I get some notes and calls asking about the blog every once in awhile. There are many explanations for a 4-month lapse in blog-writing (too many to write about here) but mostly, what initially drove the blog was my feeling of a lack of hope in the world. As strange as it sounds, I felt like hope came back last year--in my life, in the media (well, some places in the media), and in the world. I may have quit writing because there was so much hope out there, I felt redundant.
Lately since my last post about "Yes We Can", I'm excited about vegetables, and I'm still exploring possibilities for my own version of Dave Eggars'826 Valencia to begin next fall to help ease the burden on teachers and schools in my community that are suffering severe financial cutbacks.
Everything I want to do takes a community. I'd like to build a community of HumanKind writers (as you know I can't keep it up on my own :--), I'll be looking for a community of volunteers to implement my writing/tutoring group to support schools. Friends around me are losing loved ones, having illnesses, recovering from illnesses, and there is financial strain and worry everywhere. But, I find there is hope in coming together to solve the not-so-impossible problems if we're together.
There is nothing that cannot be helped by us creating, building, sustaining, and nurturing community in our lives, our regions and our world.
This past week, Karen sent me the Stand By Me video by Playing for Change and I found the wonderful Antwerp Station video on You-Tube. If you enjoy them, share this post with your friends. I hope you're building your own communities around the things you care about.
I'll be back soon. In the meantime, watch and enjoy these two (and, yes, if you feel moved to do so, dance!).
Today is Blog Day 2008 where bloggers around the world share new and diverse blogs they read and like. That means you and I have access to a huge list of cool blogs to explore over the next few months. I can hardly wait.
Many of my favorite "humankind-like" blogs are posted in the sidebars. I'm thrilled to have an excuse to share some of my other favorites:
37 Days - A "must bookmark" for media about possibilities and for every other reason. I could go on about this one, but that would keep you from clicking here.
French Word A Day - an Arizona girl marries a Frenchman and blogs her days in the vineyard with two kids and a husband. Combining wry humor, heartwarming love of a family and nature, and beautiful photographs, this site never fails to touch and entertain me.
Smith Magazine - Because I love stories and their power to change and heal, I'm fascinated by the Smith Magazine projects in "a home for story-telling with a focus on personal narrative." Sometimes on good and bad days, it's fun for the wanna-be-writer in me to see if I can distill what's going on into 6 words. Take a look at some of these.
TED Blog - A daily serving from the feast that is TED, the Technology Entertainment and Design talks, that have gathered the greatest minds around the world since the 1980's. Inspiring, educational, informative, and world-changing. So many great things have come from TED, I invite you to discover your own delights.
Digi-Dave and Spot.Us - When I went to "journalism camp" this year to learn more about the media, I met a younger man who offered to show me how to get set up on twitter. Later, as I learned more about new media, new trends in journalism, and the possibilities for the future, I learned that the "young man" was actually a seasoned journalist (Wired magazine, Seed Magazine, and the NYT) and a trailblazer in journalism. Already "branded" and established at the junction of technology and journalism, Digi-Dave, as he is known in the world of social and on-line media, now has received a grant from the Knight foundation and lots of good press about his new project for funding relevant, local, quality journalism for the public by the public. I read Dave's blog (and his twitters) regularly and have hope for the future of media. If you're interested in the changing media and its influence on our lives, follow Dave.
I can't make a list of blogs without mentioning the very first blogger I ever "met", Ze Frank. I found his blog on the last day of the "Show" which is 365 days of video hilarity by one of the quirkiest and most creative minds you'll ever meet. Perusing his most recent posts I read about the week he took over two people's MySpace accounts (with their permission) and also got to see this great video (he's a magnet for this cool stuff) of stop-motion spaghetti. There are literally years of genius and kookiness to explore here. Enjoy.
I've been doing the 29-Day Giving Challenge all summer. Like any new attitude or behavior, most of the practice is learning how to come back when you fall off. Though I haven't written on our 29-Day Giving HumanKind blog much lately, I have been an active participant in Cami Walker's simple idea to give something away every day for 29 days. For many who began with Cami, the idea of quitting after 29 Days seems kind of ludicrous. If you read the stories on the site (you know how I like stories about possibilities) you can find reflections on the multi-layered experience of conscious giving every day, in addition to millions of fabulous ideas for gifts--ranging from patience to good causes, from flowers to time.
As part of my giving practice, every month I pick one non-profit to give a small donation to. Since my encounter with Ann Cotton and Mathis Wackernagel I am partial towards organizations that support women in developing countries. Way back in our early days, while we were writing about poverty, Liz did this great interview with Tracey Pettengill Turner, founder of MicroPlace.
Microfinance, once the realm of large institutions and philanthropists, is increasingly available to investors like me (read this WSJ article) through organizations like MicroPlace. I love the idea of sending my little extra to someone somewhere who could use that little extra to bring herself and her children out of poverty.
I've seen estimates ranging from $90 to $120 for the amount of loose change the average middle class family has lying around the house. Recently, MicroPlace has been putting that "little extra" into the context of their new campaign: Small Change = Big Change.
For my big project this weekend, I'm emptying my piggy (and encouraging the kids to share a fraction of theirs also) and the coin crannies around the house, rolling up $100, selecting a MicroPlace investment somewhere in the world that supports women (for obvious reasons if you read this post), and making my own small investment in changing the world.
Working with micro-lending institutions around the world, MicroPlace has made over 20,000 loans to over 100,000 people in 47 countries (including loans to the poor in the US). If you've got change and would like to participate, click here. Get your change, give the change, be the change. Cool.
On the anniversary of Katrina, there are probably more stories about new possibilities than there were about tragedy and devastation 3 years ago--probably thousands of stories about healing in New Orleans and the areas affected by Katrina.
Kudos to All Day Buffet for creating the New Orleans 100. In their words: " To combat top down media during the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we will leverage bottom up tools on the social web (email, blogs, twitter, facebook, digg, etc.), which can reach a combined audience of millions to raise awareness about New Orleans and inspire action to make a difference.'
From the high visibility stories like Brad Pitt's Make It Right Campaign to the RUBAR (Rusted-Up-Beyond-All-Recognition) project restoring bikes and helping the youth of the 9th ward and the Nola 180 schools project which I hope also finds its way to Dave Egger's list of stories about possibilities for schools. The New Orleans 100 has great links and great stories from great writers including a moving Sports article (I love moving sports articles).
Here's to a fine example for celebrating possibility and providing inspiration for the rest of us! Help spread the word!
Some of our friends have huge extended families, from full compliments of grandparents, aunts and uncles, to swarms of cousins, in-laws and people to whom they know they're related, but don't know exactly how. When a big event comes up for our family, I feel particularly wistful for my kids who have a total of 7 of us family members that we can conjure up to celebrate (and that involves lots of miles and airfare). So, for my son's graduation, I did what I always do. I called upon the "relatives" we've germinated the past 20+ years-- the friends we've made from babies through high school, our neighbors who have watched us grow as a family, the teachers we have loved, and dear friends we made through our kids along the way.
When we were all in a room together last week, celebrating my son for his graduation, I realized what community means, in the deepest way I have ever understood it. It's how we honor our collective past, how we create possibilities for the future, how we send our kids off, how we help each other grow, and how we support one another beyond the family unit.
When I was writing about sustainability, I watched the film, The End of Suburbia, an alarming but informative look at post-oil America, which was an eye-opener for me. After the End of Suburbia I fretted for a few weeks until I noticed what communities do when they need to: Iowa, New Orleans, China, Indonesia. Now, I see strong communities as an even more important link in our survival and evolution.
In 1993, John Kretzmann and John McKnight's groundbreaking study of communities, Building Communities from the Inside Out, A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets, proposed a move from focusing on a "community" or region's problems (the deficiency model) and focusing instead on developing and using the unique skills, and assets of the community members (the asset-based community model).
I have been appreciating the on-line communities I belong to more because of the assets people bring--the vast burgeoning community of new media bloggers, change makers around the world, our 29-Day Giving Challenge group, and especially our little band of HumanKind Media readers. And, I've also been paying attention more to the communities I am physically, locally part of--a neighborhood, a small unincorporated town, a school district, a community of parents and kids of my kids' ages, a coaching community, a meditation community.
In this recent post, I talked about the human universals--commonalities all of us humans on the planet share. Among the human universals are: collective identity, coalitions, reciprocal exchanges, food sharing and gift giving.
I've been actively imagining the community I could live out my post-oil days in, with a community garden, tutoring centers for kids near every school, multi-media library centers, and local music spots for spontaneous jam sessions and concerts that everyone can walk to. I've been thinking of that asset-based model, where everyone contributes their own unique skills and assets, and the whole is better than the sum of its parts.
I have some plans for the next few months to explore communities around the world that are creating and building new possibilities for a future worth passing on. As you can tell by the delays in my recent posts, I can use all the help I can get. If you have ideas for posts on cool communities, please e-mail me or leave a comment. Stay tuned.
I've always found great wisdom in the counsel that you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to what happens to you. In development circles, they call this response-able, able to respond with grace and ease. In the mainstream media these are usually heroes--people who respond in ways that are heroic.
The great mainstream example of responding with grace and ease these days is Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon professor, Imagineer beyond the Disney sense, and the man who has given us the Last Lecture. He has inspired millions with the video, his book, and his continued show of courage in the face of pancreatic cancer. Though I'm inspired and moved by Randy's Pausch, I also believe there are millions of untold stories of equally inspirational people who respond to difficulty in equally powerful ways that we don't get to see on the front page or in prime time.
Lately the person I'm most amazed about is Cami Walker. In March, during "dark days" Cami took out an old journal and read what Mbali Creazzo, spiritual guide and leader of her women's circle, had suggested months back: "Give something away for 29 days." Cami decided right then that 29 days of giving, focusing on others, might be just the thing to help shift the weight of her problems. I'd tell her story here, but I'd really like you to visit her 29 Gifts site and read it yourself--it's inspiring.
Thus began a journey that she has turned into a movement in a few short months. When I signed up on June 1 as part of HumanKind Challenge #4, I was #340-something. At last count today, the giving community (the ones who have signed up to be counted) is at 486 and growing. I haven't counted the countries but I know there are some 29-day givers from the UK, Canada, Japan and the US. Though the majority of members up until now are mostly women, Cami knows men to be very giving and she's looking for more to join the challenge.
I talked to Cami last week the day before she completed her third round of the 29 Days. You can see the photojournal of her latest "29th Day" here. She said that though the Challenge was not her first experience with giving (her mother is a philantrhopist at heart), it has been the most dramatic. She is amazed at what she has received, tangible and intangible, as a result of something so simple.
I'm guessing there's no question that you already give every day. The 29-Day Challenge just invites you to check out what happens when you do a giving "project" for 29-days, where you've shifted your intention to search out new opportunities, and when you do it as part of a world-wide giving community.
I hope you'll watch Cami's video and read her story. If you haven't joined her 29-Day Giving Challenge yet, click here now. It's never too late to start your own 29-Day challenge. You can read stories from the giving community where people have submitted the mundane and the miraculous for inspiration and new ways to think about generosity. And, after you've joined the 29-day challenge, add yourself to our HumanKind Group if you'd like.
If you like imagining a world where giving is the default shared intention everywhere, pass this along (to the guys, too). I don't think Cami will have trouble getting to her goal of 2,000. Her response to her life's challenges was to give a gift that I and others are now receiving--a reminder to hold generosity in our hearts and minds when we wake every day. If I could have my wish, she would get to 20,000,000+ in the next year or two, changing the world one small gift at a time.
If you haven't seen the Story of Stuff in Tuesday's post yet, or Liz's new column, check them out. Some of the ideas we've got for our upcoming posts are about sustainability--in the global citizen context. One of those ideas started way back when I got my Smile cards. When I was introduced to the giving economy through Charityfocus.org I had questions. It was so intriguing but seemed so impossible that we could shift our little human selves to a more equitable exchange of service, goods, resources, and caring.
One of the people I had planned to write about in the next few weeks is Mark Boyle, a former Glasgow business student who, after watching the movie Ghandi, was moved to study the man and his principles. Over the last few weeks his story has become even more compelling to me because, as is frequently the case with changing the world, it has become difficult--and touching--and I can't wait to share his story.
Many people we've covered have done this, created that or decided to change or are inspiring people to change. Mark has done , and created, has decided to change the world and is definitely inspiring people, but the most important thing about him is he's in the middle of doing it--not, "did it", yet, but in the mucky middle of doing the impossible, and it's gotten a little bumpy.
Mark started FreeCommunity at justfortheloveofit.org last fall as an experiment in making the transition from a money-based communityless society to a community-based moneyless society. Sounds impossible, yes? In his words,
Freeconomy is a manifestation of trust, kindness, community and love. Money and credit are a manifestation of fear, insecurity and greed. Freeconomy is the common denominator to all of its solutions; Money and credit are the common denominators of all the world's ills.
Right now freeconomies are the minority. This is unimportant. Soon they will be the overwhelming majority. Each one of us is a seed. The regenerative power of one seed cannot be underestimated. A forest can grow from the germination of a single seed, and similarly one simple act of generosity can give life to an infinite number of others.
Here's the 2-minute intro to Freeconomy--way cute and it made me sign up. :--)
Inspired by the work of Ghandi and longing to ease some of the suffering he could trace to economic systems, he wanted to create something different with more possibility for community and connection, less possibility for suffering and violence. Like Ghandi, he decided he wants his life to be his message. So, he decided to take a walk.
On January 30, on the anniversary of Ghandi's death, Mark, aka Saorise (meaning Freedom in Gaelic) for the pilgrimage, began a 7500 mile trek from Bristol to Ghandi's birthplace in India. About 50 fans and fellow freeconomists saw him off. Here's a nice interview from early in the trek by the Guardian. Blogging along the way, he shared the horrendous initiation of foot problems, his recovery, his voyage to France and then there was a week of silence followed by an announcement that a big decision was forthcoming. The big decision ended up being that he returned to England last week. In spite of the difficulties and the big decision, all along the way Saoirse kept his focus on his message: do something for someone, offer a kindness. He had people writing in from everywhere.
What I find especially courageous is his heartfelt, honest blogging to thousands of fans, followers, and friends, some now "polarized" about his decision, which I imagine was similar to what Ghandi found to be true during some of his decisions and actions. Now, he's back in England, determined to continue via Plan B (which was originally Plan A to begin with) applying the same wisdom as the site's inspiration page, which holds enough encouragement to get anyone started (if you haven't taken today's step yet) and keep them going on their own impossibilities.
I am so excited about this whole venture, (easy to say from sunny California) that if I could, I'd be over there to cheer him along. The coach in me comes out and I want to tell him about the 5 steps I just made up today, for doing the impossible. Click continue to see these 5 steps and hear what movie they remind me of:
I'm still at sleepover camp for writers and artists here in Vermont, and I've got to tell you about the world-changing project one of the artists here founded in Egypt.
In 2000, husband and wife team Sameh El Halawany and Aliaa El Gready wanted to find a way to use art to help one of their country's last fishing villages, El Max, lift itself out of poverty and save itself from being razed. With an initial grant of about $3,000 from the Ford Foundation, they formed Gudran and moved into the village.
First, they tried to pitch their ideas to the local fishermen, but that didn't go so well, Sameh says.
If you're a writer, or if you know one, chances are you've heard of National Novel Writing Month. It's that nutty contest where contestants pledge to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. For fun. There are no judges, and you don't win anything but self-respect.
The amazing thing is, NaNoWriMo, which started on a lark about seven years ago when Bay Area writer Chris Baty invited a bunch of friends to write a novel-in-a-month together, quickly grew into a passionate, worldwide throng of tens of thousands. And it raises thousands of dollars each year for Room to Read, which builds libraries for kids on two continents.
That's right: Chris's idea generated an online, global community with a shared intention that's changing the world. No wonder we like him so much. Check out our interview with Chris, and let him show you what's possible.
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