Alongside what changes is what endures. Each is finally contained in the other. Many times, what remains most reliable does so because of its capacity to change. Here I am, visiting the UK because of one of those enduring things — family — more specifically, my beloved expat daughter. Today is Easter. That means many on the islands are following the tradition of gathering with families over meals — elaborate and larger… Read More
Well today there’s the Susan G. Komen flip flop on their relationship with Planned Parenthood, there’s the unreliability in signs of economic recovery and there’s the hideous violence occurring in Syria and on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. No doubt, the pundits who fancy themselves either political or entertainment, could be and are spinning these stories to fit their agendas. Last night I finally got off the road with the promise… Read More
Better than you believe; stronger than you seem. Carol Ackerman “What we know is that the more people affiliate with other people, the more their sources of positive experiences and possibilities for energizing and purposeful activity in the world.” This is my best shot at something my mentor, Jane Conoley said to me yesterday morning. We were sitting in her living room, the Sunday morning light breathing itself across the bamboo floors,… Read More
Three years ago today, I began the EX:Change project. Our new president had been inaugurated the day before and January 21 was the first of my 100 days for learning from everyday U.S. citizens what they meant when they said the word, change. My goal was to interview 100 people in 100 days and one result was the publication of the book 100 VOICES – AMERICANS TALK ABOUT CHANGE. Now it’s three… Read More
Here we are. In crisis. Together. The truth of the oft cited Chinese logograph for crisis is that it holds two characters, one connoting danger and the other signifying a point of uncertainty, a critical moment, a point of profound and unsettling change. This is vastly more realistic than the more New Age rendition that misattributes the notion of opportunity to the second character. We are in crisis. These years are more… Read More
I want to see this country back to using its head. Just common sense. I’ve known some Congressmen and other people in Washington. They all kind of shrug their shoulders. I have a Congressman friend I asked, “How many Senators and Congressmen do you admire for their intelligence?” This man is very, very sharp. He said, “About 20%.” He said there are more idiots sitting in the Senate and in Congress than… Read More
Art Garcia holds one of many distinctions as Voice #2 in 100 VOICES — AMERICANS TALK ABOUT CHANGE. Today I got a text message: “Check your front porch.” Then a second message followed “: )” — Both were from Art. I wasn’t home at the time, so I called David, my world’s best ever next door neighbor and asked if he’d go see what Art had left. “It’s flowers,” David said…. Read More
Down the street @ Bloke http://blokepdx.com/, Justin-the-botanical-artist is well beyond priming – that happened back in October [EX:C blog, “Bloke – AKA, Barber Babes Redux,” 10-29-2011]. Now, since a few weeks before Thanksgiving, Bloke is hitting its prime for the cold weather Holiday season – the festivities that cry for decorative plants and flowers between Halloween and New Year’s Day. Every time I see him these days, Justin is a little breathless, but… Read More
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
I just sent this email to the 504 people on my “EX:Change Friends and Family” list. Cool number, huh? 504. These are the people who, along the way — as I drove the highways of U.S. in early 2009 and in the time since have befriended me and the EX:Change project and asked to be kept updated. In ten days, what was once only and idea on a cold and rainy New Year’s Eve will show up… Read More
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