Clare Consultation, LLCPosted on December 18, 2011 by Mary Clare
EX:Change Gift Idea — 100 VOICES
Listen to the voices of your neighbors. One hundred voices from across the U.S. All talking about change. All speaking their dreams. Give the book to yourself, to friends or family. Join us in the EX:Change as it continues to offer its invitation to all of us — Listen to each other. See what is there in those with whom you think you have nothing in common. See what is there in… Read More
Posted on December 3, 2011 by Mary Clare
Marsha and Nancy — How We Occupy Change
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the idea of having guest bloggers write to the original three questions of EX:Change and the 100 Voices. (EX:C blog, “These Questions Belong to You Now,” 10-22-2011) When you say the word change what do you mean? Alongside change, what is important to have remain the same? What would be concrete signs that positive change was occurring? Then I got email from Marsha Cuyjet – voice #48…. Read More
Posted on November 27, 2011 by Mary Clare
“In casual conversation, how long does it take before someone starts complaining?”
I had Thanksgiving Dinner at the home of a Nigerian-American family. My brother, Preston(since the dawn of our friendship we’ve been pretty sure we are twins separated at birth) and his wife, Michelle and their 5-year-old daughter, Rachel had invited me along on their Thanksgiving plans. Preston, the host couple and three more guests share the fact of long ancestries, birth, childhood and young adulthood in Nigeria. Although they did not meet… Read More
Posted on November 20, 2011 by Mary Clare
Onward
Several years ago I became aware of a newly formed nonprofit organization called Onward Oregon http://onwardoregon.org/. Shortly after learning of the organization, I received an e-mail inviting me to be on their mailing list. In that introductory email, following the words “What We Believe” came this: “We inherit the good that flowed from the people who came before us and the societies they created and will continue building on that foundation. The… Read More
Posted on October 2, 2011 by Mary Clare
Mr. Prude – III
“I didn’t make the second cut.” Mr. Prude was smiling. We’d run into one another again in the crosswalk on Sandy Boulevard and I’d turned to walk with him back toward the dialysis center. We stopped to stand on the sidewalk just beyond the old Barber Babes (EX:C blog, “I’m Not Done Yet,” 5-21-2011). Mr. Prude had been telling me about being just back from Joseph, OR where he’d spent a week… Read More
Posted on August 21, 2011 by Mary Clare
Book Publication and Press Info – YAY!!
One of the things about straddling the generations of print and electronic media is that I still don’t quite understand the genre of “blogging.” That means I don’t know if I’m within or outside of convention with this particular post. Now that I think of it, it’s quite possible the idea of any convention relative to blogging isn’t even relevant to the genre which is probably very cool. Whatever the case, here… Read More
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Mary Clare
The Streets of London and a Bridge in Portland, OR
There are weeks when I think, “I have no idea what to write in this week’s blog.” Really. Lots of them. Then, without fail, events turn. They may be close in like with bus rides, or widespread like weather, or painful like the death of a dear one. They can also seem to have nothing to do with one another, and then, out of the nowhere of random neuron firings, I see… Read More
Posted on August 7, 2011 by Mary Clare
Climate — Listening to know for sure
I have a friend in South Dakota who lives in a town that flooded last month. It was near completely under water. I have another friend who lives in Akiak, Alaska who told me about the tundra taking on a smell, thawing for the first time in his life or in the lives of his ancestors who have lived there for many thousand years. Then there was the photo my dad managed to… Read More
Posted on July 23, 2011 by Mary Clare
Mr. Prude – II
“I heard from the Idol people. I’m goin’ to LA in October!” Mr. Prude was at the bus stop Tuesday morning. “I went right to the Western Union office and sent my mom a telegraph. Next thing I know my phone was ringing and she was saying, ‘I knew you could do it!’” So this is how the story of Mr. Prude was unfolding for me. Here was a man I took… Read More
Posted on July 3, 2011 by Mary Clare
Interdependence
Today is only a day. It is Saturday, the 4th of July weekend, and like every other day it has filled with moments linking up into hours, holding people and motion – holding change. This is how it went. Sun rays angled across the morning sky. I woke with two friends on my mind – two friends who are too close to death. Tom, a remarkable and kind educational leader, is here… Read More