Sometimes when we think about art and creativity we imagine that it takes a huge amount of time and materials, when really it is often about expanding the way we look at things and using everyday items in a different way. Today’s “creativity moment” literally took five minutes. However, I couldn’t have done this in […]
Every year I participate in an online challenge called Art Every Day Month. (More info here.) Here’s today’s piece. I was planning to go to a Día de los Muertos celebration with some friends today, and was thinking about my dear grandmother Nellie who died a few months ago as I doodled this calavera. […]
A quick visual exercise can utterly transform how a group understands itself. I recently worked with a Board that perceived themselves as very divided. One camp was supposedly dedicated solely to the organization’s Program H and placed an extremely low value on Program C; the other camp reversed these values. They told this story over […]
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One of my latest adventures has been joining the Sonoma County Search and Rescue Team (SAR). Many of our rules, tasks, and attitudes have applicability beyond the SAR environment. 1. Don’t create another victim. Our own personal safety always has to come first; if I get injured, my teammates now have to rescue ME instead […]
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I once worked with a cohousing community on revising their decision-making policy, with which many members were frustrated. It was seven pages long and I found it difficult to understand despite multiple readings; each community member I asked described it differently. Some bemoaned the fact that they could never get anything done because the process […]
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One of the things I love to do as I run my local rural roads is to observe the animals I pass by. I am especially interested in the variety of their responses to me. Cows strike me as curious critters. They turn and watch my progress. If I stop to tie my shoe or […]
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I recently gave a tour of FrogSong, my cohousing community, to a group of local university students. During my talk I shared this story about the power of consensus decision-making. Even though this event happened fifteen years ago, I still choke up in the telling. Quick background: Consensus, as we practice it, draws heavily on […]
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Don’t hire me…if keeping costs down is your primary concern. My rates aren’t the highest in the industry, but they’re not the lowest either. I bid by the project or event rather than by the hour so that we can focus on meeting your goals, not niggling on how many hours each component takes. Don’t […]
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This weekend, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, I attended the incredibly moving film Selma. What most stood out for me, watching that line of people marching toward a line of angry, heavily armed policemen, was their courage. To march forward, knowing you are likely to be physically attacked. To do so with a […]
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Sometimes we make resolutions…and sometimes they come to us. The universe gave me a big one this weekend. I went for a long run on a pretty vigorous mountain trail Saturday. I was having a ball! Gorgeous weather, lovely views, beautiful scenery, occasional glimpses of wildlife. When running on a rocky trail, it’s a good […]
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