What happens to a soul that it must constantly justify the suffering of others to maintain its own peace? The words are from Miral Askar, a palestinian journalist, but I found them doom scrolling at 3am and read aloud by Misan Harriman, a black man; wide, strong, settled, his voice resonant with feeling. I […]
I know. We all read this book 10 years ago. My suggestion, pick it up again. When Brene Brown delivered her charming, vulnerable and life altering TedxTalk, The Power of Vulnerability, the world watched and waited for whatever she would offer next, at least I did. For the last several weeks I have been
holding discomfort Read More »
Oh colombia. How little do I know u but oh Colombia, how good you are at leaving an impression. This conference, a gathering of powerful women and colored eyeglasses, no not just colored but every structured, as though one should start at the eyes when breaking through paradigms. Oh Colombia, I spend hours upon days
I teach systems thinking and so by design, or default, my work supports educators and students to do a lot of critical thinking. Generally it’s focused on the global challenges that we are currently contemplating; climate change, systemic racism, those big consequential things. But today, my critical thinking skills were brought to the test…. by
critical thinking and washing machines Read More »
Look for loops – a sustainable habit of mind Move beyond the temptation to see the world as a linear sequence of events and look for loops of cause and effect in the world surrounding you. Identifying the drivers of continuity and change can help you understand the world around you and identify opportunities to
I just left the Amtrak train and after an easy walk I am sitting on the Flyaway Bus speeding on the highway towards LAX where I will board a Finnair flight to Helsinki. I will arrive tomorrow evening and an hour later join a collection of education entrepreneurs at the pizza and beer pre-party for
There are those days when I am absolutely sure that I can change the world for the better and then, there are those days when I wonder how I can be so absurdly naive to think that anything that I do matters to anyone. Today, unfortunately, is one of the latter. I’ve been sending sales
Liturgies for those kept awake in the night Read More »
I won’t post this on social media, but I will post it here. I will post it here because here is where I am practicing my leadership, here is where I am trying hard to let go of what or who I am supposed to be and just standing in who I am. This “am”
When I was 19 I worked for the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), an advocacy group and environmental watchdog. My job was “canvasser” and this meant that I would spend the twilight hours of every evening knocking on doors in a chosen neighborhood and explaining to people about the horrible loggers who were destroying
“Par de chur” the waiter asked me, as a follow up to my order of cafe con leche. I hesitated and tried to act natural at the same time, my mind churning with the insecurity of not knowing what the right next response was. He is a local waiter, an older man, in a rush
one wild and precious life Read More »