Medicine for our shared social ecology
This space is a sampling of resources to support us individually, in our relationships, and in our connection to our communities.
“In a fractal conception, I am a cell-sized unit of the human organism, and I have to use my life to leverage a shift in the system by how I am, as much as with the things I do. This means actually being in my life, and it means bringing my values into my daily decision making. Each day should be lived on purpose.”
― Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
"I want people to liberate the idea of their calling from what they’re being paid to do for a living. Your calling may be something that you do that gives you joy but that you’re never going to get paid for. It may be certain relationships that you’re holding that are primary. Being a parent or being a child, being a friend, being a neighbor, the service you do in your community. It can be how you show up through your day, how you treat strangers. You can play an instrument. You can write. It’s the things that amplify your best humanity.” - Krista Tippett, NYT Interview
“Breaking Out of Stable Misery With Dr. Lynyetta Willis”
The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, Episode 057, Host Sara Rosensweet
https://pca.st/episode/a370b48a-81f3-42cd-8cdf-6e4765e0d8d0
Although this is a parenting podcast, many of us will recognize this ‘in-between’ space that psychologist and family empowerment coach Dr. Lynyetta Willis coins as “stable misery”. The neuroscience of stable misery is broken down beautifully, and there’s a 5-point plan to get out of it. Includes additional resources and a parenting trigger score quiz.
“Being Kind To Yourself”
Hidden Brain, Host Shakar Vedantam
https://pca.st/episode/5475972a-2aea-4350-b67e-a365d6cd9aa3
Psychologist Kristin Neff delves into the inner critic and self-compassion, with a juicy example of when both were at play. This one is packed: People who are most self-compassionate are the least self-focused. Self-criticism gets initial compliance but has long-term negative consequences. Also covered - how your inner critic affects your relationships.
“This Conversation Will Change How You Think About Thinking”
The Ezra Klein Show, Host EK
https://pca.st/episode/a0148eb8-5ecc-44e0-adab-6e7d434b7be2
Annie Murphy Paul talks about how we have constructed our society has stunted our thinking and living. How play and rest (and not sitting still) are crucial living well.
“Krista Tippett Wants You To See All The Hope That’s Being Hidden”
NYT Magazine, David Marchese
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/07/05/magazine/krista-tippett-interview.html
There are so many gems here that reinvigorate hope in humanity. “We are learning about the true nature of vitality, which is modeled on the natural world. It’s ecosystem-based. It’s not hierarchy-based. It’s about mutuality and reciprocity. It’s almost as if there are parallel universes. There’s the universe of our addiction to Amazon and of the people who are building spaceships to Mars — and then there’s this wild, fertile, imaginative but also pragmatic world of rethinking success and vitality and reality. It’s an incredible time to be alive. It’s terrible in a lot of ways and also full of unbelievable possibilities.”
“Movements and leaders have seasons — it’s important to know which one you are in”
Ayni Institute
“One of the most important aspects of leadership that we must understand is that it is a resource, an energy, a capacity that goes through cycles — meaning that there are times that our leadership goes through ups and downs, times when we have more capacity to respond than others. Our capacity to understand and leverage them successfully relies on knowing which part of the cycle we are in.”