Category Archives: Sustainable Living

“Everything Must Go!”

Posted on March 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sometimes, life happens.  Then again, at all times, Life happens.  

This blog post was drafted way back in early January 2013 but, reading it today, I decided to post it anyway, and just add an update.  Here goes…

R1-03231-0003Did time end and kickstart again on December 21, 2012?  Hard to say, although many have said much on the topic.  Some events are at a scale too big or too small for we humans to intellectually grasp and interpret, and perhaps here, in these first few breaths of 2013, we might just surrender to that.

I’ve lived through so many pronouncements of end times (including being taught to hide under my desk on a pile of books in case of nuclear attack) that I don’t have a strong reaction to them anymore. Life goes on the day after.  What I do pay attention to is more subtle, and I sense, more powerful.  I notice and respond to what is shifting and emerging in me and the interconnected world I live in.

So, what was I up to from December 22 through January 1?  Well, I actually thought I was giving myself a writing retreat.  Housemates were traveling and paid work was done for the year so I delightedly anticipated a spacious, creative playdate with myself.  Little did I know that the one line entry in my journal stating “Clean up office and desk” would be the central focus of my retreat.

Some might wonder what the big deal about this was.  Why didn’t I spend a day, or even two, cleaning stuff out and then go on with the more creative aspects of my plans?  I too wondered this over the first few days, but this opinion clearly came from the energetic aspect of me that is always about “doing”.  (I firmly stand in the non-dualist perspective and I experience the complexity of Self.)  My intention of having a personal retreat empowered me into just “being”, and that changed everything.  While other people were holiday shopping, I was staging a very personal “Everything Must Go!” blowout.

From today’s perspective, some two months later, that de-cluttering made big space for what I want more of in life.  And while the above blog post was sitting here unpublished, that’s where I was – out having new experiences. And…I committed to the big project of writing a book (and some articles and book chapters) this year and getting published.

One of the insights that came clear to me just yesterday is that I yearn for more expression not based on written words. So, I’m letting this written blog go quiet, at least for awhile, while I launch into creating and publishing content on my YouTube channel. 

Be well and find your own ways of Making Up What Comes Next!

Nika

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Posted in Dealing with Change, Leadership, personal growth, Reinventing Self, Sustainable Living

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Making Space for Connections

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 2 Comments

Our social fabric is a most valuable asset, the invisible woven net in which we live, exert influence, find resources and collaborators, solve problems and make up what comes next.  I pay attention to people who foster ways of strengthening that fabric and want to share here a few recent experiences with people who are doing just that.

On Saturday April 14th, I gathered with about 40 other folks in my neighborhood, the Laurel district in east Oakland, CA to participate in the Laurel to Redwoods Walk led by Oakland Urban Paths.  OUP host Paul Rosenbloom and special guest, local historian Dennis Evanosky, led us on a meandering journey through our streets, introducing us to off-the-beaten-path public pathways that some of us knew nothing about, including passages between private property lines, pedestrian bridges and trails.  OUP’s mission is to raise awareness of these pathways to increase public usage and enjoyment of them and to get support for signage and maintenance that keep them accessible.  Dennis continually fed our interest with “here on this very spot” tales of Oakland’s early development by native peoples, Spanish settlers, gold miners seeking real estate, greedy lawyers, and more!

I enjoyed the exercise, the adventure and the history.  But what thrilled me most was the way connections formed during this hike.  I noticed this in several ways. A few times, as our serpentine group stretched along sidewalks, we inspired curiosity and connection. People came out on their porches calling out “Who are you?” and we replied “Come with us for a hike!”  In an improvisational moment, one man even ran inside to get his hat and joined us.  Gerald, owner of Scheberies Used Cars, paused to talk with the group as we followed the path next to his chain link fence.  His business has been there since before 580 was built! As we walkers warmed up to each other, making introductions and falling into stride with different companions, our conversations deepened.  I participated in problem-solving discussions about how to slow traffic on the 35th Avenue hill and how to get trails and bridges in the redwoods fixed after the winter’s rains.  I’m sure there were many other productive threads that I never witnessed.  It was heartening to sense how this random group of people on a hike was so naturally creative and willing to serve this place we love living in.  I want to celebrate Paul and Oakland Urban Paths who so obviously make space for connecting people to the land, to history, to each other and to our future.

A week later on April 21st I attended the business launch party for BASE Landscape Architecture, owned by my fun and talented clients, Patricia Algara and Andreas Stavropoulos.  Even after years of being a networker, I find it challenging to walk into a room packed with people I don’t know.  I explored their office digs, got a glass of wine, and discovered the Zome in their shared workspace where I settled in.  (Patricia and Rob Bell construct these beautiful, whimsical wood structures that are a regular feature in Burning Man’s desert landscape.)  Benches with pillows lined the inside making an inviting space for quietly taking in the visual and energetic aesthetic and/or connecting with the people next to me.  There just is something about sitting in a circular space that facilitates ease of connection.  I leaned on the cushions to take in the ceiling, was entertained by two lively musicians, and had an engaging conversation about economics, organizational behavior and the self-organizing system we call the Internet.  I also heard a story about how the Zomes at Burning Man “create a space in the middle of the desert and everyone inside is like at a cocktail party.”  Andreas, Patricia and Rob understand how to make space for connections through building the kinds of environments we humans need to relax and engage.

As a final thought…

I notice that making the space for connections means slowing down our pace, at least a bit.  If you want more and better relationships, teamwork, and community in your life, work, and neighborhood, take the time to make space for connections.

Happy Earth Day!  Nika

Nika Newcomb Quirk, MBA PhD
facilitating the emergence of systems savvy, resilient, artful, and collaborative leadership
NikaQuirk@mac.com
+1 510-381-5350
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linked in: nika quirk

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Playful Practices, Sustainable Living

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Play with your Food – “plop” go the raspberries

Posted on June 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

It’s June here in the San Francisco Bay Area and there’s a tropical feel to the air. We’ve gone from a cold late spring into an early June of weird steamy atmosphere.  I’m a little peevish because I moved here decades ago partially to escape the “dripping wet under the armpits” humidity of East Coast summers. But, you know, there’s always a silver lining – the raspberry bushes are loving this weather!  With two beehives tending to their pollination, lots of moisture and overcast sun, the bushes in our garden continue to be heavy with beautiful, bumpy purple fruit.

In early afternoon today, I decided I needed some centering before immersing my mind in the process of dissertation editing.  So, I went out to play in the garden.  I said hello to the new crop of half-inch worms in the worm box, added our kitchen scraps to the compost, shared some of the more delectable scraps with the chickens, scratched my cat Bitty’s belly, and then turned my full attention to berry-picking.

Fully ripe raspberries, ones that are almost all juice held together by a delicate skin, are just waiting to “plop”.  Looking closely, you can see how gravity is pulling the juicy weight off the stem, loosening it for freefall.  With my berry bucket’s ribbon around my neck, I have both hands free for berry-catching.  I wade into the bushes carefully and gently move bright green leaves aside so I can catch sight of the sweet gems they hide.  About every ninth berry goes straight into my mouth, providing an eye-closing moment of sheer delight.  I pick berries with one palm underneath, encouraging them with my other hand to drop without squishing.  As I’m pulled into the flow of wading-revealing-plopping, I flash on an early memory of my relationship to berries.  I’m about 4 years old and strawberries give me a belly rash so when my sisters take me to the big wild strawberry field, I’m strictly told to Pick but not to Eat.  I learn the secrets of berry-hunting from them but I cannot resist the sweet rewards!  By the time we leave, my face, hands and t-shirt give evidence of my happiness and I walk home already scratching at my tummy.  Smiling at how little I’ve changed in some ways, I finish filling my little bucket and head into the kitchen to store my harvest.

The deeper I go exploring into the nature of collaboration, the more I realize the importance of our recognizing our relationships to everything in our world.  If we can see our own collaborative relationships in tending bees that nurture and feed from berry flowers that in turn “plop” fruit into our hands, we are more prepared to create and participate in the flow of human systems.  We are in no way estranged from the world in which we live.  We only need to open ourselves to the truth of our connection.

From me to you with joy, Nika

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What’s your evolutionary strategy?

Posted on February 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

“Realistic” people who pursue “practical” aims are rarely as realistic or practical in the long run of life as the dreamers who pursue their dreams. – Hans Selye

As it’s the beginning of the year, I find myself defining and discussing strategy in many aspects of my life and work.  Entrepreneur clients working with me as a business coach want to figure out how to make 2011 a better year.  My housemates and I regularly fall into co-imagining (and drooling over) what we’d like to produce in the garden this season.  Headed into the final production of my PhD dissertation, I’ve been assessing how I can bring an artful and practically successful approach to reviewing mounds of data and articulating what’s essential, meaningful, wonderful.  The non-profit board I lead works collectively to shape a sustainable path that supports the organization’s long-term benefit to human life and social change.

The word strategy tends to bring business and/or military contexts to mind.  But I’m attracted to this definition: an adaptation or complex of adaptations (as of behavior, metabolism, or structure) that serves or appears to serve an important function in achieving evolutionary success. Strategy is about learning and changing. It’s a process of reflecting on factual and experiential intelligence, evaluating success, imagining possibilities, and forging these combined insights into a plan of action that we sense has the potential for greater success.  Through strategy, we adapt consciously with an orientation to our values, desires and dreams.

Organizations make large investments in strategic planning.  But, in working with EveryDay Leaders, I find that strategy is overlooked or seen as a mystifying process for which people are unsure they have the time. “Who me? Have a strategy? That’s someone else’s job. I’m not big or important enough!”  So many of us live immersed in the streaming river of our experience, rarely mining the learning through which to shape ourselves, our endeavors, and our human future. And yet, right now, our adaptation to the ever-more-apparent-Big-Changes-on-the-planet is the main work at hand.

I hope you really grasp how important you are in the bigger picture of “making up what comes next”. I eagerly invite you to step into leadership, into active engagement with yourself, your life, and your environment. Know your fears but don’t sink to their level. I challenge you to create an evolutionary strategy. Yes! This is tough and worthy work! Take the time to honestly reflect, alone and with others, on a regular basis. Combine the factual and the imaginal to see yourself, your work, your family and community, your environment (both natural and human-made) – in 5, 10, 20 years. Believe in a satisfying and joyful future.  Take action on adaptations – what you can do now that contributes to both current and evolutionary success. I’m right there with you.

Namaste, Nika

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Posted in Dealing with Change, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Power, Reinventing Self, Strategy, Sustainable Living

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Playing with Shared Power

Posted on February 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness – Thich Nhat Hanh

Sharing power is an ongoing human dilemma that is rising to critical priority in this century because of increasing planetary, economic and social pressures beyond historical precedent. In his recent State of the Union address, U.S. President Obama called repeatedly for unity of purpose and cooperative practice to “win the future”.  Listening to him triggered my ongoing questions about how we move a nation of individualists into successful, skillful collaboration with each other.  My longtime curiosity about this has become my all-absorbing focus in both my research and professional practice.

My experience indicates that playing together helps us to explore and learn about sharing power, and I’ve made this the core of my approach to cultivating teams. Moving, artmaking and storytelling as a group and in pairs provides an opportunity to step out of competitive or emotionally laden life and work scenarios, and play with power.  When we step back into our daily contexts, we can bring along insights and alternative patterns that seed and nurture more cooperative behaviors and relationships.  After all, Daniel Goleman advises in his book Social Intelligence, “Nature [in the form of our primate social brain] tends to foster positive relationships” and “even among complete strangers, a moment of playfulness, even outright silliness, forms an instant resonance.”  But, in the U.S., play (of this artful sort) is more often than not viewed as frivolous and merely entertaining, not a valid element in the formula for creating productive and successful leaders and contributors in the workplace.

Follow the leader(s)

“Play isn’t a character defect; it’s the builder of character, developing persistence, competence, mastery and social skills that take us beyond perceived limitations” (Joe Robinson in the Huffington Post).  Two weeks ago in London, I led a group of consultants, artists and activists through a morning of following and leading, pausing occasionally to process and learn from their experiences.  Collaboration emerges from the interplay between individual power and collective power. Grounded in confidence from knowledge of our inner authority, our power to choose and act, we are readied to face the uncertainty of interacting with the will and ideas of others.  We test our expectations and limitations about group performance.

Creating a shared story

Many participants in this group, as in others I’ve led, commented on their enjoyment of finding an ease-filled active space between leading and following, where shared leadership emerged without strain or confusion.  For some, it was an uncommon experience or one they desired to have more of.  They expressed being tired of just leading or following, especially in their work.  For others, it was their natural approach to life.  Pouring the composite power of partners or the group into this space between, possibilities are seemingly infinite and innovation sparks.  And did I mention it was Fun? Faces lit up, bodies were alive and the energy in the room was palpable.  Out of playing with shared power, we can learn to reap the full harvest of inspiration, learning, creativity and healthy community needed to evolve sustainable organizations.

Know a team that wants to collaborate better and has the willingness and courage to Play with Power?  Workshops and longer term consulting support available.  Contact NikaQuirk@mac.com or 510-381-5350.

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Posted in Arts and Organizations, Dealing with Change, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Playful Practices, Power, Sustainable Living

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Right mix? open source & proprietary

Posted on January 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

My conversation over B&B breakfast with a computer science college teacher spilled over into dialog with colleagues at Ashridge Business School (UK) today.

How does an open-source, sharing-based environment create interdependence and community?

How do the “walls” built in organizations (including those between people) to protect proprietary information impact collaborative performance?

How will we find the effective mix of open-source and proprietary to support a sustainable commercial and social future?

What do you think?

Nika

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Posted in Leadership, personal growth, Sustainable Living

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I will follow you…

Posted on January 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

Have you seen the YouTube of solo jumping dancing guy who eventually inspires the entire crowd? One person begins to follow him, transforming him from lonely outlier to focal center. Leadership is esteemed; followership, though undervalued, can shift reality. Seems to me that the art of following deserves some attention as a skill for the changing landscape of life in this time.

Sitting here at Julie’s Tea in Alameda CA over an elegant Sunday breakfast tray, I’m designing the workshops I’ll lead in the UK over the next two weekends. Follow, Lead and In-Between: I mull over the options for content and structure How will we learn to follow each other? How will I describe what I know so well – the mysterious connective tissue that seems to grow between us when we wholeheartedly follow each other?

As I sip this cup of black lavender tea, I recall a moment in my own learning about following. As a woman born into no money or influence, I worked hard to be seen, heard and recognized as a leader with a credible voice. Sitting in a women’s group, a wise member told me to “step back into the circle.” I learned to listen and follow what arose from those gathered, and to recognize when what I had to offer lent clarity, strength or creativity.

Sometime today, I encourage you to take a breath and relax into following some pattern you notice. The pace of someone walking in front of you. A child’s zigzagging run or playful storytelling. Your friend’s ideas about what you could do together. Lean into following, and see what happens.

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Posted in Dealing with Change, Entrepreneur, Leadership, personal growth, Playful Practices, Reinventing Self, Sustainable Living

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2011: Living and leading through interdependence

Posted on January 5, 2011 | 5 Comments

I’m going to put a stake in the ground and claim that each of us needs to add “Live more interdependently” to our resolutions this year.  Goals focused on personal acquisition are out of step with current reality.  A sustainable way of living together needs grounding in sharing and collaboration in all parts of our daily lives.

My life depends on my collaborative relationships. I’ve always been drawn to working with partners and in teams, but moving into my current cooperative household on an urban homestead has made me realize how deeply I believe in living and working interdependently.

I’ve been amazed at how many of my friends are deeply curious about how well our household works. It’s spurred me to pay attention – just what is our secret?  One fundamental element is that my housemates and I hold a shared belief that the level of attention, connection and communication we invest in our successful interdependence produces individual and collective benefit.  Together, we are productive, learn, have fun, and expand the scope of what’s possible in so many ways.  Second, we are pretty skilled at following and leading.  I notice that we all have fairly strong ideas about some things and we’re not afraid to take the initiative, but we also know how to discuss things that have group impact, respect each other’s values, follow each other’s lead and actively lend support to each other’s ideas.  I’ve had very similar experiences when working in very high functioning teams in organizations. In this kind of environment, mutual trust, connectedness and care about the group’s success grows strong through lived experience.  Joyce Fletcher, research scholar at Simmons School of Management, states in her book Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power, and Relational Practice at Work:

working to create the experience of team is leadership of a different sort. Activities…are…intended to create the background conditions in which group life could flourish.

Developing these conditions for flourishing group life is the focus of my scholarly research on leadership and my consulting work.  On January 16 in London and January 22 in Bangor, Wales, I’ll be facilitating my workshop Follow, Lead and In-Between, exploring with participants how we can gain insights and embodied experience following, leading and building connectedness in relationships.

With sincere wishes for a satisfying and interconnected new year,

Nika

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sustainable Living

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your eyes are bigger than your stomach

Posted on October 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

Enough as a teaching has always been rooted both in spirituality and in pragmatism.  Spiritually it’s releasing from what Buddhists call  “the hungry ghost” – that aspect of self that is always trying to incorporate more from the outside to satisfy a spiritual emptiness. - Vicki Robin

I sat on the sun-warmed dirt in a field thatched with wild strawberries, my face, hands and t-shirt smeared andstrawberries speckled with juicy redness.  Eyes closed, my little tummy sated and my greedy desires quenched.  At 5 years old, I rarely stopped myself from anything and had no definition of “enough.”  Even though I learned before that on the walk home with my sisters, the skin on my stomach would develop a rash that burned and itched, I had ducked out of the house and followed them, avoiding my mother’s attempts at control.  I wanted what I wanted – the sweet delight on my tongue, to have as much of pleasure as I could bear.  I ate myself sick because the enjoyment of the journey was worth it.  And because my family was so unhappy, I was attracted to anything that gave me joy.

Maybe it’s because I was a greedy little girl that now I’m so invested in reforming my consumeristic ways. Although I’ve traveled pretty broadly, coming of age and living in the U.S., I know I lack some data, some sense of scale, as I wrestle with how I determine what is”Enough” in my life – enough money, enough stuff, enough insurance and other forms of stability-seeking.  I’m aware that we Americans constitute 5% of the world’s population but consume 24% of the world’s energy.  I’m also trying to do this work without using the cattle prod of guilt. How can I stay clear and conscious and motivated?  Here are a few fundamentals I practice:

  • Nurture my self-esteem and confidence. I still notice that when I’m going to an event where I won’t know a lot of people or feel uncertain, I want something new to wear.  It’s as if I need a suit of armor or some kind of “comfort blanket” in order to show up in an unknown environment.  If instead, I pamper my body a bit, put together an outfit I like out of clothes I already own, and spend some time breathing and mentally centering myself before entering the event, I’m good to go. My connections and reputation are not based on acquisitions, but on the substance of who I am.  One of the keys to outgrowing our dependence on consumerism as a crutch for identity and status is grappling with our own insecurities.
  • Fulfill my pleasure quotient.  InterPlay has taught me to “notice the good” in a very embodied, sensory way and to have more of it.  The Slow Movement is encouraging us in this direction also – slow down and sensorily experience your environment, food, conversations, musings. Fill yourself up with the pleasures of the moment and the day. When I’m “full” in this way, I find that acquisition is not very important and I’m even more willing to identify and release what I have more than enough of.
  • Enjoy more than enough friends. Whenever I’m with friends, I’m one of the richest women in the world.  We have so much together – creativity, laughter, support – and are willing to share what we own.  This weekend a bunch of us are doing the annual clothes swap, including potlucking and much playful making up of outfits.  Afterwards, the collected clothes, accessories and household items are taken to various women’s shelters and dress-for-work programs.  We never have to decide how many friends is Enough.

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Posted in Dealing with Change, personal growth, Sustainable Living

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That’s Entertainment! Or, Is It?

Posted on September 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.   - W.H. Auden

Entertainment: something diverting or engaging. - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Snapped my Kokopelli earring on, made a PBJ sandwich, and slipped out the door this afternoon for what turned out to be a 2 hour ramble-and-mull.  Walks made big open spaces in my mind and also provide lots of stuff to notice, pause, consider, wonder about and sometimes snap photos of.  After yesterday’s rainy day hibernation, it was refreshing to GET OUT.  During walks, my mind turns to the marker where it left off working on my dissertation, and sets earnestly to work in the background of all this other activity i.e. spaciousness, humming, noticing, pic-snapping.  It’s amazing and very entertaining.  Today, I came back with the general direction and some specific content ideas for this blog posting, a dozen photos and some new ideas about framing my research project.

As I walked, I was thinking about what a “home body” I’ve become. I rarely go to movie theaters, plays, concerts although when I do, it’s a very special treat and I am both diverted and engaged, meeting the definition of entertainment.  Being an urban dweller for so long, there was a time when I indulged weekly in these forms of amusing myself.  It’s all here and happening, all the time and when I was younger, I needed it.  I also don’t feel the compulsion to travel that I used to although I love visiting new places.  What’s changed and how am I “entertained”?

First and foremost, when I’m not out working, I want to enjoy my home and habitat.  When I had a commuter life, I often wondered why I took the trouble to have a home, pets, garden, etc.  There was so littlesquash blossomtime to engage deeply with my surroundings, to really be part of my home. Reflecting on that period, I can see how amped up and restless I was and how much it took (including dollars spent!) for me to really relax.  Ever since 2002, I continue to craft a life where I’m home a lot even during my workday.  I’ve released much of my restlessness.  I don’t have distasteful work that I have to recover or be diverted from. My feeling purposeful is not based on seeing how busy I can be. I notice that as my life has been enriched through slowed down engagement with home and habitat, my craving for packaged entertainment has dwindled. My cottage comes with digital cable TV and the increased volume of channels seems to have even less worthwhile content.  Masterpiece Theater, The Daily Show and a few sci-fi series are the only roadside attractions for me.  I do love films.  Netflix brings me a variety of independent and foreign perspectives on human life and relationship, and the movies I stream online don’t even require the expending of energy for postal delivery. (Although the Postal Service is gradually moving to alternative fuel vehicles – http://tinyurl.com/r6wwyl lessening the net impact).

Entertainment can be a big chunk of one’s budget. Living on a smaller economic scale, my priorities and spending decisions are different.

And usually I would have to travel to get there which increasingly I am less willing to do as I reduce my petroleum usage. Often I leave my car parked for the entire weekend.

Another realization I had on today’s walk was that I’m no longer very interested in the portrayal of themes of the “dominator society” – conquest, the weakness of women and their oppression, greed, violence and war, the superiority of men/intellectuals/the upper classes, the domination of earth by machine power.  Ok you get the idea. I just don’t want to see this replayed even for free, so I definitely won’t spend money on tickets to see it.  When you start to think about it, this even includes many classic plays, operas, ballets, stadium rock concerts as well as professional sports (but I’ve never been much of a subscriber to any of these).

I have to admit that I also have zero tolerance for “small talk” or “chit chat” anymore. [It really does seem like a complete waste of time and energy when we have much more fun and meaningful connections to be making.]   However, I am very interested in stories people are telling now about their lives, their sorrows and hopes, and their dreams for themselves and the world.  These are all around me – in songs, conversations, dances and photographs. In blogs, books, articles, poems and wonderfully strange little YouTube movies.  Gathering with friends and participating in InterPlay are main channels for interesting and art-full deep engagement with stories.

That’s pretty much it for me.  What are you doing for “entertainment” these days?

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Posted in Reinventing Self, Sustainable Living

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