There is no way you can learn the art of facilitation, the art of hosting, by simply coming to a workshop. It happens from time to time that people show up for a three day workshop and expect that at the end they will be competent hosts of groups process in any situation. To get good at arts you have to practice. Last week in Montreal, I saw 120 people come to an Art of Hosting with an overwhelming desire to practice. The invitation to them was to attend if they were wanting to develop and improve their practice. It …
I used to be a huge fan of Anthony Braxton back in the day. Braxton is an unapologetic free music practitioner, a brilliant composer and improviser and a disruptive influence in the world of American music, and jazz in particular. Here is a a lovely piece from him talking about the difference in perception between white men and black men striving to express an individual voice in contemporary America. Beyond race, this also speaks to the marginalization of creative work in a world dominated by a mercantile world view: FJ: Why is it that a white man striving for individuality …
Since 1986 I have been working for our communities across Canada. I have met every national chief since George Easmus and am on a first name basis with two of them. I have worked in probably more than fifty communities but have hosted meetings with citizens of almost every First Nation in Canada. Much of my work is geared towards making things better, and in my life time I have seen improvements. #IdleNoMore is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my 26 years of working in our communities. It is a grassroots voicing of many concerns …
On a journey through rural Ontario this morning as I visit family in Thornbury and Toronto before heading to Montreal tonight. We are passing through the countryside south of Barrie. I just saw a sign that took me back 30 years. Outside a little restaurant the sign proudly advertised “homeburgers” That made me smile because it is a word of this country only. A homeburger is a hamburger made fresh from ground beef rather than one that comes as a pre made patty. I have lived in British Columbia for 18 years and have almost forgotten that word. Travelling through …
Very few of us have our hands on the real levers of power. We lack the money and influence to write policy, create tax codes, move resources around or start and stop wars. Most of us spend almost all of our time going along with the macro trends of the world. We might hate the implications of a fossil fuel economy, but everything we do is firmly embedded within it. We might despise colonization, but we know that we are alos guilty of it in many small ways, The reason challenges like that are difficult to resolve is that we …