After over seven decades of rocking together, the gritty, electric energy of The Rolling Stones lit up downtown Vancouver just over a week ago. Resiliency is a word that frequently surfaces alongside of rock royalty stories of The Stones. From the infamous tales of Keith Richards whirlwind rock and roll escapades to Mick Jagger's swagger, The Stones have a reputation that surpasses all others. The band's capacity to adapt, rebound, sparkle and shine position The Stones, in my humble opinion, as the best rock band of all time. In their Hackney Diamonds glory, The Stones, absolutely rocked BC Place and leaving a trail of glittery inspiration post concert recovery for the mere mortals like myself.

Resiliency in a business that orbits around musical vitality, glamour and all things shiny, The Rolling Stones are not just the highest paid rock and roll band but have repeatedly shown the world that they bounce back. Scratch that, The Rolling Stones, rock back. With immortan riffs and translational power, The Rolling Stones seem to have surpassed the obstacles of age and adversity leaving one to wonder how is it that some withstand difficulties while others don't. A swift response to this wondering could be the privileged multi-billion dollar realities that surround and buffer the iconic lifestyle of The Rolling Stones. While this positions their lived elevated star experience above most, I am still wondering about the elasticity of some to bounce back time and time again when the world doesn't give you what you want.

In economics, the aspirations, desires and motivations of humans are known as human wants. The classification of comforts, necessities and luxuries by economists pragmatically organizes materials into categories of wants versus needs. Looking through the lens of postcolonial realities, the aftermath of colonial control and related points of societal impact, the collected material lists of need and want are long in Canadian culture, worthy of deeper critical analysis than this mere post. I admit to being a guilty collector of wants who sometimes succumbs to the material injection of new shiny things, from shoes to handbags, my shopping vices are visibly sparkly. In the spirit of honest critical reflection, I share that with deeper awareness of materialism, the impact of fast fashion and waste, I am making different choices than I admit to having made a decade ago.

The wisdom of The Rolling Stones cryptic lyrics "you can't always get what you want," ring true in a time when it is hard to count on the world outside. The complex chain of social, political, economic and cultural impacts require individuals to think deeply about want and need. So how do humans make better choices to thrive and nurture the necessary inner resilience to push through challenges in pursuit of opportunities and joy? Rick Hanson writes about the evolutionary three basic needs of humans; safety, satisfaction and connection. His research centres determination, self worth and kindness at the core of human resiliency. Andrew Zolli uses ecological and sociological points of reference to frame resilience as the capacity of a person or a system to hold its core purpose and integrity when faced with dramatically changed conditions and circumstances. Michael Ungar, founder and director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University, emphasizes the importance of raising children to be competent and caring alongside of prioritizing organizational systemic resiliency. Ungar's studies powerfully contribute to the ontological and epistemological debates that plague resilience research pushing individuals and organizations to pay more attention to resiliency. Adapt organizations with visionary leaders are now zeroing in on the use of AI to build organizational resilience as a tool to support continuity and recovery in the face of stress.

Navigating and negotiating the waves of change depends on how adept individuals are at finding the resources for success. Michael Unger states that this is dependent on the quality of our social, built, and natural environments. Schools have a massive role to play in the construction of human resiliency. OECD's 2022 PISA study examined the practices, characteristics and policies of learning environments that coped better than others during and after the pandemic. Their study identified the complex endeavour of building resilient education systems as requiring a full rethink of teaching and learning practices during a time when schooling will continue to be disrupted at the global (e.g. pandemics and climate change) and local levels (e.g. earthquakes, floods, war). Educational leaders need to pay close attention to the science of resiliency to create learning environments where a deep sense of trust, security and belonging. This is now an essential educational turn key for excellence and equity for students and staff alike.

Resilience means being able to cope with tough, disappointing and heartbreaking events. When something bad happens, you still feel grief, pain, and anger but it doesn't paralyze you and you are able to keep going physically and psychologically. Resilience isn't about putting up with something tough or coping on your own. In fact, being able to reach out to others and experiencing human connection is a key part of being resilient. Finding and discovering your own inner resiliency is an endeavour of discipline, tenacity and self awareness. The broad strokes of this post are a little splash of pebbles in the massive, complex, ever changing pond of life. We need educational leaders with Jagger and Richards-like style, moves and influence to create a musical score in our schools where fostering resiliency for all is prioritized and protected.