Clare Consultation, LLCHas it really been 10 years: 100 VOICES
January 21, 2009, the day after the inauguration of the first Obama administration, I took off driving – south, then east, then north, then back west. I was interested in listening to everyday people. I wanted to know what they meant when they said that word – especially public in the preceding months – CHANGE. My goal was 100 voices in the first 100 days. Voices across as broad a range of… Read More
John 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
Mentor of the Highest Order – A Precious Elder has Passed
An hour ago, this text message from my dear friend, Charles Hudson: Roy has passed. In immediate loving memory, I am reposting this blog from October 10, 2014. Before you read this, though, I want you to know this man is one of the very few about whom no one can exaggerate upon his death. Roy Sampsel is truly a Great Tribal Leader. Daily, he touched the world and its people… Read More
Do Not Forget: This Morning Too, Has a Pulse
On this day – at the time of inauguration of our country’s 45th President, we are no less in and of the reliable weave of relationship. Within the natural world. Within the social world – itself entirely an expression of nature. On this day – like all other days, a pulse. And wisdom – like Dr. Angelou’s in 1993 – it’s truth everpresent, whether seen and lived from or not. May… Read More
Three Quotes for Weary Citizens
In days when helpful words don’t come easily, these Elders are, for me, clearings in the fog. George Takei wrote this in the past week – [you may know him for his role as Sulu in Star Trek.] Just a few weeks after my fifth birthday, in the spring of 1942, my parents got my younger brother, my baby sister, and me up very early, hurriedly dressed us, and quickly started to pack…. Read More
Talking Sex(ism)
People are talking. This matters. We suspect our country and its people are better than this. But we’re not sure. Question. Does a Presidential candidate’s personal history of repeated demeaning public comments about women – with regard to appearance or sexual utility – have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s history of physical sexual harassment of women have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s dismissal of either or both kinds of behavior… Read More
An Elephant on Fire
From time to time, a bad habit bursts into flame. Most bad habits are, by definition, world views and behaviors that don’t necessarily play well. But, for the most part, they stay at a level low enough to be ignored. Chewing on fingernails, for example. Interrupting is another one. Some of these bad habits arise from social agreements about the worth of people that just aren’t fair – that erase dignity. And… Read More
Death, a Rainbow & Ethical Journalism
Yesterday, my little sister, Nancy Jones, posted another of her brilliant and honest posts as a frequent contributor to Daily Kos. Her writing was centered on her friend Zot Lynn Szurgot. On September 7, Zot, one of my sister’s nearest and dearest friends was killed on a Georgia highway when a semi ran a stop and plowed into her car. She was just through another good day on site for completing a solar… Read More
ONWARD
Whether an economic concoction or general energetic weirdness – or both – or neither – life has a way of throwing curve balls that, at their most random and intense, can knock any of us way off our game. So what’s up? Some of the more esoteric among us are in remarkable agreement that might be summarized: The energy is super intense these past months, and really weird. My prescient mentor,… Read More
Heeding Lessons from a Small Business
Last week I sat with the staff and management of a mountain town cafe – a group I’ve had the chance to work with as they have moved into the big center of transition. Without knowing it, this small organization and the people who sustain it are inspiring models of what showing up to change looks like. For 14 years, the Cafe Regis has served the community of Red Lodge, Montana as… Read More