look at a digital copy via Issuu but it is best to get an actual book in your hands. You can order a hard copy to be posted out to you if it takes your fancy (Flinders students only). You will also still find copies of the book floating around, particularly at FUSA and Oasis.
So, what does the book contain? You can learn more about the Activity book in this post.
In short, the Activity Book is the central component of the campaign. In it we describe 20 wellbeing tactics that people use to build and sustain their mental health and provide 40+ activities that get you thinking about those tactics and whether they’d be a useful addition to your own life. We also link you to key mental health supports at the university, online and in the community.
In 2023, the campaign is still active! Keep your eye out for various merch items (pins, t-shirts, stickers) around the university during key dates like University Mental Health Day, RUOK day and the mid-year orientation. The pins are particularly popular. I think of them as simple ways to wear your values.
If you want to learn how to apply the ideas from the Activity Book in your everyday life, consider watching our Building a Good Vibes Plan video series.
Follow Oasis on Facebook and Instagram for updates about Good Vibes Experiment events (#flindersgoodvibes).
You might also be interested to know that as of the 10/3/22, the Good Vibes Experiment materials (i.e. imagery and copy) are open-source, meaning anyone can take what we’ve built and adapt it to their own setting. See the media release here.
Got questions about the campaign? Contact the Good Vibes Team (goodvibes@flinders.edu.au)