Clare Consultation, LLCJohn McCain – “But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement”
I did not vote for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. But because of his candidacy, I got in my car early in 2009, and began what would be a 10,000 mile circumnavigation of the lower 48. I did this because, by the time Americans got to the polls in November 2008, no matter who we voted for, everyone was using the word change. So, because of McCain and Obama, because… Read More
50 Years after Bloody Sunday – Where is Elderhood?
ANSWER: It’s in every one of us. Really. Even in the headliners criticized by the vast and varied media. Overt or latent, Elderhood ™ is in you and it’s in me. It’s in Obama. It’s in Boehner. It’s in Netanyahu. And, most surely, Elderhood ™ is in John Lewis and each of the original Selma foot soldiers gathered today to remember Bloody Sunday – the horror they survived 50 years ago… Read More
Truth & Reconciliation – No Better Time than Right Now
Last night, I saw a video of renown science fiction author, Ursula Leguin, speaking at the National Book Awards in acknowledgement of receiving that august group’s recognition of her life of literary achievement. In her comments, she said, “I think hard times are coming. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries, the realists of a larger reality.” Right after hearing LeGuin’s words, we heard the news from Ferguson, Missouri that… Read More
Leading with Age
I’m pretty sure I’m on a soap box. Have been for a few years, now. My subject from this modest elevation: The Reclamation of Elderhood ™ . Like most of us, I remember my grandparents. I remember a few great uncles and aunts. I even remember some of their friends. My maternal grandmother, for example, was born in 1896. I know too little of her life. I know she was raised in… Read More
February 1 – Re-imagining Underway
February. The love month. The month my skin has historically hit its most green (being of “olive” complexion – or so I’ve been told). The shrimpy month perhaps made so out of some vague attempt compensate the rutheless grind mid-winter in the northern hemisphere can present whether rainy in Portland, sub-zero in eastern Montana or, this year, astonishingly dry in California and wildly cold where my Mama lives in Georgia. It was February, 2009… Read More
A Mandan-Hidatsa Elder and Civilian Warrior Speaks of Fracking
Today is Veteran’s Day. Today we honor people who have placed their lives on the line to recover peace. Per Capita, more Native Americans serve in the U.S. military than any other ethnic group. In recent data out of the Department of Defense (2010) the contrast shows up in the fact that while Native Americans make up 1.4% of the total U.S. population, they compose 1.7% of the country’s military. Over 20%… Read More
Shutdown — One Viral Video and a Sort of Bipartisan Response
[NOTE: Viral Video from title — http://www.votevets.org/home] [later NOTE: It’s 10-16 around 10:00 PST — the headlines I see say it’s over. This is a relief. Now the clean-up starts. And, by way of apology for any implication that furloughed Federal workers were not experiencing significant financial and professional stress (but rather were only on “paid vacation”), I offer this link to the real stories of real people — all Federal employees severely… Read More
On Defending the Dream until it is Made Real
I am writing this week to remind myself and anyone who might read here that the passage of time does not make the circumstances of last week’s blog any less immediate – any less critical than they were. Racism and all other forms of social oppression are not gone. The violence – physical, emotional, intellectual, physical – continues daily. Please listen to this. Linten in yourself. Listen in the experiences and profound… Read More
Social Class and Knowing
One of the things I do in my work is to serve as a reviewer for scholarly manuscripts that social science researchers submit to academic journals – vying for one of the coveted publication spots so necessary for advancing in higher education professions. Hmmm. Well first, let’s go back and take a look at that sentence. The one I just wrote and you just read. Its message could easily invoke a yawn. … Read More
Paying Attention to What’s Working
The other day, I was at the Quest Integrative Health Center in Portland. I was co-facilitating a discussion on the neurobiology of happiness based on the work of researcher and clinician, Rick Hanson. I’ve written about Quest Center before in this blog (EX:C blogs November 26, 2012; December 10, 2012) and have to say it’s great to be volunteering my time as part of this monthly neuroscience series. The group gathered… Read More