Clare Consultation, LLCThe VRA and Racism “the country’s original sin”
What a week. With a 68-32 margin, the U.S. Senate passed immigration reform – a heartening step even in the face of the subsequent response by the usual suspects in the House of Representatives rolling their eyes and offering sound bites that essentially communicate (again…), “in your dreams.” In what likely stands as a more inspiring demonstration (and interpretation) of democratic action, Texas Senator, Wendy Davis together with thousands of citizens of… Read More
Violence May Thwart Public Voice, but the Ideas Won’t Go Away
My sister in Gainesville, Florida is recently back from Turkey — Istanbul and a rural city where she and her daughter worked a while on an organic olive farm. The olive work was only perfect for getting to know the culture of rural Turkey a bit, but it was also the only way for these two women to travel together. The younger is a college student, the older (celebrating her 50th with… Read More
March 4th has it all over Super Tuesday
I drove into Cincinnati from Manhattan. How many times will I be able to say that? Not many. And it was no minor feat. I’m guessing this is not the least bit surprising to any of you. Still, we say these things out loud to one another – partly as a request for validation – a “wow” that fits with the relative enormity of the accomplishment. The vast majority of Americans don’t… Read More
Leap Year and Minding the Gap
It happens relatively rarely in a lifetime, this date that adjusts for the inaccuracies in our calendar. I can’t help but take comfort in the reminder that human ingenuity requires human fallibility. Dine (Navajo) weavers, Yakama beadworkers, Appalachian quilters sometimes become so good at their crafts that they purposefully place mistakes in their work. It’s an act of humility, recognition that nothing humanly constructed can be perfect. Most of us don’t need… Read More
Moments in the Weave
It’s 9-10-11. I just landed in Washington DC National Airport. Tonight my niece will be married on the banks of thePotomac– first of that generation. Wow – turn-turn-turn and all of that – change, for sure! Constancy, too. Expense, distance and daily matters of consequence set aside as all the family that can gathers. This is what families do. It’s one way we love each other, taking these opportunities to cinch up… Read More
Because I Knew You Then, I Can Listen to You Now
I spent the last week with a friend I had not seen since we were both 15 – a friend I met when we were 6 and in elementary school in Sweetwater, TX. By the time we were 12, serendipity of some wild Texas variety had turned circumstances so that we both showed up in Mrs. Southerland’s English class in Peterson Junior High School, Kerrville, TX. His family had moved to start Gibson’s, an early version of discount stores now dwarfed… Read More
Hearing : Listening as Ground-Zero-Mosque : Islamic Community Center
The EX:Change is about listening across differences. Differences in political views. Differences in values. Differences in social circumstances due to income, education, ethnicity, personal relationships, physical ability, age. Beyond hearing what people have to say, it is about listening to get a sense of how life looks from another person’s perspective. We call this communication and it tends to be used to support understanding, cooperation, strong and generative community…stuff like that. The… Read More
8-9-10 — Right on Time
My friend, Jessica, is training for a half marathon. She’s never really been a runner before. Lately her body has gone through a vast transformation. A tall woman weighing in around 200, she’s nearing half her former size. That’s living change. Jessica is training for a half marathon because she can. Her body is ready for something like that. Her primary goal is not to lose more weight. In fact, Jessica is… Read More
Spirit & Faith
“We change up above, on our surfaces, but there’s that underlying constant that travels through all the changes. It’s something I don’t really have the words for. The only concrete thing I have, which isn’t concrete at all, is that deep soul feeling.” Lauren Kraakevik It’s an overcast but warm spring day in Portland, OR. I’m back down the street in the corner Starbuck’s where the staff have been so consistent in cheering… Read More