Omphaloskepsis

On Being Present

2008-05-04T18:05:00.003-04:00

Blogging has dropped off the radar as work and family responsibilities and concerns have taken up more mental energy and bandwidth.

I'm working hard to be a container for whatever my favorite artist and the kids need right now. Most of the time it is simply a matter of fully Being There.

Since I'm busy being there, it's hard to be here with any quality. I think of you all often, and I apologize that I have not been present for you. I know you understand.

Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight

2008-04-06T16:02:00.003-04:00

TED Talks are one of my favorite media habits. This one is surprising and very moving, and I thought my friends would get a kick out of it, too. It takes a little less than 20 minutes to view.

"Not This Time."

2008-03-19T17:07:00.004-04:00

In this speech, Mr. Obama reveals a amazing grasp of the American racial divide. He is a sophisticated thinker, and in my mind he cuts to the chase about the reality and the politics of this election in this excerpt:

"For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned."

Happy Pi Day!

2008-03-14T06:46:00.004-04:00

Things to be thankful for:

Pi Day - 3.14
Sleeping children
Hot, strong coffee
Home appliances in good working order
Herman Miller Aeron chair
The internets
A knowledgeable, compassionate doctor
Lunch with a good friend

New Positive Psychology Association

2008-03-13T07:30:00.004-04:00

I know many of my colleagues, former MPOD classmates, and friends will be interested in this newly forming organization for positive psychology.

David Cooperrider, Martin Seligman, Kim Cameron, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi are among the many familiar names on the Board of Directors of the new International Positive Psychology Association.

There are several levels of membership to suit psychology professionals and even interested members of the public.

Frozen Grand Central

2008-03-09T12:11:00.001-04:00

Spring Forward

2008-03-08T10:39:00.002-05:00

Eastern Standard Time

Poetry speaks to all people, it is said,
but here I would like to address
only those in my own time zone,
this proper slice of longitude
that runs from pole to snowy pole
down the globe through Montreal to Bogota.

Oh, fellow inhabitants of this singular band,
sitting up in your many beds this morning—
the sun falling through the windows
and casting a shadow on the sundial—
consider those in other zones who cannot hear these words.

They are not slipping into a bathrobe as we are,
or following the smell of coffee in a timely fashion.

Rather, they are at work already,
leaning on copy machines,
hammering nails into a house-frame.

They are not swallowing a vitamin like us;
rather they are smoking a cigarette under a half moon,
even jumping around on a dance floor,
or just now sliding under the covers,
pulling down the little chains on their bed lamps.

But we are not like these others,
for at this very moment on the face of the earth,
we are standing under a hot shower,

or we are eating our breakfast,
considered by people of all zones
to be the most important meal of the day.

Later, when the time is right,
we might sit down with the boss,
wash the car, or linger at a candle-lit table,
but now is the hour for pouring the juice
and flipping the eggs with one eye on the toaster.

So let us slice a banana and uncap the jam,
lift our brimming spoons of milk,
and leave it to the others to lower a flag
or spin absurdly in a barber's chair—
those antipodal oddballs, always early or late.

Let us praise Sir Stanford Fleming
the Canadian genius who first scored
with these lines the length of the spinning earth.

Let us move together through the rest of this day
passing in unison from light to shadow,
coasting over the crest of noon
into the valley of the evening
and then, holding hands, slip into the deeper valley of night.

- Billy Collins

Happy Bissextile Day

2008-02-29T20:29:00.003-05:00

I'm not a leapling, but it was very close . . . my birthday is tomorrow. I'm a Rat. (But you already knew that.)

Happy Bissextile Day!

Thanks to Maureen for learning me a new word.

Anew by Dina

2008-02-18T17:09:00.007-05:00

My brilliant, beautiful, and wise cousin Dina has launched a web site to support her wellness coaching practice. Register to receive her newsletter!

The Meme Stops Here: 7 Random Things

2008-02-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

I've been memed by the triblogular Maureen. (I don't know how she finds the time to feed three blogmonsters.) Here are seven random things about me:

I love the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I can watch it over and over and see something new in it every time. There's no accounting for taste.
I am reading The Mists of Avalon right now. I was reluctant to pick it up because I'm impatient with fiction , but Rosa said it was great and now I'm getting sucked in.
I write or maintain a number of other blogs. The most active one is called Green Buckeye, and it aspires to be a sustainability resource for Central Ohio.
I won the school spelling bee in fourth grade, and my name was in the The Plain Dealer.
I am currently subscribed to 149 RSS feeds. Almost 60 of those are "green" blogs. About 30 are blogs local to Columbus, Ohio. Another 25 pertain to my interests in organization development, leadership, and change management. The remainder cover a mixed bag of topics - everything from writing, blogging, parenting, home schooling (no, we don't home school), online collaboration, art, design, philosophy, linguistics, marketing, and science.
I am painfully introverted. It takes everything I've got to leave the house every morning.

The meme stops here. I will not willfully tag anyone else. If you're moved to play, though, please feel free to share 7 random things about you!

Be For Something

2008-01-19T11:54:00.000-05:00

Patti Digh of the blog 37 Days consistently writes great material. I thought my friends might like to read this post "B is for 'Be FOR Something.'" It's an attitude that resonates for someone who believes that we grow in the direction we ask questions about.

Art is by Donna Miller.

Family Update

2008-01-18T06:58:00.000-05:00

My favorite artist visited the neurosurgeon again yesterday. He was imaged (MRI) up and down for two hours. First the good news: there is no change in the size of the sclerotic bone lesion in his sacrum. Now the bad news: there is no change in the size of the sclerotic bone lesion in his sacrum. More watchful waiting is in order - he goes back in 3 months to be imaged again.

Meanwhile, my youngest son turns 9 years old today. He is very "into" his birthday this year. Last night we took a trip down memory lane by viewing his "Baby Book" at his request. Today Dad is making his favorite brownies for him to share with his class. Tomorrow we'll observe the Big Day officially with gifts, a special birthday dinner, and of course - chocolate cake!

My older son is rapidly transitioning into a teenager. He had exams this week, and is working on a robotics project for the Science Olympiad competition. Last week he received a recruiting letter from the Western Reserve Academy, a boarding school about 3 hours from home. I'm not ready to let my "little boy" leave home yet!

As I review this post, I wonder if I should edit it to move the health news to a more neutral location. It seems appropriate to leave it at the top of the page, though, as it seems to hang over our heads and color everything else in our lives right now. So, friends, know that I am aware of this and acknowledging it, and still appreciating all that is good and light.

David Cooperrider on Appreciative Inquiry

2008-01-15T06:43:00.001-05:00

Regular readers of this blog know that I graduated from the Masters program in Positive Organization Development and Change (MPOD) at Case Western Reserve University. One of the immeasureable benefits of attending that program was the opportunity to study Appreciative Inquiry with AI founder David Cooperrider.

This month you can attend a free online workshop and hear David speak about Appreciative Inquiry. David is an inspiring speaker, and AI is a growing "social technology" that helps organization imagine and design their futures. You won't want to miss this opportunity to hear David Cooperrider talk about Appreciative Inquiry!

You can register for the workshop on the MPOD web site.

You'll notice that this is a recruiting event for the MPOD program. Harlow Cohen, the director of the program, will host an online MPOD Open House after David's talk where you can ask questions about the program and learn more.

MPOD was transformational for me. If you're thinking about going back to school for a Masters in organization development, you should seriously consider the Case program. The Organizational Behavior department at Case has been rated top in the world by the Financial Times for several years running. All the hype aside, the professors are spectacular, the program attracts serious, committed, sincere, talented, and accomplished students, and you will learn more about yourself and the world than you ever dreamed possible.

Tags: appreciative inquiry, David Cooperrider, MPOD

The Story of Stuff

2008-01-12T18:39:00.000-05:00

This entertaining little film about all our "stuff" is one I would like all my friends to view. It takes 20 minutes to watch the entire piece, and I think it is well worth the time.

Annie Leonard, a sustainability consultant, has put together a wonderful and easy-to-understand piece that gets to the heart of sustainability. She brings it all together in one place in a fun way, and I think you will enjoy this show, The Story of Stuff!

Tag: The Story of Stuff

Johnny the Bagger

2008-01-08T07:05:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed this inspirational, if somewhat sentimental, video about making a difference at work. You might enjoy it, too.

Probably veryone knows Ken Blanchard, but you might not be so familiar with Barbara Glanz. She's a speaker and author who has written a number of books, most of them about customer service. I actually contributed a personal story to one of her books,What Can I Do?

Watchful Waiting

2007-12-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

Visits to specialists in two states and scores of tests have produced no definitive diagnosis for my favorite artist. While tests continue, we are officially in a period of "watchful waiting." What are we waiting for? We're waiting for whatever-it-is to become bad enough that it can be fully identified and treated.

Grateful for Friends

2007-11-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends.

Some of you know that my favorite artist is in ill health. This week he has traveled to the renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is undergoing numerous tests and his illness is being evaluated (characterized?) by the world expert in his particular illness.

It has been a rough few months for our family, and this week it feels like the stress has ratcheted up a notch - probably because we are out of our routines and comfort zones.

I am grateful to my family and friends who continue to call, write, think about, and pray for us. I know we are lucky to have the means to send him to the Clinic, and we are so very fortunate to have you all supporting us. Thank you for your love and kind thoughts.

If you'd like to keep up with him, the artist occasionally posts sketchbook-photos from his travels on his phonecam blog.

Reflections on Facebook #2

2007-10-02T06:53:00.000-04:00

I remember the first time I saw a Mac laptop breathing. You know how when you shut the lid the light surges gently on and off - it gives the sense that the machine is sleeping, as opposed to off (or dead, to extend the metaphor).

The Facebook interface makes me feel the same way as that breathing Mac. In some sense it is alive in a way that MySpace or LinkedIn is not. Updates from friends show up on the interface - pictures they may have uploaded, status updates (somewhat akin to tweets on Twitter), and favorites they have added to del.icio.us. It's quite compelling!

I would love to keep Facebook open on my desktop all day and be able to check in on what's going on. It has an immediate, companionable quality - as if I were collaborating in realtime with a group of friends.

Tag: facebook

First Reflections on Facebook

2007-09-30T20:10:00.000-04:00

When my friend and mentor Loretta Donovan invited me to join Facebook, how could I refuse? She's always ahead of the learning curve and wide open to new experiences in a way that I admire, respect, and want to emulate.

So I joined Facebook. In doing so, I've jumped into a world of light-hearted online interaction. I was surprised to find so many well respected OD practitioners in that environment: Open Space facilitator Chris Corrigan, online facilitator Nancy White, and graphic facilitator Mark Pinto among many others.

Shortly after registering myself, I invited others in my network to join. There have been mixed reactions to the invitation. Some have joined, surprised that they were "allowed" to join (they thought you had to have school emails, or be under a certain age). Some have declined, saying they are already connected through another social networking service like LinkedIn. And a few have joined with reservations about providing the email passwords requested to invite other friends - reservations that I share.

I've been using Facebook for about a week now. Today I created a group for "MPOD and Friends" and invited the MPOD crew (and CIGO and AMOC) to connect. Come and play on Facebook!

Tags: facebook, MPOD

Art of the Appreciative Question

2007-09-27T06:44:00.000-04:00

Most evenings I ask the kids to recount the best thing that happened at school that day. They've come to expect it, so the question and answers have grown a little stale.

Yesterday, in an effort to re-energize the question, I asked my eight-year-old, "What's your teacher's favorite thing to do at school?" He seemed truly puzzled by the question for a moment or two. Then he came to life with an answer, "She loves math games!" He went on to describe the games with much relish and excitement, and we reenacted the "brain vs. calculator" game with Dad and his older brother to really get a feeling for it.

It was a nice family moment.

That appreciative question generated a lot of learning! I learned about something going on in the classroom. I also learned that an appreciative question doesn't necessarily need to be about the person you are talking to (my son). It can be something that will elicit thoughts about someone else's joy (his teacher).

Does the teacher really love math games? I'm not sure, but she's certainly inspired enthusiasm in my son! (Thank you, Miss C.)

(edited 11/28/2007 to correct an error)

OD Network Conference 2007

2007-09-23T18:49:00.000-04:00

I'll be attending the OD Network Conference 2007 in October. Will you be making the trip to Baltimore? If so, let me know so we can connect!

Tag: OD Network Conference 2007

Nexus II: Let the Games Begin

2007-09-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

If you were intrigued by the descriptions of the Nexus for Change conference that appeared on this blog and in many others, you might want to check out the web site. Planning for Nexus II is beginning, and you're invited to join in.

Tags: nexusforchange, nexusII

New Form of Graphic Facilitation

2007-09-23T17:17:00.000-04:00

Tag: graphic facilitation

Five Things I Learned in May

2007-05-27T12:14:00.000-04:00

They aren't as sexy as Terry Starbucker's 5 things, but here goes anyway:

I've become better at accepting and more appreciative of feedback at work. Feedback is a gift and an opportunity for growth, which is an attitude and approach I didn't get growing up. Now I know it gives me something I can reflect and act on, if I so choose.
John Coltrane's "Crescent" makes me hold my breath in the same way I do when I watch a trapeze act. You can hear a commentary on the piece by Dave Liebman over at The Traneumentary.
The healthcare system in the US is broken. No matter how many stories you hear in the media about this, you can't fully understand it until you are faced with a serious illness and you cannot identify the right person or group to help, let alone get their attention.
My oldest son turns 12 today. Parenting is the learning journey of a lifetime, and he never ceases to challenge me on all levels. This month I learned that he still has the ability to short-circuit my higher thinking and drive me straight into lowest-common-denominator reactive behavior! I also learned that I should trust his choices in friends a little more - he demonstrated that he has a more sophisticated understanding of the subtleties of human behavior than I gave him credit for.
Tagging can be a great tool for sharing and gleaning information. Until this month I was mostly using del.ic.ious as a place to store my own favorites. But recently I've started to "mine" other peoples' tags, and I've found a lot of stuff I probably never would have found any other way.

Rapid Fire Learning

The Meltdown

2007-05-01T18:49:00.000-04:00

It's becoming harder and harder to stick to the script. The conversation at lunch began with an innocent-enough question.

"Do you know where to buy fondant?"

"Excuse me?" (Did she just ask me about fondant?)

"Fondant - do you know where I can buy it? I was up until 2:00 a.m. this morning planning my baby's first birthday cake. I'm going to bake two kinds of cake, then cut them into squares and assemble them into blocks. I want to cut the block letters out of fondant, so they'll look really nice."

"Oh. No, sorry, I don't know anything about fondant." (When I'm up at 2:00 a.m., I'm worrying about the coming climate-change cataclysm. I can't think of anything else to say for the rest of lunch.)

The word "fondant" comes from fondre, the French equivalent of "melting."