Patterns of Engagement

In the course of researching ESL (English as second language) materials, my wife came upon Global Brains: Knowledge and Competencies for the 21st Century by Gary Ferraro. At first, the list of competencies seemed relatively typical; but once I started playing around with how they actually related to each other, something kind of clicked, and [...]

This provides a useful overview of the dimensions of public engagement, as well as a good application of DebateGraph.

Over the past several months I have been discussing “intentional community” with a colleague who shares the same background in community development, but unlike me, has continued to actively promote and participate in an intentional community (a co-housing site). We have been talking about the potential uses of social media to strengthen and extend learnings [...]

Several months have passed since I began exploring a few social media tools that “play well together.” And now, as I look back, I’ve been surprised how much FaceBook, Twitter, and my blog, feel similar to some of the old ways of connecting, but with a twist (ok, maybe “twist” is sometimes more like popping [...]

In every movement the entire body should be light and agile and all of its parts connected like a string of pearls. T’ai Chi Ch’uan Classic Typically interpreted to describe the flowing of energy within the body in the course of each form, the “string of pearls” can also be seen as a metaphor for [...]

“What world are you living in? You really have to accept the world as it is and not get caught up in things that are simply not possible.” Ah, the “world as it is” and “not possible.” During the time the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) was focused on the mission of “Concern for the [...]

In the wake of the downing of a jetliner by a flock of geese, ending with a miraculous soft landing into the Hudson River, I noted on my FaceBook site, “Apparently even a single goose can still take down a jetliner–nature just keeps getting in our way; another reminder to change our way.” In response, [...]

Some moments become almost mythical in experience and memory, creating a broader frame of reference for the unfolding of personal and community journeys. The Alaskan village of Selawik spanned both sides of a river near sea level as well as the island in the river’s midst; the primal role of river as life was a [...]

I had returned to Oklahoma after several months on special assignment to Alaska to discover that Bumpy wasn’t Bumpy anymore–he was Gary. Of course, he was always Gary, but like many folks around town, he was known by his nickname. There was PJ, the mayor, and Tub, his right hand man, and the old man [...]

Continually refreshing a Sense of Journey simultaneously locates the current moment in the sweep of personal and community history and presents with fresh urgency the choice of what to keep and what to let go. These times of decision, etched into common memory as new milestones, honor the “divine economy of the Universe,” in which [...]