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#145: A Student Mindset

The other week, I found myself saying “I am so terrified about the gap between what is in my head and what is true in reality.”

I just wrapped up my masters dissertation that focused on some research that has exploded in the last couple of years about how women’s mental health can really suffer due to sanitation concerns in developing countries. Even if they have access to a toilet that, by standards set by the WHO, are considered “improved” and therefore report as great progress towards achieving the global goals, women won’t use them if they don’t feel safe doing so. This doesn’t show up in the metrics.

Lauren CulbertsonAugust 28, 2019Lauren CulbertsonComment

#144: What's Your Take On Speed Bumps?

Jorgen's piece reminded me of a thought that’s been brewing since a couple of weeks ago.

I helped run a two week outdoor education program through Tinkergarten. To get to the location you had to drive to the way back of a park, which required going over about 12 speed bumps. The first time I pulled in I thought to myself “Wow, this is annoying and I will have to leave earlier tomorrow to get through this and into the woods on time.” (Mind you my 6 month baby was going with me and the drive was usually her nap time so I reeeeally had to mind the speed bumps).

The second time I went down speed bump lane I knew what was coming and knew there was no avoiding so I just took a deep breath and got on with it.

And then, around day three, half way through the course I realized I wasn’t thinking about the speed bumps at all. I was looking around at the gorgeous scenery. I waved to a few dog walkers. I couldn’t believe how peaceful the morning was.

By the end of week 1, I couldn’t wait to drive in and I smiled at every speed bump. The road in runs along a beautiful stream. There are bridges. Loads of dogs and happy walkers. It’s so so green. And the sounds are so soothing.

Jaime PosaAugust 23, 2019Jaime PosaComment

#143: Making Change Last

This summer I went on a family holiday to Croatia. It's a beautiful country with great nature and we planned for a whole lot of activities to do outdoor. One of those activities was rock climbing and it had a great lesson about change in it.

My son Merlijn is 14 years old and back home you can find him twice a week in an indoor climbing venue where he gets trained on different ascends with varying degrees of difficulty. He's been doing it for almost two years now and it was one of the reasons why we wanted to go climbing in Croatia so that he could have the experience of climbing in nature as well. I don't climb at all, but during our summer holiday I made an effort to follow in my sons footsteps (as did my 6 year old daughter and my wife). We went out with a guide and climbed a few routes that we're all easy to do. But then at the end of our time she took us to one that would challenge Merlijn, as she could see it was all too easy for him (for those of you who do climb rocks this was a route with difficulty 5b).

Jörgen Van der SlootAugust 19, 2019Comment

#142: I Never Told You

I'm sitting here

Looking at the blue painting that hangs over my bed

It’s a brown-haired girl floating on the ocean’s surface

You said you bought it because she reminded you of me

And I asked if I could take it for my room

Because I needed decor for the walls

And I didn’t really tell you how much I love it

Or really ever thanked you for it

Amanda PosaAugust 14, 2019Comment

#141: The Fear of Failure

The past six months or so, I’ve been working with a client on the preparation for an immersive session with their global leadership team. They would like to change some behaviors of their team to become more adaptive to change. In their traditionally risk-averse environment, one of the key things they want to work on is dealing with failure. Up until now, failure is not an option in this organization. There is a fear of failure that is almost coded in their DNA. So the question arises: how do you change this attitude and create a culture that accepts failure as an opportunity to grow?

Jörgen Van der SlootAugust 8, 2019Comment

#140: Comfy Cozy Summer Nights

A few weeks ago, my sisters and I spontaneously decided to hop on the NYC ferry to Rockaway Beach. It was our very first time on the ferry (some real New Yorkers we are!). After the beach and some very authentic New York deli sandwiches for dinner, we were a little sleepy. So we were a bit disgruntled when we got back to the ferry as the line to board wrapped around multiple blocks.

Amanda PosaAugust 1, 2019Comment

#139: My Month with Music

July was a month of self-discovery and new experiences.

It was the first summer my kids were away while I stayed behind in NYC. I made a conscious decision to not feel anxious or sad. Instead, I was to focus on myself and spend July working on becoming…

…a better dancer.

Julie SunJuly 25, 2019Comment

#138: Picture Books

I sweep the dust away from the drain and continue to sift through his things. So many things. Pieces of track and mini cars and houses to the Lionel train collection. A “for sale by owner” sign with his number still written across the front. A toilet paper roll hung from the ceiling, probably to blow his nose from saw dust or leaf clippings or the smell of house paint. So many extension cords I wonder how far he ever intended to go.

Staring into this shed, I see my childhood in a million pieces.

Christina PosaJuly 19, 2019Comment

#137: One Person

I remind myself that if this post can create a change for just one person, then it’s a good post and a good day.

One person, not hundreds or thousands or millions.

Sasha DichterJuly 17, 2019Comment

#136: Stillness

Stillness is something I’ve always aimed for, but a practice I find immensely difficult. It’s the same flaw that so often gets me into trouble with the bees.

Brinton JohnsJuly 11, 2019Comment

#135: Humans Are More Interesting Than The Grand Canyon

I think we seem to take ourselves – us 7 billion humans now, and the ones in our lineage -- and what we have accomplished so far -- for granted.

I don’t think we think highly of ourselves… as we had a human community scale “we esteem” issue. We would never have required Nike to tell us “Just Do It” if we lived in the space of knowing we can do it.

But maybe worse…

…I think we just take ourselves for granted not recognizing what an amazing species we are.

Pip CoburnJuly 5, 2019Comment

#134: The Summit Isn't the Point

Over the last few months, I’ve had the most interesting experience. It started when I had a colleague that I hadn’t talked to in a couple of years reach out and reconnect.

He had been a senior guy at a big technology firm, and he’d created a series of masterful marketing initiatives that propelled him from manager to VP within the course of 18 months. But he was unhappy. He ignored that empty feeling he had and began to simply work harder and longer to try and duplicate the innovation that had powered his meteoric rise. Within six months, he became convinced that it was internal politics that was stopping him, and he started picking fights with his leadership team. Ultimately, he began taking calls from recruiters, and ultimately took a slightly lower level job at a competitor.

Robert RoseJuly 1, 2019Comment

#133: Why The Woods

I never know what I come for, I just know I must come.

The forest is a painting of patchy yellows and browns, peeking with red, and yet quickly fading with the time of seasons. The messy array of oak, maple and tulip tree leaves on my path is a most beautiful canvas that I brush intuitively with my feet. I often find ourselves in conversation here - the limbs, the bark, the fleeing birds, the silence, and me.

Jaime PosaJune 26, 2019Comment

#132: Anti-Pet Peeves - NY Style

Opening my shades first thing in the morning to the sun beaming through my New York windows.

When you smile at a stranger in NYC and they automatically smile back.. always find it funny how contagious happiness actually is.

Christina PosaJune 18, 2019Comment

#131: When Easy Tries You

I had a great anti-pet peeve happen today! It was Monday (never a good start in my opinion) and it promised to be a long day with an aggressively overpacked schedule. It was sure to end in missed meetings or a missed flight or at the very least — total, frazzled exhaustion. As I looked at my calendar before bed last night, I chastised myself a bit — “What happened to saying 'no' Lisa?! It’s not possible to do all that in a day!”

Lisa BairdJune 7, 2019Comment

#130: Avoiding Spurious Correlations

It’s a saying most people have probably heard - “correlation does not equal causation.” Just because two things are associated with one another does not imply that one necessarily causes the other. For example, it is well known that how healthy a country is and its GDP are highly correlated - it’s much harder to prove if one necessarily drives the other.

Lauren CulbertsonMay 31, 2019Comment

#129: Anti Pet Peeving: Pleasant Surprises (Part 2)

So there were so many anti-pet peeves that I received from contributors in the community that I put them together into a second list! It is here below. For anybody else that I missed that would also like to share an anti-pet peeve, feel free to send it along to me (amandaposaj@gmail.com). I love putting these awesome lists together! 🙂

CommunityMay 29, 2019Comment

#128: Pleasant Surprises (Part 1)

Besides the holiday season, I personally think the next most joyful time of the year is the end of spring going into summer! It's like things start to heat up (obviously) but also coooool down at the same time. 😎 So to celebrate, similar to what was done for the holidays and new year, the Community for Change is sharing another list of anti pet peeves. This list was created, once again, with many different community members' contributions! Actually, there were so many contributors that I had to break it up into two separate lists, so Part 2 will go out very soon after this one! Hope you enjoy :)

CommunityMay 24, 2019Comment

#127: The Spiritual Art of Reflection

A dear friend of mine named Bill recently wrote to me,"It's funny how grief, in its own way, is a particular and paradoxical blessing--we grieve because we love, and the love is how we are at one with another person (including, as we know, our dog friends), and the depth and the strength of the love is something that time and change can't take from us, and so the grief is a sign of the ongoingness of the love, and since the love is what binds us to our Others, then we can be assured that in loving, those Others live with us always, however far away they seem sometimes.”

Amanda PosaMay 14, 2019Comment

#126: The Night in Atlanta (Part 3/3)

I didn’t realize how much I loved my dad until a night in 1999 – eight years after he passed away – in an Atlanta hotel room.

Pip CoburnMay 7, 2019Comment