Sangha of Auspicious Companions

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 }

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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 }

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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 }

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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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December 15, 2022

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Balakrishnan Raghavan: Belonging to the World

When he was ten years old, Balakrishnan Raghavan was moved to tears listening to a centuries-old Tamil hymn about Lord Shiva, sung by musician M S Subbulakshmi. “I was wailing. Subbulakshmi’s voice soaring high and low, calling out to that divine-beloved, the voice of the poet who lived hundreds of years before us, the fierceness of their devotion, the ultimate surrender of the devotee, the madness of love, the pathos of separation, and the anticipation of union; all of this is etched in my memory,” he recalls. From that experience, Indian classical music became a fount of his practice. Raghavan is a lifelong student of the arts, whose outlook on life and living is steeped “at the intersection of kindness, spirituality, sensuality, music, flow, and poetry.” The poems of the saints from the spiritual traditions of India have shaped “how I engage with, make sense of and access the world around me.” He strongly believes in the power of the collective kindness of humanity across time and space. { read more }

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Join an Awakin Call with Balakrishnan Raghavan this Saturday. More details and RSVP info here. { more }

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December 14, 2022

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Suleika Jaouad: Transforming Isolation into Creative Resilience

“According to a recent poll from the American Psychological Association, nearly half of U.S. adults said the pandemic has made planning for their future feel impossible. It makes sense. We can’t go back to the lives we had before the coronavirus pandemic, but what lies ahead is murky. Many of us feel frozen, caught in a holding pattern — in the liminal space between what was and what will be. Suleika Jaouad is a journalist, author and the founder of The Isolation Journals community, and she’s all too familiar with the “in-between” space. At 22, shortly after graduating college, she was diagnosed with leukemia. All of her big plans were put on indefinite hold.” More in this NPR piece. { read more }

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To learn more about Jaouad’s work, check out The Isolation Journals here. { more }

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