Sangha of Auspicious Companions

December 23, 2022

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That’s My Jazz

A father’s love is center stage in this magical video of reflections from the renowned pastry chef Milt Abel II as he describes his relationship with his father, legendary Kansas City jazz musician Milt Abel, Sr. This relationship formed Milt as he strove to be the best in his chosen field just like his father, “a great man, someone to aspire to be just like,” was in his own field. The memories of his father, the love they shared that still lives in his heart, inform how he chooses to live his life. { read more }

Be The Change

If you have you made a choice in your life that sent you on a path which made you unavailable for a loved one, how might you transform that experience going forward?

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That’s My Jazz

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December 22, 2022

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Vanessa Machado de Oliveira : Hospicing Modernity

“Within modernity, we are conditioned to want to cover everything with a heavy blanket of fixed meanings, to index reality in language, to word the world. Carl Mika, a Maori philosopher and friend, suggests that instead of “wording the world,” when language manifests as an entity, it “worlds the world” and this opens other possibilities for experiencing existence within the world. There are significant implications of working with language to world the world, especially in relation to our relationship with stories. In wording the world, we are socialized to treat stories as tools of communication that enable us to describe reality, prescribe the future, and accumulate knowledge. In worlding the world, stories are living entities that emerge from and move things in the world. Some of these stories are meant to exist for a long time, others expire early. Some stories are meant to remain as and where they are and to work only with a very select group of people; other stories are meant to travel the world, and to transform and to be transformed by other world-entities, including the storytellers and those who receive the stories. These are the types of stories you will encounter in this book.” Vanessa Machado de Oliveira shares more in this excerpt from her book, ” Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanitys Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more, check out this interview with Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, “On Radical Tenderness, Eldership and Decolonization.” { more }

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December 21, 2022

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Bill Plotkin: The Butterfly and the Cocoon

“‘The world is not well tended or engaged with by people who dont know what they are for, who dont know why they were born.’ Steve Wheeler speaks with depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin about the metamorphoses of the soul in times of ecological crisis.” { read more }

Be The Change

More from Bill Plotkin in this piece, “Inscendence and the Dream of the Earth.” { more }

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December 20, 2022

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Carol Sanford: No More Feedback

“I will admit from the start that this is a contrarian view of a subject that I love to hate: Feedback. People are often shocked that I would critique something that they think must be good for them and certainly good for others, no matter how much they dislike participating in it. After all, without feedback, how would we know how others see us? How would we get better at what we do? My answer to this is that there is a much more effective way for people to accurately assess their work, improve their performance, and raise the level of their contributions–with none of the downsides or negative side effects of feedback.” Carol Sanford shares more in this excerpt from her book,”No More Feedback.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more information, here is another extended excerpt from Sanford’s book. { more }

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Inspiring Links of the Week

December 19, 2022

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The Most Radical Thing You Can Do

“Long ago the poet and bioregionalist Gary Snyder said, The most radical thing you can do is stay home, a phrase that has itself stayed with me for the many years since I first heard it. Some or all of its meaning was present then, in the bioregional 1970s, when going back to the land and consuming less was how the task was framed. The task has only become more urgent as climate change in particular underscores that we need to consume a lot less. Its curious, in the chaos of conversations about what we ought to do to save the world, how seldom sheer modesty comes up living smaller, staying closer, having less especially for us in the ranks of the privileged. Not just having a fuel-efficient car, but maybe leaving it parked and taking the bus, or living a lot closer to work in the first place, or not having a car at all. A third of carbon-dioxide emissions nationwide are from the restless movements of goods and people.” Rebecca Solnit shares more in this thoughtful essay. { read more }

Be The Change

For more from Solnit, check out this essay on Slowness as an Act of Resistance. { more }

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December 18, 2022

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The Heartbeat of Trees

Peter Wohllenben is a forester in the best sense of the word. He is the author of a number of books, including The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries from a Secret World, which was a New York Times bestseller. His latest book, The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bonds with Forests and Nature, was released in June 2021. In this interview he speaks about his work with forests and what inspires him about the natural world. { read more }

Be The Change

You can read an excerpt from Wohllenben’s latest book here. { more }

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December 17, 2022

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Fishpeople: Lives Transformed By The Sea

This breathtaking film tells the story of people who are dedicating their lives to the sea. From Hawaii, Tahiti, Catalina Island, Antarctica, Australia and San Francisco, we witness spectacular images of the ocean as we are introduced to: a woman spearfisher who expresses compassion for her prey, an endurance swimmer, a photographer who captures the vast expansiveness of the ocean with his camera, and expert surfers, including a man who feels it is his duty to teach children who have experienced trauma in their young lives to love the sea. They all share a common love and respect for the ocean. { read more }

Be The Change

Who or what is casting its spell on you, drawing you to dedicate some of your time and energies in grateful appreciation?

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December 16, 2022

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Davis Dimock: The Gift

“A guy came here once from some outsider art magazine. He was taking pictures and he asked, “Do you do anything else?” So, I showed him some of my drawings. He said, “These are great. We could use these.” I told him I didn’t want them out in the world. It seems pretentious to think of myself as an artist. I think of artists as people who are going through the angst of creating stuff, and then the angst of getting a gallery to show the stuff, or sell the stuff. And I don’t like capitalism. It’s depressing. By just creating something on the land, my payment, my pleasure, is when other people spontaneously stop and look at it.” Davis Dimock, who passed away earlier this week, was a self-described art laborer. Reflecting on his life, editor Richard Whittaker says, “How many remarkable individuals are there who we never hear or meet — shining, exemplary lives quietly lived that we sorely need to encounter as encouragement for our own best impulses? Here is one of them, who with his wife, herself quietly remarkable, we lost a few days ago. It was my good fortune to have known them both and to have been buoyed by their unique qualities and courage.” Read his interview with Dimock here. { read more }

Be The Change

Take some time to think about this question: who are the exemplary individuals in my life? What is it about them that helps me in my life?

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