Back in January 2013, while facilitating a workshop in Scotland with Beth Gallagher, Peter Leidy, Heather Simmons and our lovely hosts from EDG (Linda Keys, Stephen Coulson, Helen Wright), the concept of our Integrity Gap smacked me across the face. Presented to Heather by John O’Brien a few months prior to the workshop, she decided to share it and pay it forward to our group. Ever since learning about this concept, we’ve been sharing it with our employees in San Diego with Life Works at orientation and with others we run into while facilitating workshops wherever we travel. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Neighbors
Sometimes it sneaks up on you…
On Monday of last week, my family attended the end of the year St. Mark’s Pre School family gathering. Upon arriving at the park, we set out our blanket and briskly followed our kids to the adjacent playground for a quick swing session. Minutes passed and the sea of children and families swelled. Familiar faces all around, as this is our third year of sending at least one of our kids to the pre school. New faces appeared throughout the evening, depending on the tide. Continue reading
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In Order to Change the Community, We Must Change the Soil
This week we’ve linked in a TED Talk given by Ron Finley. Ron Finley is an activist in South Central Los Angeles. He started an organization comprised of volunteers that plant gardens in vacant lots across South Central Los Angeles. His passion rests in educating kids and community members about food and a healthy way of eating. His philosophy is beautiful, simple, real and impactful. Take the time to watch this ten minute talk. Have a great week everyone!
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Practice of Welcoming: A conversation with Bruce Anderson
The genesis of Come In From The Cold came from the yearning to reflect on how we, as people living in a community, can live a practice of welcoming. Last month, I had the pleasure of meeting a gentlemen by the name of Bruce Anderson, who has made it his life’s work to explore this very idea. Bruce lives in Washington, in a place called Vashon Island, where he is immersed in living a practice of welcoming. I immediately invited him to share some time to chat with me and he graciously accepted. So I invite you to have a glimpse into our conversation…
Me: How did you become interested in this practice? Continue reading
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“From Below, Not Above”
Before we introduce this week’s blog link, we have AMAZING news! Co-author and co-creator of this here blog, Linda Keys, along with her partner Alan MacFarlane, welcomed their son Findlay into the world on Saturday evening, May 4. In a text she wrote, “Our beautiful wonderful son Findlay Keys MacFarlane, was born last night, May 4 at 8:21pm at home in water. Weight 8 lbs, 11 ounces. It was the most perfect home birth I could have ever imagined. His transition to the outside world was gentle and calm. Auntie Jenny made it here in time. We are all incredibly well and happy.” Congratulations Linda and Alan on the birth of Findlay!! Findlay is blessed to have you as parents! Now on with the show…
This week we are honored to provide you with a link to a dear friend’s blog, April Doner. Continue reading
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Imagination creates beauty…
A friend, and recent guest blogger, Chris Lee, recently shared this video about a project coordinated by Christina MacLeod. She organized a group of community members to transform a “dull and lifeless street, into a public place that encourages activity, community and health.” It is a beautiful piece about a beautiful idea. Take the time to watch this 6 minute video. Be well friends!
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Hope and Resilience
Seven days removed from the Boston Marathon bombings, we wish to extend our thoughts and prayers to those affected by the incidents. Acts of violence are unnecessary. They leave us empty and searching for answers. As we committed to upon partnering to bring you this blog, Linda and I vowed to be relentlessly positive.
I saw a quote from Mr. Rogers yesterday and it read: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Continue reading
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Friendship Is Just A Ball-Pit Away
My good friend Beth Gallagher hipped me to this video produced by a group called Soul Pancake. They constructed a ball-pit in the middle of a busy city and put up a sign reading, “Take a seat, Make a friend”, and filmed interactions between people brave enough to participate. What ensues is beautiful.
For me this video speaks to the simplicity of human interaction. It speaks to the genesis of any relationship…the invitation. In this video, the ball-pit acts as the invitation. Fun, innovative, clever and probably a bit impractical. However, we can all be fun, innovative and clever. We all have this invitation inside of us. We all have the capacity to invite others into our lives. To ask someone “What’s you story?” Continue reading
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The Original Roving Listener…
This week we share an interview facilitated by Janis Foster Richardson with De’Amon Harges. Janis Foster Richardson is the executive director of Grassroots Grantmakers, a non-profit group that strives to “strengthen and resource the work of everyday people and citizen-led groups”. De’Amon Harges, the original Roving Listener, shares his wisdom with Janis about the work he is doing in Indianapolis with Broadway United Methodist Church, and neighborhoods across North America. Thanks to Janis for originally posting this interview via podcast. Thanks to De’Amon for sharing his stories…
Take the time to listen to this podcast. You’ll find it by following the link below. You may have to cut and paste it into your address bar. I tried embedding it into the post, but it is in a format I’m unfamiliar with embedding. We are working on being as tech-savvy as possible. Bear with us, but in the meantime, follow the link and enjoy the conversation between Janis and De’Amon.
http://www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org/2013/03/roving-listening-a-strategy-for-building-community/
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Building Community One Latte At A Time
Nestled snugly at the bottom corner of Bay Park, just off Morena, in the little Bay Ho shopping complex, is a business percolating connections. Waiting in line for my morning coffee at Coffee Quick, a small drive-thru coffee hut, I began to notice something. Svetla, owner and operator of Coffee Quick, seemingly always happy and ready to have a conversation, had something more than just a business brewing. Curiosity welled up inside of me, wondering if this little hut was more than just a coffee shop. What’s the story behind it? So I decided to find out and extended an invitation to Svetla, to share her story. As usual, when an invitation is extended, the storytelling unfolds along with the beauty of human connection. Continue reading
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