27 Aug Words to Ponder #47
I think about how exhausting the indicative becomes - the constant demand to perform progress, to show we're winning, to prove harm is decreasing. Bayo Akomolafe...
Culture
26 Aug Excavating the Myth of Empathy
Posted at 21:55h
in Community Organizing, Creativity, Critical psychiatry, Culture, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy 2 Comments
I’ve been pondering the popularity of empathy for quite a while now, and I’ve been meaning to write something telling you why I find it so distasteful. As a way to ease into that create space, I share a bit of conversation “A Meandering Search for Method: Becoming Human in...
15 Aug Rhizomic Revolution
Carrie Lobman, the East Side Institute’s Leader of Education and Research and my close colleague and friend, gave the keynote address at the Cultivating Ensembles annual gathering last week. I love the title of her talk—“Boxes, Dualisms and Rhizomes”—and I loved the talk even more! Carrie urged that we go...
02 Feb Imagination and Teardrops
I just learned about Gianni Rodari, a children's writer and Communist almost unknown in the US. I love this description from a New York Times article about him: To Rodari, imagination was always revolutionary, because he thought that, when readers picture different worlds, they stop taking existing conditions for granted and...
28 Aug David Brooks says “Grow up, America!” Social therapists tell us how.
Posted at 16:23h
in Community Organizing, Culture, Psychology of Becoming, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy 2 Comments
Just had to share this wonderful piece by social therapeutic practitioners Jennifer Bullock and Marian Rich. The World Needs Social Therapy! Thank you David Brooks for your recent thoughtful commentary titled Hey America, Grow Up. We appreciate your invitation to build a new culture that supports maturity, community, empowerment and well-being....
12 May In Conversation with Bayo Akolomafe
Posted at 03:13h
in Creativity, Culture, Human Development, Language, Politics, Psychology of Becoming 2 Comments
During the second half of 2022, Bayo Akomolafe and I had a series of recorded Zoom conversations, with my Institute colleague Janet Wootten spurring us on, Bayo and I both wanted to make these conversations public. and you can find slightly edited transcripts of them here, titled A Meandering Search for Method: Becoming Human in a...
10 May Rebel, Reject, Create
I was a guest on David Chislet's podcast—Rebel, Reject, Create— a few weeks ago. We went the "Create" route. Great conversationalist! We covered a lot of creative ground in 20 minutes. Have a listen. https://youtu.be/bKcG2a4g5oc...
03 Apr Words to Ponder # 44
Posted at 02:34h
in Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Psychology of Becoming, Words to Ponder 1 Comment
"If the human race is still here in 100 years, it will be because of lots of people doing lots of little things. Bigger things can get co-opted or bought off by the powers that be. But if there are many, many little things going on it will be too...
07 Mar Speak English Any Way You Want
Posted at 21:06h
in Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Education, Language, Look and Listen, Play, Psychology of Becoming 4 Comments
I'm so delighted by a project initiated by friends in Taiwan that I decided to share it with readers. What follows is a guest post written by Pei and Joe Spirito. Enjoy! Speak English Any Way You Want By Pei and Joe Spirito For the last year or so, we’ve been teaching a...
24 Dec Bottoms, Empathy and Globalization
It’s become a tradition for faculty member Chris Helm to host the East Side Institute’s twice yearly Community Meeting and Fundraiser. Chris always gets everyone thinking with her educational and provocatively inspiring remarks that weave together current events, history, politics, science, and the Institute’s mission. This past November’s gathering was no...