When we see others as evil, unable to care, or in some fundamental way immune to transformation, then, if they can’t be ignored, the only available strategy is to overpower and vanquish them.” —Miki Kashtan During the spring and early summer when the birds in this region are nesting, a few things happen. First, we […]
Leadership means accepting authority
Look at the relationship between the English words authority and author. It’s almost as if this language conspired to remind us that authority is about intrinsic power to write one’s way into new realities, interpretations, and ways of being. What I didn’t know until recently is that there’s also an etymological relationship between author and authentic. To be authentic means to be real and […]
Embracing Denial and Starting Again
The first stage of grief and the first step toward health are both denial. Yet if we’re to heal, however long it takes, we can’t live in either. I’m reclaiming denial as a stage that honors the stakes of our situation. Perhaps we risk physical death. Perhaps we risk losing our sense of common identity […]
Designing Anew
I’m endlessly fascinated by how minority groups absorb majority standards as a measure of value, even when those standards press the minority to pervert its native expression and don’t elicit the best of what the minority group could bring to the common table. I was heading to a work dinner with my favorite person yesterday […]
Teen Self and Adult Self
This morning @mslooola asked: “What would teen you think of adult you?”#noshamemov So I found Teen Self and we had a chat. Teen Self: You locked our hair! Adult Self: Yeah, I like it. Might cut it in a decade or two; what you think? Teen Self: O_O Teen Self: You stopped playing basketball. Do […]
The Magic of Shame: Sexuality and the Seventh-day Adventist Church I
The few can’t control the many by force. —José Barrera José Barrera defines magic as the ability to change reality by influencing others’ beliefs and consequent behavior. His argument is that magicians are not mere illusionists like those featured in The Prestige; they are people and groups who invoke their authority over others and use it […]
