Joyful Jubilant Learning

Digital Learning and Choosing Your Learning Communities

Our April theme of Digital Learning has illustrated something quite clearly for me:

Whatever Digital Learning we choose will also determine the conversations we have with our globally scattered friends and neighbors, and how we have them.

Conversely, you may choose a virtual community (like this one, our Ho‘ohana Community on JJL) or a social media network first (such as Twitter or LinkedIn). However in making that choice, you will have to learn whatever it takes to communicate with everyone there if you are to fully engage with them (and they with you) in the best possible way.

Pure and simple: We choose how and if we engage

What is that “best possible way?” Well, “best” is pretty relative to each of us individually, and there’s the rub: Best for you may not be perceived as best for the rest of the community.

And there is another truism which frequently emerges: What happens more times than not, is that whatever is easiest for you isn’t necessarily deemed best for everyone else too: Getting to what is optimal for both of you takes some work. Sometimes, it even means building new habits. At some point, people make decisions about what is good enough and they give up on the pursuit of optimal.

That’s life. We all have to arrive at our own reasonable balance.

Marketing guru Seth Godin became an example of this recently when he received some criticism for his decision to write about Twitter. Just one problem: He doesn’t use it. What he wrote was positive, but as someone who is not engaged with the Twitter community he lost some of his credibility with those who are, and feel they are more devoted and fully engaged.

As a Twitter newbie myself, about a week short of a full month’s engagement, I have learned much about the cultural norms there, and feel like I am learning how to speak a completely brand new language, just 140 characters at a time. When do I choose updates that are publicly broadcast, @directed, @included or direct-messaged? Which is the best way to reply to each? Why can’t I get just one stretched picture on my profile page versus the tiled one like others can? When does link-sharing deteriorate to anything less than sincerely appreciated or loved by your followers? When are you perceived as gregarious and generous versus strictly self-promoting and spammy?

And most of all: Why bother learning?

Twitter has taught me an awful lot this month, and I have come to realize that it does take time to learn enough to make a reasonably intelligent stab at answering that “Why bother?” question. It takes time, transparency, and vulnerability: While you are learning you have to engage; there really isn’t any other way.

Further, the community sets the rules of engagement, not you.

When you choose some kind of digital learning you are often choosing a community too, and you are rarely learning alone.

Even when you use something like Del.icio.us, normally entered into strictly for individual book-marking, it turns out to have some kind of social component to it. After I had been using my Del.icio.us toolbar bookmarklet for all my link tagging over quite an extended amount of time, I remember being so surprised the day I went back into my account again to learn how to bundle my tags, and discovered that I actually had a network and fans there –how had that happened? Who were they? Where did they come from? Was I expected to communicate back with them or reciprocate in some way? I went into this mini panic worrying about how unintentionally rude I may have appeared until I learned more about the way that networking happened there.

With Twitter, I am conversing regularly (that is, “tweeting”) with people across the globe who seem to have no interest in anything else I write over and above those 140-character updates. In the beginning, it floored me that those tweets were enough value for my new twitter-friends, jumping into conversations with me just as easily as my older friends established elsewhere did. They click my blog link at my bio to quickly check me out, but even if they choose to follow me (adding me to their chosen Twitter village) they may never read one of my blog posts again (much less my book and about my mission), and have no interest whatsoever in an RSS or email subscription. Twitter is an instant community of sharing humanity in real time, not in experience-driven stories or bloggy thesis presentation. Your Twitter connection can become more as links are followed (and as you choose who you will follow), but not necessarily.

Social has become a pretty literal word.

There has been some rapid and totally unexpected spill-over for me as I surrender my “Why bother?” learning time. I have noticed that my blog posts are getting shorter and less frequent (finally!) for now that I “get” Tumblr and Twitter I more fully understand how short attention span has become no matter how much people may love or admire you. It ain’t personal: When they choose new learning of their own, some time may be stolen from old-style conversations. Our capacity for life has this wondrous yet annoying way of stretching much larger than the time we manage to stay awake and function well! Twitter (and the books I purchased after A Love Affair With Books) has had a pretty dramatic effect on my own RSS feed-reading: Blogs that were “on probation” now have a much shorter time in which to make the cut with me. Am I being more efficient, or less patient?

And the duplicity of reciprocation and paying it forward is not lost on me: I am completely aware of how I may be in the same boat with someone else judging my citizen publishing – and me as publisher.

Let’s bring this back to Joyful Jubilant Learning

What more can we learn from the aha! moments we experience within our Digital Learning here and elsewhere? Most, if not all of us participate in several virtual communities: What experiences can we bring back to this one here at JJL, evolving in our best possible way? How is our own Ho‘ohana Community to get better within the conversations had here, and more supportive of the learning initiatives of all who wish to engage with us?

Please share your ideas, for I am quite positive that every single author here would love to hear them.

~ Rosa Say

Earlier this month: Talking Story and a JJL Twitter Soiree

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Post author Rosa Say is the author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii's Universal Values to the Art of Business, and she currently writes for Managing with Aloha Coaching, Value your Month, Value your Life.

Rosa also serves as the managing editor of Joyful Jubilant Learning; her letter for 2008 can be found on our About Page.

For all of Rosa's writing aggregated in just one place, visit her Tumblr, Ho‘ohana Aloha.

Inside the Dark Tide

What do molasses, Italian immigrants, influenza, Prohibition, J Edgar Hoover, and good old New England weather have in common?

These are the main threads woven together to tell the tale of one of the major industrial disasters to have occurred in these United States. Stephen Puleo tells the story in Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. In meticulous detail, the threads build upon each other from building the tank in 1915 to set the stage for the event itself on January 15, 1919, and through to the trial that rendered its verdict in April of 1925.

Dark Tide is the selection of the Franklin Public Library for this year’s On the Same Page program. Supported by a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act, a federal source of library funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, On the Same Page is a community-wide reading project designed to bring members of the community together around the ideas shared through reading the same book.

Dark Tide was a natural fit for my own evolutionary blogging journey and my entry for this ALAWB.

The story is centered on an enormous steel tank (50 foot tall by 90 foot wide) that held 2.3 million gallons of molasses weighing about 26 million pounds. The tank was located on the water front of Boston’s North End surrounded on three sides by a heavily residential area. The water front made an easy connection from ship to rail for the US Industrial Alcohol (USIA) company that built and operated the tank to supply their refinery in nearby Cambridge.

Here are some passages that I think will give you a flavor of the story that Stephen Puleo has crafted.

Molasses:

Frank Van Gelder transported molasses along the East Coast following the same route that captains before him had traveled since the early 1600’s. For three centuries, the molasses trade has been a vital part of the American and New England economy, as important as fishing or textiles, and a critical component in the country’s political and social development. The dark brown viscous liquid, a by-product in the processing of sugar cane, played a major part in some of the biggest events in American history: in the colonial discontent that lead directly to the Revolution; in the introduction of slavery to the New World and, thus, the Civil War; in the growth of rum and liquor distilleries throughout the United States, and the resulting Prohibition movement; and in ensuring the superiority of Allied firepower that would eventually lead to victory in the First World War/ It all started in Boston and New England.

Italian immigrants:

As Irish and Jews assimilated and earned more money, both ethnic groups moved out of the North End to better areas of the city, although small enclaves remained in the neighborhood until well into the 1930’s. … the Italian population in the North End continued to soar --- by 1910, after a decade of unprecedented immigration, the neighborhood’s population approached thirty thousand people, of whom more than twenty-eight thousand were Italian.

Armistice and Influenza:

The armistice had occurred at the right time for Bostonians, who needed a reason to celebrate after they, and much of the world, had endured a dreadful 1918 autumn battling an influenza epidemic that first showed up in early September. In a little more than two months, it had wrecked havoc of biblical proportions. When it was over more than five hundred thousand Americans would lie dead, and estimates ranged from 20 million to 100 million worldwide. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became ill, and an estimated eighteen thousand servicemen died of the virus; the government estimated that it would pay the beneficiaries of soldiers and sailors a total of $170 million in insurance premiums.

Prohibition:

Now that the war had ended, USIA had to find additional sources of revenue to tide it over until the country could fully make the transition to a peacetime economy, and the demand for non-military industrial alcohol grew again. … Company executives decided they could retool the Cambridge plant’s manufacturing processes to produce grain alcohol for the rum and liquor industries. … But even this strategy represented a timing challenge, one to be managed carefully for the company to benefit. After years of momentum, it now appeared certain that a Prohibition amendment would be ratified shortly by three-quarters of the states and that an 18th amendment would be added to the U.S. Constitution, banning the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

J. Edgar Hoover:

Four days before Christmas (1919), at 5 A.M., the Buford set sail from New York harbor for Russia, carrying 249 passengers, including renowned anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. J. Edgar Hoover, who was special assistant to Attorney General Palmer, watched the ship pull away. Hoover had strongly advocated the Goldman and Berkman deportations, branding them as “beyond doubt, two of the most dangerous anarchists in this country.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer echoed the feelings of the vast majority of the general public: “It is to be hoped and expected that other vessels, larger, more commodious, carrying similar cargoes, will follow in her wake.

Franklin played a part in this story:

… Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani, himself awaiting deportation, delivered an incendiary speech in Taunton, Massachusetts. The next evening, in the nearby town of Franklin, four Italian anarchists, all ardent Galleanists, blew themselves up in what police believe was a botched plot to destroy the mill of the American Woolen Company where they worked and where a strike was in progress.

The weather:

On December 13 and 14, a vicious storm with gale-force winds pounded Boston. The newspapers called it a “superstorm”, the worst in a dozen years. Two massive fronts collided in upstate New York and dumped more than twenty inches of snow west of Boston as well as torrential rain and a driving sleet within the city. Trains were delayed and streets were rendered impassable due to flooding. Heavy wind knocked down electric power lines, chimneys, trees, and signs outside of store fronts.

Gee, just this past December 14th, a similar storm hit Boston and New England paralyzing it with almost as much snow. Are we really seeing the effects of global warming?

Has much else changed since 1919?

• Is the war on terror any different than combating the anarchists
• Molasses may have seceded its place of prominence; only to be replaced by another dark thick liquid (oil) which is wrecking economic and political havoc around the world
• War has moved from Europe to the Middle East and Africa
• The threat of a pandemic is real
• Immigration is still a major issue for America.

There is so much more to the story. As the Library holds additional events for On the Same Page, I want to participate. As the year progresses, I will share what I learn.

In the meantime, I would recommend that amongst the wonderful opportunities to read that we have, pick up a book of your local history.

• What can you learn about your area?
• What role did it play in history?
• Do you find any parallels to current events?

Recall that George Santayana wrote:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 

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Steve Sherlock writes his 2 cents exploring the "good experience", "life long learning" and life in general, after handling the "before you blog" list his wonderful wife Dolores  provides him. Together, they are enjoying the empty nest while their daughters are away at college. His sherku and other poetry can be found at quiet poet. More information about his current home town of Franklin, MA can be found at Franklin Matters

"Speak truth to power" by Kerry Kennedy

The title, Speak Truth to Power, is taken from a Eighteenth Century Quaker pamphlet. Within that idea dwells speaking truth to people who hold high places and bear the terrible responsibility of leadership, to people who values and expectations set the limits of those who exercise authority and to the broader notion of an age.

Kerry Kennedy (and Eddie Adams deserves a huge mention as it's his beautiful black and white photos that feature through the book) has crafted a symphony of voices from different backgrounds, races, religions and nations that sing one question over and over through the pages of this mighty book- How will you live?

It's a question that we face daily but push aside or swallow in an effort to appear normal. People you work with aren't going to want to hear you asking questions of personal ethics, oppression and social justice. Chances are they're struggling with similar questions. Speak Truth to Power is like a series of doors that are left ajar for you to be invited through and meet someone ordinary who has faced something extraordinary and not turned away.

From His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Vaclav Havel to Sister Helen Prejan and Digna Ochoa there are names that are familiar and names that aren't. Kerry Kennedy presents a brief introduction next to the huge gorgeous black and white photographs and then the "defenders" are allowed to speak for themselves.

For me the beauty of this book is the challenge it presents to how I live my life. The book allows me to stand alongside these people and wonder "could I have done what they did?" and also ask "how shall I live?". Within the stories there are nuggets to contemplate: Desmond Tutu meditating on the nature of forgiveness, Patria Jiménez talking about the fight for rights of LGBT people in Mexico and Helen Prejean talking about the need to end the death penalty.

This isn't a book to be attempted in one sitting.. you won't get that far, these voices, lives and images will stop you in your tracks. This is a book to leave on your coffee table, dip into and reflect on. It's a rewarding read. It changed my life, it changes me on a daily basis and inspires me to work locally and campaign for a better fairer future.

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Ben Whitehouse works at the Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He has a blog here: http://beninbrum.blog.co.uk/ In his spare time he runs a book group, film club, and finds time to campaign on issues around LGBT rights, local residents rights and he also helps entertaining his three nephews who he loves very much.

Learning Perspective: Use It Or Lose It

Because the human brain packs so much circuitry in so little space it creates continuous pressure to extinguish connections the brain no longer needs, to make space for those it must have. The adage "use it or lose it" refers to this ruthless neural Darwinism, where brain circuits vie with another to survive. Those neurons we lose are "pruned", disappearing like twigs cut from a tree. - Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence

Growing up with a rural family of 5 I had a pretty sheltered existence. My world pretty much consisted of God, school, a family who loved me and my friends. It makes me smile now but I swear, my mother's favorite thing was to tell me 'you are what you eat'.

Her way of telling me to finish my veggies and eat healthy. At the time, it frustrated me to no end. After all, we kids know it all, right? Vegetables and eating healthy doesn't mean a thing when you've got more energy than the energizer bunny... right?

The quote above reminds me a lot of this because it shows the very extent of how thoughts and actions actually create who and what we are. You are what you think you are.

"Look around you wherever you live and you will notice that the vast majority of mankind lives in the world without; the more enlightened men are intensely interested in the world within. Remember, it is the world within, namely, thoughts, feelings and imagery that makes your world without...

Knowledge of the interaction of your conscious and subconscious mind will enable you to transform your whole life. In order to change external conditions, you must change the cause. Most men try to change conditions and circumstances by working with conditions and circumstances. To remove discord, confusion, lack, and limitation you must remove the cause and the cause is the way you are using your conscious mind. In other words, the way you are thinking and picturing in your mind." -Joseph Murphy, author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

I hated eating veggies growing up and I didn't have a very good attitude about myself or life. I allowed the things people said and did to condition my personal value. Those devalued thoughts became my way of life and in return my brain kept that which it needed to maintain this pattern of thinking.

Fast forward to just over two years ago. I met an individual who challenged me to change my patterns. To change my start. I accepted that challenge and began devouring an and all content in regards to personal growth, success and changing destructive patterns.

While all of this was occurring I began writing at Live Your Best Life, now known as Network Marketing Journey and began the Written Restructuring of My Brain. As I struggled and pushed against those negatives my brain did the only thing it could do. It kept the resources it needed for the new found way of existing.

And I quickly discovered that 'Use It Or Lose It' is more than a phrase used to bully people.

Its a fact of life and a matter of learning.

As a result of my work within I've become an accomplished Networker, Search Engine Marketer, and Entrepreneur. Now instead of endeavoring to lift me up my mentors and friends tell the story of my path and accomplishments to enlighten others.

The most amazing part (at least to me) is that we aren't in on this one alone. Our brain catalogs, adapts and reorganizes everything for us. Allowing us to focus on being and doing while it focuses on the learning and growing.

How is that for collaboration?

Focusing on the external things is like applying a band aide to a wound. It only covers it up and hides it from the world. When you shift your way of thinking to deal with the cause, your inner beliefs and pains, you give yourself and your brain permission to create lasting change.

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Tim Draayer is an enabled Introvert, Networker, Entrepreneur and the author of Network Marketing Journey. He believes strongly in the value of a self directed life and seeks to arm others with the tools to find their way.

What do you pack for those times you are waiting?

This morning I had to go somewhere I just knew held the inevitable in store for me: A long line and time spent waiting. Sure enough, I arrived at the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) at a Satellite City Hall a half hour before they opened, and likely due to yesterday's Martin Luther King Day holiday found that I was about number 40 in line already. By the time they opened the door for business, I was roughly in the middle of the line.

When we got inside the doorway, we found ourselves sucked into one of those maze-like line configurations like you have at amusement parks and other places queues are commonplace. No velvet ropes here - this one was constructed of wood and counter-tops for filling forms as you waited. So now, I was smack dab in the center of a people-watching heaven for about another 45 minutes.

You know what I noticed most? The majority of us are not very good at keeping ourselves amused when we are waiting in line, even when we know there will be one (not sure how it is where you live, but in Hawai'i the DMV is infamous for their lines). This morning, folks mostly got themselves all worked up over having to wait so long, visibly getting more and more perturbed that there were only four counter stations opened of the eight the place was set up for.

Out of all the people in my line of sight, I was the only one who had brought a book to pass the time (ironically, the book I was reading is called A Perfect Mess, The Hidden Benefits of Disorder... it's a fun read) and two gentlemen had the morning newspaper with them. One girl managed to paint her fingernails, which truly amazed me (I would have made a real mess of it). There were three people listening to their iPods, and one woman was knitting, but everyone else just stood there and waited.

Also interesting to me was that the older people in line ("older" as in seniors) were happy to eventually talk story with each other, but most of those of the younger generations made it clear by their body language that conversation was not welcomed.

With this as my memory of the morning, I clicked in to JJL a little while ago and made the connection to our January theme of Packing Our Bags for 2008. Tell me, when you know you will be somewhere you will have to sit (or stand) and just wait, do you pack something to pass the time? What do you do? Any original ideas to share?

Photo Credits: Airport Queue by tomypelluz and Slip-n-Slide Queue by sean dreilinger.

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Post author Rosa Say takes a book, pen and paper with her wherever she goes. Waiting time can be a great excuse for some creative doodling!

Rosa is the author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii's Universal Values to the Art of Business, and she currently writes for Managing with Aloha Coaching, Value your Month, Value your Life. Visit her there, and pick up a feed for your reader.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me...

Yesterday, I posted a review of John Izzo's "Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" on my blog.  The book discusses key learnings gleaned from interviews with hundreds of "elders" in various societies around the world.  It also cites many examples of cultures that honor elders by bringing them into their homes so they can benefit from their wisdom.  Izzo notes that families in the US and other western cultures are becoming less likely to hold elderly family members in high esteem - and more likely to send them to nursing homes, etc. 

When I wrote the review, I talked about one of my concerns:  None of the most commonly cited cultures in the book are known for setting the standard for economic, social, or political excellence in the world.  If they are so good at honoring and utilizing the wisdom of their elders, why aren't they more successful?

I initially thought of a few potential reasons / dynamics:

1. Innovation drives a lot of social, economic, and political progress, and  innovation thrives more in cultures where the influence of the young is dominant;
2. Or - Corrupt or dysfunctional dynamics in these "elder-honoring" cultures are somehow stifling the elders' wisdom and influence;
3. Or - There is no connection between respect for elders and world socio-economic success;
4. Or - There is some other dynamic I'm not grasping.

I suspect there is no simple answer.  I also believe honoring elders is a good thing, not just because it will make you more successful - but because it is the right thing to do, and you'll learn things that will make you a better person.  You see, one of the things I realized about Izzo's "Five Secrets You Must Learn Before You Die" is that they are not too much about how to do things, but they are very much about why to do things.

I also thought it was no small coincidence that, when I went to church this morning, one of the readings seemed to tie perfectly into this line of thinking:

"Never seek honor for yourself at your father's expense; it is not to your credit if he is dishonored.  Your own honor comes from the respect that you show to your father. If children do not honor their mothers, it is their own disgrace.  My child, take care of your father when he grows old; give him no cause for worry as long as he lives.  Be sympathetic even if his mind fails him; don't look down on him just because you are strong and healthy. "

--Sirach 3:10-13

As a person who seeks patterns in life, I think I  have a lot to learn from my elders - and I'm beginning to realize I don't take the time to do that as much as I should.  Sure, they may not be up on the latest technology, or in tune with the latest business trends, but they are well versed in principles, methods, and concepts that are beyond the bounds of a specific technology or business model.  And even if I don't learn anything new, what's wrong with hanging out with them?

But I'd still like to know why so many of the elder-honoring cultures from Izzo's book aren't more prosperous.

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About the author: Dwayne Melancon is the author of Genuine Curiosity, where he is always on the lookout for new things to learn.

Added to the JJL Calendar: Pangea Day 2008

In 2007 Blog Action Day affected many of us far more than we had anticipated it would.

I have a hunch that will happen in 2008 with Pangea Day, coming on May 10th.

I learned about Pangea Day via the TEDBlog's call for submissions, and my greatest wish of this moment is that I were a film-maker capable of producing a video that would do justice to the importance of the Managing with Aloha movement.

From the Pangea Day site:

We're looking for films that will make us laugh, cry, and gasp. They can be fiction, nonfiction, real life, animation, or your own unique mixture. But they should hold our attention for every second. And above all, they should tell a story that someone else on the other side of the world will be able to relate to.

As you plan your film, try to imagine millions of people in different countries gathered around in the flickering light, waiting in hushed silence for your tale to start. What story will you tell? What images will you show them?

Pangea Day will present a program  broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones --- I suspect it will be a fantastic example of the audio/visual web that Kevin Eikenberry brought our attentions to in this posting: Seven Online Tools for Web-Based Learning - What are yours?

Pangea Day came to be when visionary documentary filmmaker, TED Prize winner, and Pangea Day founder Jehane Noujaim spoke to an audience of “the world’s leading thinkers and doers” at the 2006 annual TED Conference, and unveiled her inspiring wish to change the world through the power of film.

My understanding is that 'pangea' is a Greek word for "all lands" and this effort is one intended to engender world peace via global community, and the straight-forward yet challenging assumption that we'd live together more harmoniously if we knew each other better.

Click in to www.pangeaday.org to watch the trailer and listen to Noujaim's TED presentation. I'm sure you'll then add Pangea Day to your calendar too, for it promises to be extraordinary.
~ Rosa Say, JJL Contributor, and author of Managing with Aloha Coaching.

From the JJL Archives: Learning from the Blog Action Day story by Joanna Young

Teach us your Wild and Wacky Traditions!

As the winter holidays draw near, I invariably find I begin to think about tradition, both old and time-honored, and new ones not yet thought of which may lie in wait for us to celebrate them. Traditions are like family-spun yarns that get knitted together into the most fabulous multi-colored bulky cables; be they for scarves, shawls or sweaters, it’s the cable knit that matters most for the warmth.

Cable sweaters also hide a lot of mischievousness...

I saw these two tradition lists in a magazine called Family Fun as I sat in an office waiting room before an appointment; they were culled from the mag’s readership:

Your top Thanksgiving traditions:

1. Cook a beloved family recipe for the feast
2. Make a gratitude list to display and save
3. Call faraway relatives
4. Add leaf rubbings, handprints or notes to a keepsake tablecloth
5. Play a family touch football game
6. Start decorating for Christmas the day after

Your top Christmas traditions:

1. Set aside a day just for cookie baking, and for decorating a gingerbread house
2. Plan a get-in-the-spirit activity or outing for each day of Advent
3. Buy and hang an ornament for each child that commemorates a special interest or event in the year
4. Drive around and look at the holiday lights
5. Leave snacks for Santa (and often for the reindeer too)
6. Get new pajamas (or lingerie!) on Christmas eve

Now those things are nice, they really are, but am I the only one who thought these lists were pretty blah and way too normal?

Come on JJLers – weigh in and tell us about the weird and wacky traditions you have in your family! If given the choice, and a magic wand that could zap me into your house, why would I choose you and your family if I were looking for the most Joyful-Wacky! and Jubilant-Wild! holiday traditions for my 2007 photo album?

If you have a long story and want to post instead of comment, email me and I’ll publish it for you!

[Flickr photos by Leo Reynolds.]

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Post author Rosa Say writes for Managing with Aloha Coaching, Value your Month, Value your Life. Visit her there, pick up a feed for your reader, and let her know what you think.

Are you brave (or wild, wacky and weird)? Take her up on this challenge!

Learning from the Blog Action Day story

I’d been wondering how much we could learn in just one day – last Monday, the 15th October.  Blog Action Day.

Now with over 23,000 blog posts written there was clearly a lot of learning going on – and just a bit more than I could hope to digest.  But I did try and get round as many blogsites as I could (divided it by 1,000 – seemed to work!) – because I’m interested in how we talk, share and learn about this issue, and because I wanted to come back here and share some of what I’d learned.

As people started to write their posts I found…

We’re still finding our way to tell this story with confidence

Many people wrote that they weren’t sure if they should or could write – who were they to contribute to this debate?  Some felt the need to make it clear they weren’t active campaigners – environmentalists, tree huggers – just citizen bloggers, expressing an opinion, a feeling or an idea.  Some wrote that they feared a reaction, a loss in readership, by joining in this debate.  And some experienced the direct effect.

That made me feel a little saddened and frustrated at the way the bigger story is going.  Because the environment isn’t an issue that should belong to any one person or group or point of view.  It’s the air that we breathe and the land that we stand on.  It’s part of all of us. 

But fortunately…

We’re finding different ways to tell it

We don’t just use words.  We use pictures, poems, sherkus, humour, cartoons, personal histories to humanise dull subjects, month long campaigns, photographs of our own amazing corner of this planet we call home.

The environment is a pretty big concept. We all find our own way of linking it back to our own experience, our work, our passion, the things that concern us the most. 

Which means…

We tell stories about people and places that inspire us

We tell stories about the source of our inspiration: about business leaders who are learning to make a big difference, about places that develop our emotional intelligence, about places that make us feel grateful, about wild places that fire up our hearts, about what we can see outside our kitchen window, or the feeling of peace and stillness we get by sitting quietly in our own backyard

And I reckon those places help to fire us up because…

We talk a lot about ways we can make a difference

We highlight practical action we can take: cutting back on showers, reducing our consumption of bottled water, saving ink and paper, recycling the materials we use at home, publishing with care for the environment, greening our business, tidying up our local environment, protecting our national parks, lining up our management and leadership values with a commitment to environmental stewardship

But for me what’s more interesting than the lists of practical action is the change – the shift in state or perspective – that the people who wrote them are trying to create.  Because the other thing I remembered is that…

We tell stories to create different states

It lies at the heart of storytelling: we tell stories to evoke a change in state in the person who’s listening.

So we told stories about the importance of curiosity, of mindfulness, of trusting your intuition, of personal environmental action, of gratitude, of breathing your values into your work and your business, of stopping and being still, of developing a sense of place, and over and over again - of the belief that you can make a difference

And I guess those shifts in state, in perception, in awareness, might well be the learning from that one day that turns out to make the biggest difference

So what did I learn, after all, in just one day? 

Plenty, was the best answer I got.  Plenty

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Blog Action Day took place on 15th October. Joanna Young was learning from JJL contributors and readers plus writers and learners around the blogosphere. 

You can check out the 23 blogs she was following, or if you’re keen to learn more, delve into the 23,000 plus who contributed to the debate.

A writer's words, an editor's eye: Blog Action Day, publishing and the environment

Ample Aliveness: A day for gratitude

Brain Based Biz: Ram Shrivastava, CEO, walks the talk of sustainability

Chris Garrett:  Noticing the world around us and Blog Action Day lost me subscribers

Coaching Wizardry: On mindfulness, the sun and the environment

Confident Writing: 20 ways to cut your words and help to save the planet

Dave Rothacker: What's your design? a sense of place

Emoms at Home: 10 green business tips to help prevent Global Warming

Entrpremusings: Rock, paper, scissors - how do we all win?

Freelance Switch: Freelance freedom - blog action day special

Levite Chronicles: Blog Action Day in the Backyard

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog: Personal environmental action

Make it Great: Blog Action Day

Managing with Aloha Coaching:  Blog Action Day 2007 - Responsibility for your sense of place and The Environment and Managing with Aloha

My 3 boys and I: Blog Action Day

Monk at Work: Blog Action Day - leave that which makes you doubt

Ramblings from a glass half full: My passion for parks - a Blog Action Day rewind

Steve's 2 Cents: Blog Action day - environment

Student Linc: Blog Action Day

Success from the Nest: 5 reasons why home based entrepreneurship is the ultimate eco-friendly gig

The Clearing Space: Gratitude in pictures

The Giving Hands: month long campaign on the environment

Word Sell Inc: Our children need sustainable packaging

One Week Job

There are many paths to finding what you want to do for work. Sean Aiken has decided to work a job for a week at a time for 52 weeks. Over the course of this experience, Sean is "searching for his passion, not just a career".

Did you say 52 jobs?

Yes, week 30 is here already.

What has he learned thus far? Let's view this episode and find out what happened during week 26:

JJL Editor's Update 10/28:
You can find the episode here: Week #26 - Advertising Executive.

We have removed the embedded video clip here previously due to the overly-long loading time and its effect on our JJL pages.

Check out Sean's web site and his blog for additional info.

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Steve Sherlock writes his 2 cent views on life from Franklin, MA. He explores the "good experience", "life long learning" and life in general, after handling the "before you blog" list his wonderful wife Dolores  provides him. Together they are enjoying the empty nest while their daughters are away at college.

What difference will you make? It’s your choice.

As I was preparing to write about making a difference for this month's topic, a friend and coworker of mine died unexpectedly. We had his memorial service on Friday, and I began to hear poignant examples of how little things can make a big difference. Some of the things people shared about him included,

• "Best person I've ever worked for..."
• "You could actually tell him the truth about what was happening."
• "He really listened, and he cared about people."
• "When I told him about a problem, he could draw on a diverse set of life experiences and give me some really good advice."
• "One of the most intelligent individuals I've ever worked with, but very humble and self-deprecating."

There were a lot of other comments about how much he talked about his daughters at work, and how he often shared anecdotes with his staff and peers. Also, many stories about how he really carved out time to be at dance recitals, gymnastics meets, and other key events with his girls.

In a nutshell, he will be remembered as a great manager, who could do business effectively while taking good care of his employees. He will also be remembered as a loving father and husband who gave his family a place of importance in his life.

What kind of difference are you making? It boils down to the choices you make every day. You make a difference when you choose to care, when you choose to listen, and when you choose to do what's most important instead of what's most urgent.

Nobody is perfect, but I hope I choose well and get better at it every day - and I hope you do, too.

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About the author: Dwayne Melancon is the author of Genuine Curiosity, where he is always on the lookout for new things to learn.

Learning about blog fighting

Tim Ferriss recently shared some great tips for dealing with "haters" in the blog world, but I notice that a lot of his concepts apply in the real world, as well. Consider Tim's list:

1. The only way to win a fight is to avoid it. 2. Focus on getting your desired outcome, not on being right. 3. If a fight is inevitable, strike first. 4. To diffuse a fight, admit mistakes and validate others' feelings. 5. If a group fight is unavoidable, take out the leader. 6. Remove anonymity. 7. There is strength in numbers. Never fight alone unless you have to.

He also hits the nail right on the head with the reason these blog fights happen in the first place:

Why do people attack others trying to do good things? I can only come up with two theories:

1. There are two ways to increase perceived self-worth: elevate yourself or cut down others. The latter takes less time. It's a case of "the worse you look, the better I feel about myself" and a short-lived high.

2. Empowering others involves removing external excuses for inaction. This is threatening to those who would rather complain than take action to improve their circumstances. Their alternative solution is thus 1 above: attack the messenger instead of the message (referred to in logic as an ad hominem attack).

Awesome advice, and Joyful Learning about a not-so-Joyful topic. Go read the full post on Tim's site - it's worth it just for the picture of the apology note he wrote in first grade.

 

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About the author: Dwayne Melancon is the author of Genuine Curiosity, where he is always on the lookout for new things to learn.

Social Network Fatigue? Depends how you define your purpose with using it.

You may recall a post I did here a few weeks ago, that was a shoutout for your opinion on Facebook and other social networking sites: Learning Best Practices on the Internet. I had come to this reckoning:

I’m okay with changing my place on the bell-curve

Being an “early adopter” is getting less and less attractive to me; I am regressing back into my Safe Sally habits, making my reservations at restaurants with staff who have already gone through nearly every breaking-in scenario imaginable to find they (and the restaurant) are still in business.

Benjamin gave us this side of the coin: Facebook: Friend or Foe?

Facebook is a  powerful resource for me to share my message with more people, and the more people I share my message with, the more profit the marketplace rewards me with.

Just like a blog, facebook is a platform from which you can provide value.  If you've built a business model where you are rewarded for value (and you should, since profits are better than wages), this will result in increased revenue to your business.

Well, this didn't take too long... This is from Rojo:  

Facebook fatigue is setting in. Jason Calacanis declared social network exhaustion but summoned the energy to write a thousand words describing his feelings. Without a trace of irony, Om Malik provided tips on better Facebook use, while Scobleizer crowed about how Calacanis's retirement meant fewer competitors for him. Oh, the popular kids can't handle all the activity, blogs Web Worker Daily, while allfacebook is sure Calacanis cries himself to sleep from all the invite pressure. On the other hand, Rob Hyndman sympathizes with Calacanis as a doer, not a talker, while WinExtra flies above the fray, treating Facebook as a flavor of the month, just like Twitter and Pownce.

Even without Calacanis, Facebook still faces problems. Just as mainstream users are adopting Facebook, their employers are blocking the site, blogs Profy. Worse, the outages that Facebook initially called "upgrades" (via CNET) were actually security problems and outages, writes The Register. And then there's always Pownce peeking around the corner. ... (via Social Media).

[Yes, I stripped the link-fest it contained, for that isn't really my point, and you can find them all at the post itself on Rojo.]

Now please understand that I am NOT saying this is happening for Benjamin too, in fact, this gets me to admire how much smarter Benjamin is! Facebook - past the tipping point.

While Jason Calacanis and the others Rojo strategically gives their link love to may be are in a whole different universe than me, I couldn’t help but take some satisfaction in sticking with my not-for-me decision when I stumbled across the Rojo update.

I had mentioned my friend, new media guru and community builder Chris Brogan when I wrote Learning Best Practices on the Internet, and here is an update from Chris's site; I think he puts it all in perspective well in this opening paragraph:

Sometimes we forget that social networks are more than just software. We forget that beyond a bunch of friend-adding, and asking for links or votes, that there’s more to building online communities and keeping relationships. A strong social network requires some tending and care, just the way real live relationships need attention and deliberate effort.

Here are some ideas on how to tend your digital networks and reach the people on the other side of the screen. ... [Read the rest at Improve Your Social Network.]

Benjamin DID inspire me to think purpose versus playground, and I just chose a different kind of social media, seeking to improve and optimize what I already was using. My TypePad toolbox is keeping me as busy as ever these days, and if you have a moment, please visit my Talking Story reinvention I have called Managing with Aloha Coaching, newly published on August 1st. I would be very honored to have you click into the email-subscription box there, or pick up a feed!

There at MWAC and here at JJL, we’ll continue to navigate our way through the maze of what is offered online together. Mahalo. Thank you for coming along for the ride!
~ Rosa Say

Exactly what have we learned in our brave new world?

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you (or IM your kids because they somehow didn't hear you call out to them from the kitchen).

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses still haven't answered your invite to Twitter or Facebook.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen (and you're thinking, thank goodness!).

8. Leaving the house (or office) without your cell phone (or blackberry), which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go online [to check your stats and comments] before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message where you can link this.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list [or if you did, you're wondering why the blogger actually typed in the numbers].

15. Now you scrolled back up to check that there really wasn't a #9 on this list, 'cause you'd want to tag it in del.icio.us, digg or stumble it, probably never to look at it again.

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself, wondering if you can meme your own reaction on You Tube.

And of course... you blogged this instead of forwarding the email you received it in, making sure trackbacks were enabled for it ...

Oh go ahead; you know you want to!

We all have magical powers

We call those magical powers ‘writing.’ The magic is within the written word.

What author doesn’t wish they had written a phenomenon like Harry Potter?

The financial success would certainly be sweet, mostly because what it buys for you is the financial freedom to have a literary life, one where you can shut everything else out and simply write to your heart’s content. I daresay most authors will tell you they do not envy Ms. Rowling’s fame, for such things get too intrusive.

However the phenomenon is more than the financial freedom; it is the accomplishment of having Harry Potter become a household name, one that creates conversations and sends the mind on fanciful journeys of imagination. The phenomenon all authors surely yearn for, is that their words have had an impact; it is knowing that what you have written can so positively inspire.

As I sheepishly admitted to David Zinger in another conversation here, “I’m the odd duck who has never read a single Harry Potter book or seen any of the films,” and therefore, the character names and plot twists are pretty unfamiliar to me. Yet here I am, writing about it.

I have watched the entire circus that surrounds each book release with fascination, for that ‘circus’ is such a study in what drives human interest, and I can’t help but wonder about the “wisdom of crowds” in one moment and the story of lemmings in the next. It tells us so much about how people will choose to spend their time, convenience be damned, and why they want what they want. It makes us wonder why people aren’t as driven to work on real life itself, versus besieging Rowling with letters pleading she never allows the fantasy to end.

LONDON — Outside Waterstone's book shop in tourist-filled Piccadilly Circus, a woman in her 20s slept soundly on the sidewalk, her witch's hat covering her tired eyes.

A young girl dressed as a Victorian nurse chewed on candy and chatted with others eagerly waiting outside the store. And at the front of the growing line, a 16-year-old from the Netherlands held a sign addressed to spectators: "Only $2 for staring," it said.

A woman from Michigan and her two daughters were camped farther down the line. They booked a hotel across the street to make sure they would not miss the bookstore party.

"I love the waiting and anticipating, of guessing what is going to occur," said Margie McCloy. "Sharing this with my girls is what is most magical to me."

"I'll miss the spectacle," interrupted Chellie Carr, McCloy's youngest daughter. "No Harry Potter fan will ever experience this after this book."

The great irony here is that personally, I still have very little desire to read a Harry Potter book. I’m sure I would if one were given to me, however the book dollars I spend go to a wide array of other choices that will always trump fantasy. Yet I can tell you without any doubt whatsoever that my story would be different if my own children were younger in 1997 when the first Harry Potter book was published, for they were then past the age of contentedly sitting and allowing me to read to them. Like me, they were making other choices in bookstores. However they were not beyond other fascinations … remember furbies? I have one of those stories of what I went through to get my daughter a pure white one, and my son a pure black one during one frantic Christmas season …

I agree with the sentiment in this editorial in The Herald Bulletin, and I also cheer for what J.K. Rowling has achieved, however I also know the editor is wrong;

Whether you are a fan of the best-selling series in book history, a lover of the spine-tingling movie adventures or a die-hard Potter hater, it doesn’t matter. What J.K. Rowling has done for reading is something we may never see again in our lifetime. Her creation of Harry, Hermione, Ron and all the magical creatures in between have recreated a powerful lust for books.

Rowling may just have magical powers herself.

Look at how many people she has brought together. Kids have in-depth conversations about Potter books with adults. And adults talk back. Brothers and sisters bond over the adventures. Grandparents find something in common with their grandkids.

Type in “Harry Potter” on the Web. Thousands upon thousands of sites pop up: blogs, bookstores, Web sites. It’s like we are all in this giant Potter book club together.

Where will people be tonight and Saturday? At bookstores and at libraries, celebrating. The characters will come to life with costume contests and trivia games. Then, when the book is distributed, fans will stay up all night and read. The thirst for knowledge is exhilarating.

Kids will be hunkered down under the covers with flashlights all night tonight, and parents won’t mind a bit. Chances are the adults are secretly reading in their rooms, too.

Thank you, Rowling, for your gift — for getting us to turn off our video games, computers and TVs and read again.

This is the part I know to be wrong: What J.K. Rowling has done for reading is something we may never see again in our lifetime.

To all you writers out there, keep reading and keep writing. Rowling’s magic can continue to happen, for we all have those very same magical powers.
~Rosa Say

Click on photos for credits.

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From the Joyful Jubilant Learning Archives:

• On the Road to Publication
• A Guide to Writing Well
• Write to Learn; Slow, Steady, Sure

Must-read blog for writers: Confident Writing by Joanna Young

Buzzing out of Recidivism with Learning

Last weekend I learned a new word: The word is Recidivism.

It is a noun, meaning a habitual relapse into crime.

Not a good thing.

I spoke at a conference at which everyone in the audience was a Chief or Deputy Chief for the U.S. Circuit Court, and the word recidivism kept coming up in each presentation —except mine. I was the only one there without a clue as to what it meant until I swallowed my ignorance and asked someone about it. It soon became clear to me that every single person in that room was bound and determined to prevent more recidivism from happening.

If not for my learning experience that day, my ears may not have perked up when this story came on the CBS Evening News two nights ago, for I was shuffling through a stack of unopened mail.

Bees Give Ex-Convicts A Second Chance
Program Teaches Former Prisoners How To Make Honey — And A New Life

(CBS) You might wonder how a tiny bee can be at the heart of an urban renewal story. But then, some bees are doing more than just making honey — they are giving people like Gerald Whitehead and Tony Smith a second chance.

"I've been in and out of prison since the time I hit 17 years old," Whitehead told CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

"I'm 31 and I was incarcerated for 14½ years," Smith said.

That's a story you hear here a lot in North Lawndale, a Chicago neighborhood of 45,000 where nearly 6 in 10 adults have a criminal record. One in four is unemployed.

Can you imagine? Read that again, and think, ‘recidivism’ …“nearly 6 in 10 adults have a criminal record. One in four is unemployed.”

There was another part of the story that jumped out at me because of one more word. This one however was familiar to me; we use it all the time here, for it is near and dear to our hearts. The word is Learning.

When Brenda Palms-Barber came here to start a jobs bank, she knew finding work for people with a record — and no real job skills — would take some inspiration. She never imagined it would take some insects, too.

"One friend of mine, just by chance, said, 'you know my husband's a beekeeper,' and I thought, 'What do you need to do or to know in order to be a beekeeper?'" said Palms-Barber of the North Lawndale Employment Network. "She goes, 'well, actually, it's a profession that's passed on by word of mouth.'"

Which makes it easy for anyone to learn. Now former armed robbers and gang leaders tend hives and harvest honey.

Let’s read that again; “A profession that’s passed on by word of mouth, is easy for anyone to learn.”

I think we need to talk to each other more.

So far 27 men have gone through the three-month program and found long-term jobs. Whitehead says the bees have taught him a invaluable lesson.

"In order for them to survive, they have to do this work," Whitehead said. "If they don't do this work, they can't survive. If I don't do a job, I can't survive."

Feel good about what you buy: Click on the photo to take you to Sweet Beginnings, LLC., where beeline, the sweet results of this worthwhile employment effort is sold online.

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As she did at that conference, when post author Rosa Say speaks, it is on Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii's Universal Values to the Art of Business. She is convinced that living, working, managing, and leading with aloha can prevent recidivism too, and jumpstart a whole bunch of learning!

Be Fiercely Selfish With Your Time to Learn

When I attend conferences I feel like I am on a seesaw:

Up: They inspire me. I key into presentations and conversations with people I am newly meeting. New ideas float to the top of my consciousness so I will pay attention and honor them with action.

Down: I watch the rest of the audience, and go crazy at the tragic waste of human intellectual capital. It is easy to pick out people who are there because they have to be, or feel they are expected to be, and now they've caved in.

Caving in~

Caving in is something I very passionately rant against in all my Managing with Aloha presentations, especially when we are talking about Ho'ohana, the Hawaiian value of worthwhile work, for when you ho'€˜ohana, you are fully present. The polar opposite of ho'ohana is caving in.

Definition: "Caving in" is giving up and then giving away more than you need to, continuing to give up throughout the entire ordeal. It is the half-empty viewpoint that it will be an ordeal, versus the half-full vantage point that it can manifest as opportunity.

Caving in happens something like this:

--- your boss says you must attend an annual conference to represent the company. You really don'™t want to go, but you know this is not a request you have the option of saying no to, and you go.

--- other than packing and tying up loose ends on what you leave behind, you don't prepare much more for the conference. You Google the weather so you'll know what to pack, and you might even visit a bookstore to grab some best-selling paperback for the travel time, but you ignore the conference agenda, figuring you'll deal with it when you arrive. You don't look up any of the speakers or the exhibitors, and you don'™t brainstorm a list of goals to achieve while you're there.

--- at the conference you sit in the back of the room, or wherever the nearest exits and/or refreshment tables are. A planter you can hide behind when you whip out your blackberry during boring presentations is considered a true find.

--- when a speaker does manage to get your attention, you sit back and listen expecting to be magically spoon-fed. You don't take any notes, and during the breaks you escape instead of engaging the person next to you in curiosity about their take-aways as compared to yours.

After the conference, you will probably be thinking to yourself, "I knew that would be a waste of time."

Well of course it was! You had caved in, and that "waste of time"€ became your self-fulfilling prophecy. Why not be fiercely selfish instead?

Own your time, and harness it for learning~

Know this: You are always in control, even when you are doing something for someone else. To think otherwise is a lazy, uninspired excuse, a fooling-yourself justification, and a cop out.

Every moment in time you find you are in, will be defined by the choices you make and the actions you take within that moment.

Even if you have to be somewhere, or attend something for someone else€™s agenda for you, why not milk it for all it can potentially be for you? You can reread my example of caving it above, and quickly pick out what I feel you can do instead.

What other ideas and suggestions do you have for each other JJLers? I know that the lifelong learners who read JJL do NOT cave in.

When you attend a conference, how do you milk it, and own it for you?

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Related articles:

• Take Responsibility For Your Learning by Sterling Frandsen
• Send that Blackberry to Solitary Confinement at Talking Story
• Own the time you DO have at Talking Story

What I Have Learned From Travel; Blooming

July 10 UPDATE:
Robert has posted the full list of entries at Middle Zone Musings - a wonderful 18 entries in all! I have also listed them in the extended section of this posting. Fringe benefit alert: Visiting them is also a great way to pick up the site feeds of those who would likely proclaim that writing is their Ho‘ohana (fulfilling work) … Robert’s group writing projects are proving to have a magnetic attraction!

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Preface; This is an entry for Robert Hruzek’s group writing project at Middle Zone Musings. Robert asks what we have learned from travel.

What I Have Learned From Travel; Blooming

When I first tell you what I feel I have learned from travel, your reaction may be, “Well sure, of course you learned that. Every person who travels learns the same thing. In fact, they know it before their travel even begins!”

Still, I’ll take that risk because I don’t believe it’s all that obvious, and I wish there were some sure-fire way to give everyone this learning;

Our world is a very, very big place of unlimited possibility.

You see, that unlimited possibility means that whoever you are, and whatever seemingly silly, preposterously huge dream you have, you can’t ever give up on the desire for it, even when it feels like you are stuck someplace with it burning a hole in your gut. There is always another place where you can try to make it get it to come true.

It may be around the corner,
it may be in the next town,
it may be on another island or another continent, but it is there.

Travel helps you get brave enough to cross that street,
or that interstate,
or that ocean to reach for that place where,
you eventually can arrive.

Travel unplants you when for some reason, you cannot “bloom where you are planted” as Mary Engelbreit made a licensing fortune in proclaiming. The ground may be much more fertile someplace else, and you shouldn’t rob yourself of the chance to find out. The unlimited possibility is not an “IF” but a “WHERE.”

Your ‘unplanting’ can, and probably will happen in several different ways. Travel is sensory goodness.

I believe in the profound teaching of in-person, tactile, and of-the-land sensory learning. It speaks to the spirit within us in a way that electronic and virtual learning can never duplicate. Those things are wonderful (and as you know, I sing their praises often), but my wish is that everyone could have both the in-person experience of travel and the virtual one.

As much as we love our islands, in Hawai‘i we call it “Rock Fever” when a person has not ventured across the Pacific Ocean to see, hear, feel, smell and touch the rest of the world at least once. It’s the kind of fever that makes you feel apathetic, lethargic, and all the other junky feelings that make you feel sick. Feeling sick is feeling less than whole, and I believe that not having traveled outside that confirming circle of comfort people call home will always keep you feeling less whole.

The world was created big, and you were created mobile.

I put in a LOT of miles, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I understand what a privilege it is that I can do so.

I love my Hawai‘i, I truly and quite fervently do. But I am glad she understands that I must leave her every so often so that when I return, I can be a better person for her. The world has a lot to teach me, and I have to travel to best learn her lessons. My goodness, there are so many of them!

And another thing: You can bloom while planted in more than one place.

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