Long meetings make for long notes and long blog entries. This Sunday’s gathering was hosted by Chris Tiffany’s in her lovely home; she provided us with excellent quiches, and we snacked on veggies & hummus too. In attendance -- eventually -- were Chris T, Brian, Haley, Jane, Carol, Eddie, and myself (Kelly). We schmoozed for a while and eventually settled in with a moment of silence. This would be our first four-hour gathering, and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, so I think everyone’s energy was a bit higher than usual. We intended -- really -- to follow the agenda we’d all agreed on earlier, but it turned out that we essentially spent the whole time checking in. There was a feeling at the end of the gathering, though, that it was a very good and productive get-together, because everyone really had time to focus, and to be focused on, and the group provided lots of positive feedback for those with questions. We made a point to thank Chris T not just for the food, but also for having taken the first step toward articulating and writing down a process for our group; her project presentation is what moved our group into a more productive period. Thanks to her for that.
Without further ado: our check-ins.
Carol (& Kelly):
Carol -- with some input from Kelly -- focused on the veterans’ writing group project undertaken with Chris M and Kelly, because our open planning meeting had occurred only the day before. We were in a great meeting space, but only one person showed up! The blessing, and the surprise, was that he stayed with our group for the full three hours and it turned out well. For us (at least, for Kelly) the meeting helped to clarify the reasons for doing what we were doing, and allow us to “try out” how to structure our time. Of course, the take-home lesson was that we have to figure out better/more/different ways to publicize.
The SS group offered great suggestions on where and how to publicize our writing group -- everything from community announcement boards to Hugo House to plugging PI reporters. Together we started brainstorming extensions of the writing group, as well; Carol thought about making a combined exhibition with the War Experience Project (which helps veterans paint their experiences onto their uniforms) in which stories and painted uniforms are displayed together. Eddie mentioned an event he saw in which veterans voice-recorded a story, then played it aloud in front of an audience while live-painting a canvas, which was then auctioned off (presumably to benefit a veterans’ service organization). Interesting ideas, all, but for now we’re going to focus on just collecting a small group of writers.
Eddie:
The group Eddie formed last quarter to raise awareness of sex trafficking is continuing outside of the class in which it began. Group members want to make another series of interviews in the next few weeks, assessing public knowledge of sex trafficking and perhaps conducting interviews with those affected. They hope to publish the resulting video on YouTube, with the intent of getting the government to actually DO something concrete about trafficking issues. One of their goals is to support better independent studies -- to get those funded and completed -- so that there is more accurate and unbiased data available on sex trafficking. (For example, a City of Seattle report would be well served by under-reporting the local incidence of trafficking, because high rates would make the city look bad.) Brian mentioned that he had a contact at KIRO, and might be able to help with publicizing the finished video.
Eddie starts courses in the Community, Environment and Planning degree program this fall at UW Seattle. Aside from the trafficking group, he’s holding off on getting involved in more deep projects until the quarter starts because he anticipates a lot of group & project involvement will begin then.
Chris Tiffany:
Chris is still mulling over her native plant/bird garden. She's having trouble confronting the bureaucratic barriers; is it worth all the paperwork to go through the school system? Making a garden sounds like lots of fun, but dealing with the Seattle school system does not. Would there be a better payoff on effort invested in a community-based approach, rather than solely through schools?
Eddie mentions the very expensive LEED Gold Student Learning Center at Carkeek Park; multi-million dollar building that’s been closed due to budget cuts... but it would be a perfect venue....
Chris is thinking of doing some work with adults instead, to avoid the child-oriented bureacracy. Her project could perhaps take the shape of a small business, providing advise, information, or actual plants for native installations in home and community spaces such as parking strips, or sideyards. She would be happy to do the work pro bono, provided that anyone who receives goods or services has to promise to “pay it forward” in services or plants, and help someone else do their own naturescaping.
Chris was very candid in discussing the challenges of balancing: work, personal health, passions, projects/hobbies. Part of this also involves not beating herself up for not doing all the separate things she could imagine.
Jane made an offer to the group to host publicity on her non-profit’s website (e.g. for Chris T, for the Vet Writing Project, etc.).
Brian:
Brian opened his check-in with a quote from his friend, the Buddha: “If you enjoy waiting, you don’t have to wait to enjoy.” He feels really good to have started studying for the GRE; it feels like he's going somewhere, and once again working toward his dream of being a marine biologist. At mention of the GRE, Carol and Jane handed him 2 general test GRE Prep books, and then Chris T pulled a Biology Subject Test book off the shelf and handed it to him. (I’m reminded here of a passage from The Alchemist, one of my favorite books, in which a teacher tells a young man that when you truly desire something with your heart, when you are following your dream, the entire universe conspires to help you acheive it.)
Using his GRE work, Brian plans to work toward a Masters in Marine Biology. He’d like to stay in Seattle if possible -- the UW program would be ideal. Though he’d prefer not to attend Rutgers he is willing to move away from Seattle depending on which graduate program is the best fit.
Carol recommended connecting with a teacher at Garfield HS who is really into Marine Biology. Could there be a potential volunteership with him? Could the two of them have a meeting of the minds?
Brian is currently studying and choosing when to take the GRE in order to be best prepared for it. We had a discussion on getting into graduate programs, and how to make connections with professors and potential research mentors.
Haley:
She wanted to skip her check-in, but…
She’s quit her job at the childcare facility, because of poor communication, wage dithering, and a general lack of leadership from the management. One of the children in her group fibbed to his mother about an incident – then ADMITTED he fibbed – but her bosses are still on a wage-cutting “safety!” tangent because of it. All of the upset is based on something that didn’t happen, and it’s proving too difficult to warrant staying on there. She will stop work in June & won’t return in September. T
On the school front, the UW Bothell application is proving difficult because of supplemental submissions and frustrating logistics. Her inclination at this point is to return to Olympia & Evergreen (where, she learned the week after this gathering, she was accepted! Hooray!!!) to complete a postbaccalaureate and Masters degree in Teaching. Her goal is to teach writing, social studies, and English.
The past two years have taught her that she really dislikes working in environments with a privileged outlook, or a population with a privileged/skewed view of the world. Jane asked her, then, “why do you forget that you dislike working with this privileged population?”
Haley: “Oh, the money.”
Jane: “Then take this as a lesson not to forget again. It’s easy to be lured by money & security, but this is your life telling you what you do & don’t want to do.”
Jane encouraged Haley to write about narrative, seminar learning, & how to learn about the other people in your group – essentially a white paper.
Jane:
Jane will see some major changes this year; by June 31 she goes to teaching only part-time, and by December 31, Jane will not be teaching through the community colleges system at all. While that means no income from NSCC, it also means that she has a solid six months to prepare for the transition from professor to progressive entrepreneur. She is building up her non-profit, and forging a mission to help organizations transition from being static organizations to being living organizations. She also wants to help design curriculum to get young people engaged in their world. Overall she's very excited about having the time to pursue this consultancy/project. It feels like it's emerging well.
Jane had another idea recently: she wants to pitch a TV show to Oprah in which cameras follow around everyday people, champions, those working on projects and positive change. She wants to "put hope on the radar," and to publicize the “new world" she sees forming. There's certainly endless material!
We wrapped up after Haley & Jane’s check-in with some comments from Jane. She spoke specifically about Haley’s work situation, but the lesson has wide application. (Jane, correct me if I get any of this wrong!) One of the fundamentals of Buddhism is knowing your essential nature, and deeply accepting it. Suffering comes from wishing your essential nature were different. Certain environments/ecosystems nurture those seeds of your essential nature, while certain others don’t. Part of our purpose as a group, I suppose, is helping each other make our way into -- or build from scratch -- ecosystems which nurture our own essential nature, as well as that of other people and the natural systems on which we depend. This led to a discussion of Wellness, of balance, and of center; we realized could have an entire Spaghetti Sunday about that subject alone! Jane reminded us that paying attention to personal wellness pays off big in the end: having a weekly reset, re-centering, can go a long way.
Our next gathering will be Sunday, June 19. At this point the plan is for it to be a 2-6pm affair at Chris M & Kelly’s apartment. That Sunday is Father’s Day, so if you have a need to change the schedule, let the group know. It will also be a mere three days before Haley leaves, so it’s going to be a bon voyage party as well! See you then.
