After twelve days on the road followed by a further day of work at home and battling a flu I finally have a day off. This morning the wind is gusting off the sea and it’s dry. The forest is drying out, kinglets and sparrows flitting around and eagles are being chased by the crows who are trying to nest in peace. I feel the same way. Letting all that soaked through me just drain out. Watching an afternoon scooter match between Manchester United and Blackburn, drinking tea and smoothies and walking in the woods with my beloved. I’ll have …
A long day of traveling home from Minnesota made longer by a bout of flu and a cough. Hopefully I didn’t poison anyone in the way home. It will be good to have a rest, and see how spring has come in while I’ve been away most of the last three weeks. Location:Howe Sound
My friend Ginny Belden-Charles told me a great story today. She was working in Detroit on some community development issues with a number of activists and others. Their focus was on empowering community development and social action and creating the kinds of citizen based responses that Detroit needs, and she was invited to come and host a circle. When Ginny arrived in her circle of folks, she was amazed at the presence of the famous revolutionary activist Grace Lee Boggs. Grace Lee Boggs is an institution in social activist circles and at 96 years old, with 70 years of practice …
Yesterday I spent an hour sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River near Albertville, Minnesota. We were deep in a design day, and I’m feeling a little run down and tired. I needed to go and sit, and rest and fill my lungs with air and my mouth with silence. One of the tried and true things I know about sitting in nature is that it takes about 20 minutes in stillness and quiet before the system you have entered has absorbed you. Humans are clumsy at being in the natural world and we stumble and make noise. All …
A harvest of the second day of our 118 person Art of Hosting last week in Minneapolis. Incredibly energy, terrific diversity and powerful learning for all of us.