A short poem from Edwin Markham, called “Outwitted”: He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in. Hat tip to my friend Janie Leask in Alaska, who posted this on her facebook wall.
From a man I have long loved and admired, Chief Robert Joseph, who spoke these words on receiving an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of British Columbia in 2003. He is a leader in advocating for the rights and dignity of residential school survivors and a deep and passionate advocate of the work many many people are doing to decolonize the child welfare system here in British Columbia. Here is some very good advice from him: I have traveled far and climbed many mountains in my life’s journey. I have seen the darkness of my own abyss. From …
The view from the Rockefeller Foundation meeting room, looking south towards the Empire State Building. Today I worked in this location with friends Willie Toliver and Kelly McGowan supporting the work of a group of executive leaders in the New York City municapl administration. I was struck by how, despite the responsibility and magnitude of influence these people have, that they are nonetheless human beings – vulnerable, falliable and authentic as the rest of us. Here is the poem that was created from the checkout. We are just poor weak human beings, Resisting the call Because we cease and desist …
Father Brian, Photo by Peggy Holman The Open Space community has lost one of it’s stalwart elders, Father Brian Bainbridge, a Catholic priest and corporate consultant from Melbourne, Australia. Brian was a dear friend and colleague and offered much to the shape and form of Open Space although his contributions were quiet and behind the scenes. He trained and taught many, many Australian Open Space facilitators, wrote an informally published ebook about his experiences creating and Open Space organization in his parish and was a stalwart for the integrity of the process, curious in the multiple ways self-organization and complex …
And then just like that, you hop a plane from Johannesburg, stop after 8 hours in Dakar for refuelling. Take another 9 hours to arrive in New York, take a cab into the city with a great driver who hails from Guinea and is going back there to work on the democratic elections this spring, and you get dropped in front of a small boutique hotel on Madison Avenue. The air is cold and crisp and the city seems to be in a good mood. The woman at the check in counter at The MAve Hotel directs me …