I am thoroughly appreciative to allow you who have been readers, commenters and sharers of the Reflection Phase of this blog. We will have a few more posts of that kind over the next couple weeks, and again in the future, but for the next while it has become apparent that the most timely thing is for us to now engage in an Action Phase.
What that means is that what will be most valuable for those of us here looking to see the world become a better place in this phase is learning WHAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO DO. There are iterative processes of theory and action going on here. Without some theory, we have little to focus on and test…without action, we don’t get to see if any of it is practical. It is time to do something.
The challenge of the team at Steady Flow will be to develop and craft content that asks good questions about the systems that exist in our neighborhoods, towns, cities and countries. The challenge that we pose to you is to consider and share your learning about questions such as these:
1. What do you need to see change most about your life or where you live?
2. WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO to improve those things?
3. What concrete support do you need to improve conditions in your environment?
4. What can you do to shake off the shackles of passivity and voyeuristic patterns, and rather plug in to the people around you and start building something truly just and connected?
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This is just an intro to where we are going for a while. I will understand if some folks don’t feel prepared yet to engage in action, but I encourage you to participate in discussions and share your concrete learning as you feel ready. This phase is not about being comfortable. It is about flexing muscles that you may not have worked in a while, if at all. I am willing to give my all throughout this phase, and it would be very encouraging if you “builders” out there would join me in this growth process. You will likely begin to hear some other voices arise in this space, and if you’d like to join the creative team, please comment saying so, and you will be contacted by email.
Regardless of your race, gender, economic bracket or education level, I believe that all of you are noble, and capable of amazing things if you stand up to do something.
Listening to National Public Radio while you're driving can be hazardous. Once again I almost drove off the road. The reporter was talking about a fourteen year old girl in Pakistan, hunted down and shot by the Pakistani Taliban for the offense of going to school. I was enraged. In spite of myself, all manner of hostile thoughts filled my mind.
Yes, Fam!
This is a solid comment on some serious reflection that many of us need to make that I couldn't help but repost this! I'm very interested to hear what emotions and thoughts run through your mind as you consider the points here:
And now, the moment that many of you thought would never come!!! Oak, covering the Presidential Debate!!!
Seriously, never thought it would happen, but I did want to hear what folks on the ground are thinking about our present processes, and enough encouragement to deliver it was offered that I figured I should try this at least once, no?
Aaron and I conclude our conversation on Storytelling, Dichotomies and Complexity with some reflections of character development and archetypes used in stories. Hope you’ve enjoyed this series, and more to come soon! Enjoy!
This post can also be viewed along with other marvelous content at Nineteen Months!
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“O SON OF SPIRIT! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”
- Bahá’ú’lláh
As I interact with my human family in this very fascinating world, I am faced with the dilemma that the above quote seems to encapsulate perfectly…that we are all created noble, but have to learn to arise from the abasement that we’ve gotten ourselves into. That abasement comes in all forms from abuse to oppression to negligence and all kinds of hurtful experiences that we may put ourselves and each other through.
So the burning question stands: How do we arise out of this lost sense of nobility? What behaviors, systems and practices are we collectively consenting to or engaging in that keep us from our noble destiny? What are our associations with even the word “noble”? How many names have we called ourselves and each other; how many judgements (more…)
Colby and I continue our conversation on money and various ways to navigate finances. We now get into approaches to banking and other financial institutions…Enjoy!
In a continuation from our last Finance post, Colby talks a little about finding one’s path, and ways that one can approach career and education…Enjoy!
In this short post, Colby and I discuss approaching higher education, and the implications of choices going in…
What would you do differently if you had it to do over? If you’re at the point of transition from high school to college, what’s your sense of purpose for the next few years?
Here, Colby and I have a back and forth about how we look at money(as a means or an end), and explore some possible healthy postures surrounding gaining more wealth and saving where it counts.
To my atheist and agnostic family: God gets mentioned here. It’s not to exclude you or create discomfort…that’s just where we’re coming from on that. There are other valid sources of inspiration to serve one’s fellow man, I know.
Here, Colby and I finish out this part of the Finance conversation, which is a continuation of Wealth and Poverty and Religion and Culture. It has been quite fun hearing folks’ thoughts on these last couple posts! Enjoy!
Here, I go into some of the postures and attitudes surrounding the conversation on wealth and poverty, which is a continuation from the last video post on Religion and Culture…Enjoy!
Here we have a continuation of “Avoiding Debt”, Part 1 and Part 2, dealing specifically with credit cards. Colby and I explore some of the implications of credit to one’s future…
Continuation from Part 1. Colby goes further into the issue of going into debt and things to consider regarding pursuing higher education and its costs…
A number of previous posts written here were on the subject of community and human nature. It seems pertinent to draw some of those concepts to some current affairs such as the Trayvon Martin killing and the murder of James Craig Anderson amongst many others. Many would attribute tragedies such as these to a rising race or class war, but I feel that there are larger principles at play that we may benefit from considering before we blame these actions of individuals on an overly-superficial analysis of what’s going on.
As some of the discussion in previous posts on race explores, it’s very easy to point the finger at familiar terms such as “race” or “class” when I feel that “trust” among us as individuals and a community is the element has to be considered. Many of us have been led to believe that people outside our blood family are not to be trusted, and that people will likely take advantage of us at every opportunity given the opportunity.
Obviously I generalize, but I believe that most will agree that some degree of suspicion is common in our experience and training about survival in today’s world:
Don’t trust the cops.
Don’t trust the people.
Don’t trust people wealthier than you.
Don’t trust people poorer than you.
Don’t trust people of other religions.
Don’t trust business people.
Don’t trust customers.
Don’t trust women.
Don’t trust men.
Messages like these were often unspoken rules that I assimilated to, and doubt that others are immune to these subtle but ever-present messages we send each other through how we behave and talk to each other and the messages we consume in our media.
The thing is, I’ve had so many places in my life that informed me through experience that people are very much worthy of trust…in fact, we don’t get what we need in life as far as diversity of human interaction and experience without it. Further, people want to trust and be trusted. When you watch a movie, who do you generally gravitate towards and root for? Is it the self-serving bully who takes advantage of those weaker than them or the noble champion who grows through their hard-work and challenges to move higher and higher in their understanding?
So pulling back to the recent news events that I mentioned above(and I welcome others brought forth as examples of a point, please share a link), who are the people who are part of the story? Are they stories of “saints” and “monsters” who are essentially “black or white” characters with no gray area to them or are they individuals with challenging environments that they navigate and make mistakes(sometimes gravely serious) from their vantage point? Can we easily put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, say, in the case of someone like George Zimmerman? What is his story? What was he taught about at home about who and what he can trust? What pain shaped him into the character that committed this act? …it’s possible that his past has a good deal of sadness and pain to it. Do you know any young folks like Deryl Dedmon, John Aaron Rice and Dylan Butler? Is there something you can do now to assist in them making different decisions as they grow?
I’m not trying to excuse inexcusable actions, mind…I’m just trying to look beyond the emotional response to an act that is easy to engage, and think about we can go about the business of preventing the sadness that come from acts like these by healing ourselves and those around us.
So, here we are…A year after this space was carved out for you, I and anyone else who dared to explore the world of the unknown…
Where “What you don’t know that you don’t know” reigns firmly and lovingly. I’ll say for my part that this year has been gorgeous in so many ways, and has also provided serious signs of room for growth. Gorgeous because there was a start, and gorgeous because there really have been some good conversations that at least I was able to have with some of you who I might not have otherwise. I got to hear some views that were different from my own. I got to interview some really fun folks on camera and prepare for more opportunities to engage in similar dialogue with others…Challenging because at the end of the day there are very few things that we can presume to say with too much confidence that we “know”…and not everyone is ready to accept that…
I hope this year brings more. I hope to get to know some folks who visit better as we interact in this strangely intimate yet distant and cold space…
So I ask this of you…what would you want to hear more about? What themes and subjects would you like to see more of here? Anything that we should go deeper into?
I am looking to this New Year dawning to bring forth beautiful fruit, and I pray to keep my sights on my intention and purpose. I thank you for joining me on that path…
