Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on November 19, 2012 by Mary Clare
Neighbors at War and the Possibility of Peace
Today. Right now. Palestinian people and all people in and around the area of Israel known as Gaza — the Syrian people, Afghan people and people in too many other places on the planet to list here are in immediate danger. Some are dying. People = children, youth, and adults including mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents. These people have pets, they live in places where other animals live, they drink water and… Read More
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Mary Clare
Listen to Each Other
Today is Veteran’s Day. I know that among the reasons I am here typing these words onto this screen with lunch cooking on the stove is the presence and courage of the men and women who over time have been warriors in this country and on this planet. I’m not a big fan of armed conflict — not a big fan of war — and still I know that for the largest… Read More
Posted on November 5, 2012 by Mary Clare
Presidential Politics and the #6 Bus
The podcast series continues – in fact, the entire world continues – even here in the days just preceding and just following the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. This past Friday, Alex Ward, the producer of the podcast series, uploaded Chapter 3 – Voices from the Southwest. The radio recounting of my miles on the post-inauguration highways of early 2009 continues. The most important feature of these podcasts for me is the chance… Read More
Posted on October 28, 2012 by Mary Clare
Matters of Spirit before the Election — and a second podcast —
Last night there were fireworks in the rain for the last game of the season for the Portland Timbers — our professional soccer team. The season ended with a tie between the Timbers and the San Jose Earthquakes. I wasn’t at the game. And, true confession, I didn’t know about it. But the sound was enormous for 20 minutes or more. My imagination ran the gammut, but I remembered my friend Dia… Read More
Posted on October 24, 2012 by Mary Clare
In the run up to the election — An ANTIDOTE
Another post so soon??? YES! Here’s an antidote to all the contention and polemic flying around the airwaves and unfortunately, too easily eddying in our own ruminations. We still have over a week before the election. During that time it’s only vastly possible that the theater of opposition will amp up. The essential subtext of all the contention is that we the people not only should but do dislike, disrespect and fear… Read More
Posted on October 21, 2012 by Mary Clare
How to Listen to Presidential Candidates
My work is in a graduate school. I am responsible for helping prepare people to be educators, mental health professionals and community leaders. We need them, so I give my very best to enabling their brilliance and their good hearts. One of the questions I often ask my students is, “What do you want?” I sometimes have them write for a while – a good while – in answer to this question. … Read More
Posted on October 14, 2012 by Mary Clare
Writing as a Woman in a Body — to T Akin et al
I think it’s time to say ENOUGH! I want to say that on two levels. FIRST –> I and we (women and men) have had enough of you who persist in the archaic notion that you have dominion over women simply because of the differences in our genitals. Really? I know and understand from experience how difficult it is to have unearned privilege questioned. It feels like you’re losing something –… Read More
Posted on October 8, 2012 by Mary Clare
100 VOICES Podcast Preview
Today my neighbor Darren brought over flowers. Darren is an art connoisseur and downhill ski enthusiast — passions he finances with his career-long work as a rebar guy. He’s the man who goes in when sky scrapers or strip malls are only twinkles in architects’ eyes to put in the steel bar that holds up the whole edifice — you know, the kind that looks like licorice strands but weighs like plutonium…. Read More
Posted on September 30, 2012 by Mary Clare
Plane Delays and Collaboration across Cultures
It is Sunday afternoon. I’m sitting in the Alumni Center of Austin College in Sherman, TX. I’m here for a few days to support a conversation and the development of a relationship between this small independent liberal arts school and Native American Tribes and communities. My job is to keep the listening and speaking going – and to join in the identification of steps to be taken toward building friendship and collaboration… Read More
Posted on September 24, 2012 by Mary Clare
“47%” Cuts Lots of Ways
I saw my highschool friend Tim Taylor at a reunion a few years ago. Last time we’d spoken we were both 15 year olds. When we chatted this time, it was September in Kerrville, TX – homecoming weekend. The world class heat of the Texas summer had softened so we could stand around outside catching up on where the decades had taken those fresh-faced teens who will forever populate the halls of… Read More