Giving yourself breathing room: The restorative potential of creativity + community Hi, I hope this finds you well, grounded, and finding ways to connect/reconnect with a sense of possibilities. [Pressed for time? Resources and invitation links below.] An invitation for next Tuesday (and beyond): The low-key, drop-in, creative coffee hours that I facilitated in April were so energizing and fun that we’re doing it again in May.The last series ranged from people sheltering […]
Doing what you can with the tools you’ve got I saw this sign a few days ago. Here’s how I read it: Scrap wood + leftover paint + a basic human impulse to connect = A heart-felt and cheerful message of gratitude. These days, I’m really appreciating the small efforts that people are making to be kind. To connect. To shore each other up. Maybe it’s one-of-a-kind yard sign. Or a light-hearted drawing that […]
Accepting the wobble, finding some grace I want to share an idea that really struck a chord as I’ve been struggling to find my own focus in recent days: “Now more than ever, we must abandon the performative and embrace the authentic. Our essential mental shifts require humility and patience. Focus on real internal change. These human transformations will be honest, raw, ugly, hopeful, frustrated, beautiful, and divine…. Be slow. […]
Getting grounded and/or creative and/or productive Hi, I hope that you are well, finding your bearings, and well-connected to your support system. [Pressed for time? Invitations and resources listed below.] WE ALL BELONG. I love this image and this idea. It’s from a poster at the Orca K-8 School in Seattle: agreements for how they tend to their community. Everything grows out of the first line: WE ALL BELONG. What would the world […]
Sharing resources + getting together (virtually) Hi, I hope that you are well, finding your bearings, and well-connected to your support system. [Pressed for time? Invitations and resources listed below.] This is hard. And it’s going to be challenging for awhile. This pandemic is bringing alarming realities into every region of the world, enormous disruptions to daily routines, and a profound sense of uncertainty. And nobody is immune to what’s unfolding, […]
![Staying connected over [social] distance](https://shorthandconsulting-wp.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/25204212/hans-peter-gauster-3y1zF4hIPCg-unsplash700x200.jpg "Staying connected over [social] distance")
Checking in, sharing resources, extending an invitation I’m writing this on a Monday night, and who knows what Tuesday will bring. The refrain in my head these days is this: MULTIPLE THINGS ARE TRUE. As I’ve been connecting with folks across the country over the past week — from Florida to Rhode Island to Alaska, and especially around Seattle and across the State of Washington — it feels like people are in different parts […]
Upcoming workshops and leadership development programs I love learning new stuff, and applying ideas to real-life challenges. Part of me would be in school forever, and I take at least a couple of workshops every year. In recent years, that’s included a pretty eclectic range, from leadership to improv, meditation to pop-up book construction, peacemaking practices, and beyond. Still on the shortlist? Off the top of my head: Italian, mediation, Conversational […]
4 steps to make better use of the board’s time and effort I’ve worked with countless nonprofit leaders—board and staff—over the past decade, and I’ve found that people generally have pretty strong feelings about nonprofit board meetings. On one end of the spectrum, I often hear comments like this: “Sometimes I’m sitting there on a Tuesday night, away from my family and my dinner and even my TV… And I imagine sending a houseplant in my place. I’m not […]
An interesting read in the Stanford Social Innovation Review about the different roles that we can play in social change. One highlight from authors Julie Battilana & Marissa Kimsey: “We identify three distinct roles played by those who participate in movements for social change: agitator, innovator, and orchestrator. An agitator brings the grievances of specific individuals or groups to the forefront of public awareness. An innovator creates an actionable solution […]
My Third-Occasional, Not-Scientific-but-Definitely-True List of Inspiring, Courageous and/or Thought-Provoking Awesomeness As I said in an earlier post, sometimes, the medicine we need is just a gentle reminder about the kindness and courage that exists in the world. About regular people doing what they can–in their corners of the world–to contribute to a more just and humane world. So I started a list of some of the people, organizations, artists, activists […]
