Category: Uncategorized

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

21 Tips for a Positive New Year with Jon G:

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. Take a daily “Thank You Walk.” You can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time. Feel blessed and you won’t be stressed.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and less foods manufactured in plants.

4. Talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself. Instead of listening to your complaints, fears and doubts, talk to yourself with words of truth and encouragement.

5. Post a sign that says “No Energy Vampires Allowed.” Gandhi said, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet,” and neither should you! Watch This.

6. Be a Positive Team Member. Being positive doesn’t just make you better, it makes everyone around you better.

7. Don’t chase success. Decide to make a difference and success will find you. [ Tweet This ]

8. Get more sleep. You can’t replace sleep with a double latte.

9. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.

10. Look for opportunities to Love, Serve and Care. You don’t have to be great to serve but you have to serve to be great.

11. Live your purpose. Remember why you do what you do. We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.

12. Remember, there’s no such thing as an overnight success. Love the process and you’ll love what the process produces.

13. Trust that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. If you are complaining, you’re not leading. Download a free No Complaining Kit here.

15. Read more books than you did in 2020. I happen to know of a few good ones. : ) 16. Don’t seek happiness. Instead live with love, passion and purpose and happiness will find you.

17. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

18. The next time you “fail” remember that it’s not meant to define you. It’s meant to refine you.

19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

20. Boost your immune system and health. Eat wild salmon, turmeric, blueberries. Take vitamin C, D and zinc.

21. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

Download these tips as a Printable PDF Here >

How will you make 2021 more positive?

The Mask of Character with Dr. Ed DeRoche:
While our coping strategies are as varied as our personalities, here are ten of the typical masks we wear, with two more of consequence!

30 Vintage Images from the Nat Geo Archives that Will Captivate You!
30 vintage images from the Nat Geo archives that will captivate you (nationalgeographic.com)

Live What You Love!
Get the Clarity and Actionable Steps to Live Your Dreams in Your Career & Life
Free 5 Day Live What You Love in Your Career and Life Journey 1/25-1/29 with Marcy Morrison.
Register for free here:
Live What You Love Journey – Career and Life Coaching (careerswithwings.com)

Happy New Year.  May you and yours enjoy the wonders of the world, know peace and a long life!

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Rtajxo8d7js?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0

Covid Humor:

Thanks this week go to Jon G, Larry H, Ed DeR, Peter S, Chris B, Marcy M and Soul Foodies everywhere!
Love,
Neville

“At the heart of learning organization is a shift of mind – from seeing ourselves as separate from the world to connected to the world, from seeing problems as caused by someone or something ‘out there’ to seeing how our own actions create the problems we experience. A learning organization is a place where people are continually discovering how they create their reality. And how they can change it.” — Dr. Peter Senge

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Happy Soul Food Friday & Happy New Years!

This week:
The Power of Love and the Love of Music to Touch Your Soul & Launch You Into a New Era

Here is Some Serious Firepower to Welcome in the New Year-
Barcelona with Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe’
If this doesn’t make the hair on your arms stand up, check your pulse!
“I had this perfect dream, this dream was me and you, I want all the world to see, a miracle sensation, my guide and inspiration, now my dream is slowly coming true”…
Barcelona (Live) – Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé – 1988 – YouTube

Enchantment and Entrancement-
Bridge Over the Stars (Live) at the Palace of Fine Arts by Keiko Matsui
Be prepared to be entranced!
Bridge Over the Stars by Keiko Matsui – YouTube

Turning Grief to Grace-
Evie Clair Sings A Song For Her Dad Battling Cancer:
Evie Clair Sings A Song For Her Dad Battling Cancer | America’s Got Talent 2017 – YouTube

Josh Sings For His Departed Friend:
He Sings For His Dead Friend… Don’t Cry… Simon Cowell Is Emotional and Cries | Jealous Labrinth – YouTube

Do You Believe in Love? How to Align Your Life with the Most Powerful Force in the Universe with Craig Hamilton:
“As long as we take the position that we need to feel more love in order to be love, we’re missing the whole point of love.”
Do You Believe in Love? How to Align Your Life with the Most Powerful Force in the Universe (craighamiltonglobal.com)

The Gift of Giving-
Here is the link to a podcast on our Holiday Giving Campaign with the Salvation Army:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/11131102/mission-federal-credit-and-salvation-army

Enjoy Some Blissful Chaos

Thanks this week go to my beloved family Barbara, Aysha & Arman, as well as Paul C, Drew S and Bob C.
Happy New Year!
Love,
Neville

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” -Plato

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Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week: Gems for the Solstice and Christmas Week

T’was the week of Christmas,
And all through the town,
People wore masks,
That covered their frown.

The frown had begun
Way back in the Spring,
When a global pandemic
Changed everything.

They called it Corona,
But unlike the beer,
It didn’t bring good times,
It didn’t bring cheer.

Airplanes were grounded,
Travel was banned.
Borders were closed
Across air, sea and land.

As the world entered lockdown
To flatten the curve,
The economy halted,
And folks lost their nerve.

From March to July
We rode the first wave,
People stayed home,
They tried to behave.

When summer emerged
The lockdown was lifted.
But away from caution,
Many folks drifted.

Now it’s December
And cases are spiking,
Wave three has arrived,
Much to our disliking.

It’s true that this year
Has had sadness a plenty,
We’ll never forget
The year 2020.

And just ‘round the corner –
The holiday season,
But why be merry?
Is there even one reason?

To decorate the house
And put up the tree,
Who will see it,
No one but me.

But outside my window
The snow gently falls,
And I think to myself,
Let’s deck the halls!

So, I gather the ribbon,
The garland and bows,
As I play those old carols,
My happiness grows.

Christmas is not cancelled
And neither is hope.
If we lean on each other,
I KNOW we can cope ❤️💚

My Favorite Holiday Commercial of the Year– Take Care of Yourself: Take Care of Yourself | Doc Morris Christmas Advert 2020 – YouTube

Run Run Rudolph with The Full Strength Funk Band: https://youtu.be/tLdIFTYYDnw

Winter Solstice Musings with Billy S:

Aloha Friends,

The winter solstice is on Monday, December 21, 2020 at 2:02 am PST

This begins the winter season.

It is a pivot point from which the light will grow stronger and brighter.

The longest night and shortest day of the year are followed by a renewal of the sun as days get longer.

On this day the sun takes its lowest arc across the sky.

On this day the sun sets farthest south on the horizon.

Creating a meaningful winter solstice celebration can help us cultivate a deeper connection with nature, family, friends and community.

The winter solstice can be a beautiful reminder that our lives are part of a larger order that’s always changing and renewing.

A way to bring warmth, light and cheerfulness into the dark time of the year.

For many millenniums humans have marked this sacred time in the yearly cycle of life.

The winter solstice can serve as a touchstone to help us cultivate an attitude of receptiveness and appreciation that will carry us through the holiday season.

Reflect on the stillness of the day by cultivating stillness in yourself.

Spend more time listening, watching and honoring the slower, quieter rhythm of the season.

Darkness and night are times of rest, dreaming, healing and growth.

Seeds must be put into the dark earth in order to send out roots and push up new shoots.

Native plants bloom now so that their seeds will be formed and fall to the ground early enough in spring to take advantage of the rains.

Plant a seed for a more intuitive, simpler and natural holiday season.

If you want to change something in your life or something about yourself the winter solstice is a good time to work on it.

This longest night can be a time of journeying deep into our inner dreamtime to bring forth a dream that can help us in the new year.

A new year with fresh possibilities reborn in us all.

The Winter Solstice is:
A chance to clean house, both inner and outer.

A time for reflection, rest and renewal.

A time for feeding the spirit and nurturing the soul.

Stay in tune with nature and wellness,

Billy

Ready For An Epochal Shift?

The ‘great conjunction’ kicks off a new astrological epoch. So what now?

On December 21st, the planets Jupiter and Saturn – which are actually more than 400m miles apart – will appear to come together in the night sky, forming what is called a “Great Conjunction”. “I’ve found that astrology, which tracks data from the motion of stars and planets and tries to extrapolate trends and meaning from it, is a useful, evocative model for pattern recognition. I’m not alone in this fascination: Astrology is absolutely booming among millennials and Gen-Z, led in part by a renaissance of scholarship around the subject over the last ten to fifteen years, which has restored a great deal of classical legitimacy and rigor to the admittedly woo-woo new age astrology of the 1960s and 70s.”
The ‘great conjunction’ kicks off a new astrological epoch. So what now? | Emily Segal | Opinion | The Guardian

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.

She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three
times, even.. The total had to be exactly perfect… No chance here for mistakes..

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she
slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment.

Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat
with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a
quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter.. That did it!

‘And what do you want?’ the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of
voice. I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in ages,’ he
said without waiting for a reply to his question.

‘Well, I want to talk
to you about my brother,’ Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone.. ‘He’s
really, really sick….and I want to buy a miracle.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ said the pharmacist.

‘His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?’

‘We don’t sell miracles here, little girl.  I’m sorry but I can’t help you,’ the pharmacist said, softening a little.

‘Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.’

The pharmacist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, ‘What kind of a miracle does your brother need?’

‘ I don’t know,’ Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money..’

‘How much do you have?’ asked the man from  Chicago.

‘One dollar and eleven cents,’ Tess answered barely audible.
‘And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.’

‘Well, what a coincidence,’ smiled the man. ‘A dollar and eleven cents—the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.’

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said ‘Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the miracle you need.’

That well-dressed man was Dr.  Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon,
specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it
wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

‘That surgery,’ her Mom whispered.. ‘was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?’

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost…one dollar and eleven cents…plus the faith of a little child.

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need.
A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.

I know you’ll keep the ball moving!

Here it goes. Throw it back to someone who means something to you!

A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end. It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure inside for you to see is the treasure of friendship you’ve granted to me.

Today I pass the friendship ball to you.

Pass it on to someone who is a friend to you.

MY OATH TO YOU…
When you are sad…..I will dry your tears.
When you are scared…..I will comfort your fears.
When you are worried…….I will give you hope.
When you are confused……I will help you cope.
And when you are lost…and can’t see the light, I
shall be your beacon…shining ever so bright.
This is my oath…..I pledge till the end.
Why you may ask?….Because you’re my friend.

Signed: GOD

In the Holiday Giving Spirit?
Here is a Together San Diego Interview with our local partners that are helping so many San Diegans with food insufficiency.
The matching campaign runs through the end of the year, matching your donation dollar for dollar, if you are so inspired at Mission Fed Holiday Giving Fundraiser | Mission Federal Credit Union, San Diego

Together San Diego Union Tribune Interview:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/togethersdlive

Thanks this week go to Elyce D, Charles B, Arman S-B, Billy S, Ron M, Larry H, and to Generous Souls Everywhere!
Will you pay it forward?

Love,
Neville

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Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week: Day 36- Living/Dying/Living Well from Within

For years, I have been “religiously” putting out Soul Food Friday to enrich and nourish your soul and bring some positivity to your week.
This week’s missive really touched my soul, and hope it is as impactful and valuable for you!

Living/Dying/Living Well From Within:

Today, I had one of the most extraordinary and inspirational zoom calls of my life!

What started out as my aspiration to serve Dr. Danny, ended up with the power and promise of something much greater- to serve all of humanity.

Some of you know our dear friend, Dr. Daniel Friedland (or “Dr. Danny” as he is affectionately known to many of us). 
Danny is the author of Leading Well from Within, which captures his brilliance on the science and practice of Conscious Leadership, has served as the Co-Chair of the San Diego Chapter of Conscious Capitalism, and the two of us were Co-Chairs of the Cause Conference in 2017 on Purpose-Driven Leadership, where I fell in love with him!
We are currently both advisors to the Conscious Capitalism San Diego Board and have worked together on several other projects on Leadership & Culture.

I am deeply grateful to Danny, for how he shows up in the world, leading authentically without pretension, fostering love and belonging, and caring deeply for everyone he comes into contact with around the world.
Today, I’m sorry to have to share some painful news, that will be a shock to many of you, so please brace yourself…
That said, I promise you this email and included links will end on an uptick of how Danny and his family are choosing to make meaning of this challenging life experience in ways that, rightly understood and applied will benefit us all.

On November 12^th, Dr. Danny, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer (Grade 4 Glioblastoma). 
What he has been experiencing in rapidly coming to terms with a shortened life at this time is truly astonishing!
He is living into the full bloom of his work of “Leading Well from Within” and is experiencing and modeling a new level of awakening of conscious leadership.
Danny shared with me that he is actually feeling blessed by his cancer.
What’s emerged for him is a new found clarity of what matters most now, which is to make every moment count in experiencing intensely loving relationships, and leaving a lasting legacy with his work. 

One of the main ways Danny and his family is making meaning at this time is sharing with us all they are learning on their journey.

They have just launched a YouTube channel called, Living Well from Within, which is a natural evolution of Danny’s work on Leading Well from Within, where Danny is finding an even greater sense of purpose to lead and serve more consciously during this challenging time. 
Danny’s family wants to share this channel with other families (both home and work families) as an unfolding playlist, which you might choose to binge watch as you would a “Netflix series.”
This playlist serves as an ongoing real-life human drama, which is also filled with transformational lessons that facilitate healing, growth and elevating the lives of individuals, communities and humanity at large.
Here is the link: https://bit.ly/LivingWellFromWithin

There are currently more than 90 videos in the playlist, and the magic of what’s unfolding is truly extraordinary. There are multiple rich plot lines, all connected by the overarching theme of healing, growth and elevating humanity. 
A big part of Danny’s purpose with this channel is to shine light, not on himself, but rather other individuals and organizations that are already doing the good work of elevating others. This is why he feel so strongly about featuring us in this channel. 

As you will discover, what Danny is doing is leveraging whatever time his has remaining, while viewing his cancer as a blessing that is providing him the opportunity to reach into his extensive network of loving relationship to catalyze a coalition. He is ultimately looking to mobilize a movement of individuals & organizations that are engaged in the work of facilitating healing, growth and elevating humanity in this time of historic need and opportunity.
Dr. Danny’s realization is that to have a strong & meaningful influence, and to shine a bright light- numbers matter. He wants to build a subscriber base that would ultimately ensure that these videos would be seen by millions of people. Imagine what this would mean to a movement and ability to catalyze this mission to elevate humanity if these videos were seen by countless leaders across the globe? 

My Ask of You:
What I am asking each of you to do is to click the red subscribe button on the playlist page or below any of the videos and also to share this far and wide in your social networks with a call to action for others to subscribe as well.
Let us join him and take the first small step in doing so.

Please subscribe to the Living Well from Within channel playlist and encourage others in your social network to do so too! 
Here is the link to our interview, today, on Day 36 of this journey: Day 36: A blessed holy conversation, with Neville Billimoria, SVP of Mission Federal Credit Union – YouTube

Footnote: Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, Danny and I co-lead a webinar entitled: “Leading Consciously in Challenging Times” Dr. Danny graciously created a webpage so he could also offer everyone a gift of the pdf Book of his Book Summary of Leading Well from Within. Here’s the link to both: https://supersmarthealth.com/LCAIExperience/

And here is a link to the video converted just to audio if you prefer to listen to it: https://huffduffer.com/josephaleo/592434
Thanks Dr. Danny!

Your Kindness Calendar for December 2020:

Thanks this week go to the inestimable Dr. Danny for his generosity of spirit, Joseph A for the audio version of the Leading Consciously content, Elyce D for the kindness calendar, and Dani K for helping me get Soul Food Friday out every week.

Please PLEASE pay it forward with purpose!

Love,

Neville

“Your own soul is nourished when you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel.”
— King Solomon

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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This Week:

• The World is In Here and the Mind is Out There

• Teens glued to screens in COVID pandemic need sleep and reality checks, experts say

• People Who Can’t Say They’re Thankful for These 7 Things Will Have a Very Hard Time in 2021 – Inc

• Covid Humor

The World is In Here and the Mind is Out There:

Terens glued to screens in COVID pandemic need sleep and reality checks, experts say
“Our kids weren’t built to live their lives chained to supercomputers,”
COVID depression: Teens turn to tech, social media as anxiety surges (usatoday.com)

People Who Can’t Say They’re Thankful for These 7 Things Will Have a Very Hard Time in 2021 – Inc.
This gratitude list is compiled with business leaders in mind, but it’s really applicable to anyone who wants to be happy and successful.
People Who Can’t Say They’re Thankful for These 7 Things Will Have a Very Hard Time in 2021 | Inc.com

Covid Humor:

Thanks this week go to Mehrad N and Larry H for contributions to this week’s missive
Pay it forward with purpose and gratitude!
Love,
Neville  

“ The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubt and the uneducated ones are full of confidence”

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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:
Finding Hope and Healing to Meet This Moment &
Extending Our Gratitude Well Beyond Thanksgiving

Finding Hope and Healing: A Community Conversation to Meet This Moment
with Dr. Ken Druck & Neville Billimoria
Monday Dec 7th from 4-5:15pm Pacific Time (via Zoom)
*** To reserve your spot as spaces are limited, please sign up ASAP:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsf-qtpjMvH9GHIqPGexYUmdYCSYNmG_aZ

As we navigate the holidays and begin turning the page on 2020, unprecedented losses, changes and stresses of the pandemic, presidential election, and economy have taken their toll. The pressures, responsibilities and challenges of meeting this moment are tremendous. The search for newfound strength, faith, understanding and resilience is before us, our families and nation.  

Join Dr. Ken Druck and Neville Billimoria for a vibrant community conversation on finding hope and healing that will include:

* Taking personal inventory: What’s happening and how is it affecting us?
* Supporting ourselves and one another: Listening for understanding, clarity and care
* Making peace: Creating a Safe Space for Diverse Opinions
   * Finding the Common Ground on which to Heal and Move Forward

Please join us, add your viewpoint and help our community create the resources for constructive change as we aspire to becoming our better selves in 202
Note: If you are dialing in, please log in first on your computer, then join the audio using the participant ID designated to you so you can participate in the breakout rooms.

Space will be limited due to zoom so join early!


Dr. Ken Druck is an expert on hope, healing and courageous living who has been featured on Oprah, CNN, FOX and PBS as well as in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. His work over the past four decades has focused on transforming adversity into opportunity and healing after loss. Dr. Ken is the recipient of the “Distinguished Contribution to Psychology” award and the author of several best-selling books including:  “The Real Rules of Life”, “Courageous Aging”, and “Raising an Aging Parent”. https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Druck/e/B001HCXO8A%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Learn more at http://www.kendruck.com/.

Neville Billimoria is Senior Vice President & Chief Advocacy Officer at Mission Federal Credit Union, a $4.5B financial services and a 2020 Top Workplaces organization. He serves on several nonprofit and foundation boards, founded the Chamber of Purpose San Diego, is a teacher of martial arts at UC San Diego, as well as a community and purpose-driven leader based in San Diego CA. http://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria

To Join This Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/95183588555?pwd=dzVGMHArN0lpUHM3RXNkR2xSbmdQdz09

Meeting ID: 951 8358 8555
Passcode: 360923

To Register:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsf-qtpjMvH9GHIqPGexYUmdYCSYNmG_aZ

Unleashing Generosity:

Gratitude is Conscientious Objection with Scott S

When life isn’t going your way.  When you feel stuck and trapped.  When your plans, expectations, and dreams are far away. When you’re feeling lost, upside down, and overwhelmed. When you’re shut down and just can’t work yourself out of it.  When you miss normal life and going outside and being with people and doing what you want to do…and refuse to call this ‘the new normal’.  We turn to gratitude. We don’t wait for the feelings to come, it’s a choice. A deliberate objection to the reality we find ourselves in, a refusal to be overcome by sorrow or sadness. We do it because it’s right. We do it because it’s good. We do it because it works. Gratitude spurs hope. It brings light into darkness. It turns everything right side up. Gratitude is the path back to reality; back to life.  For parents and teachers and people who care about kids, we practice gratitude because we know the young folks in our lives learn from us how to live well.

Giving Thanks May Make Your Brain More Altruistic:

Neuroscience is revealing a fascinating link between gratitude and generosity…

Gratitude can make your brain more charitable, generous, and altruistic – Vox

Double Your Impact by Supporting Our Matching Grant Holiday Giving Campaign:
Our $30,000 Matching Grant Campaign is in Full Swing in support of our Fellow San Diegans through :

• The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank
• San Diego Rescue Mission
• The Salvation Army San Diego County
  We will match dollar for dollar up to the first $30,000 here: www.MissionFed.com/Giving

Thank You, Democracy’s First Responders!

To the staff of the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, the region’s poll workers and USPS workers, we thank you. Because of you, more than one million San Diegans cast their ballots safely and securely with trust and confidence that every vote counted. Your combined work, under unprecedented circumstances and at great personal risk, makes you “San Diego’s Election Heroes.” We are grateful for your service as stewards of election integrity and our democracy. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/electionheroes

Memeable Dogs (For A Feel Good Moment):
https://biggeekdad.com/2020/11/memeable-dogs/

Thanks this week go to all you altruistic souls, including Scott S, Larry H, Bob C,  that both take care of yourselves and help take care of each other!

Love,
Neville

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder”
Gilbert K. Chesterton

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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Giving Thanks
In these crazy times I would like to take a moment to express my sincere thanks to each and every one of you that read and share this blog and choose to pay it forward!
This year has been like none other in my experience, and I remain humbled and awed by your generosity of time, talent and treasure in service of our extended community and tiny blue planet.
May you find time, over the holiday season, to pause, reflect, and invest your discretionary energy & intention in an attitude of gratitude, and deeply internalize the positive impact you make in the lives of others.

Feeding Hungry Families Over the Holidays:
As we enter the typical holiday season in a most untypical fashion, we are at it again…

We just announced our Holiday Giving Fundraiser; Feeding Hungry Families Over the Holidays, in support of so many San Diegans that remain in dire need for even the most basic necessities, more than nine months into this horrific pandemic.
While many of us are complaining about having a lot on our plate right now, others literally have nothing on their plate, and are going hungry, with food insufficiency in our community once again rising to unprecedented levels.

On the last go around, earlier this year, we focused on just one organization, The San Diego Food Bank, and our matching campaign- thanks to the generosity of so many like you- raised over $400K which translated to over 2 million meals for local families.

This time we are supporting three local San Diego non-profit partners who will be working hard to help feed those in need through the holidays.

They are:
– The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank
– The San Diego Rescue Mission
– The Salvation Army San Diego County

A new TV commercial is currently airing in support of this initiative, and campaign details with additional information, including the commercial as well as donation links for each of the 3 nonprofit partners can all be found at: www.MissionFed.com/Giving
This Feeding Hungry Families Over the Holidays campaign will run from now through the end of the year.

My ask-
Can you help me get the word out so we can get the support in?
Mission Fed will match it up to $30,000 making each person’s contribution go further, so let’s rise to the occasion!

Thank you for your love of humanity and generosity of spirit, however you express it…
LOVE is the word. Let’s spread it, before we lay out our delicious spread!
Btw, The San Diego Rescue Mission was featured on KUSI last Friday and here’s a link to the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kIT5s1919w&t=4s

THE POWER OF THANK YOU with Jon G:
5 ways to practice Thanksgiving every day of the year.
Thank You.

They are two words that have the power to transform our health, happiness, athletic performance and success. Research shows that grateful people are happier and more likely to maintain good friendships. A state of gratitude, according to research by the Institute of HeartMath, also improves the heart’s rhythmic functioning, which helps us to reduce stress, think more clearly under pressure and heal physically. It’s actually physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time. When you are grateful you flood your body and brain with emotions and endorphins that uplift and energize you rather than the stress hormones that drain you.

Gratitude and appreciation are also essential for a healthy work environment. In fact, the number one reason why people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. A simple thank you and a show of appreciation can make all the difference.

Gratitude is like muscle. The more we do with it the stronger it gets. In this spirit here are 5 ways to practice Thanksgiving every day of the year.

1) Take a Daily Thank You Walk  – I started this practice 15 years ago and it changed my life. Take a simple 10-30 minute walk each day and say out loud what you are thankful for. This will set you up for a positive day. I wrote more about this in The Positive Dog . 

2) Meal Time Thank You’s  – On Thanksgiving, or just at dinner go around the table and have each person, including the kids, say what they are thankful for.

3) Gratitude Visit  – Martin Seligman, Ph.D., the father of positive psychology, suggests that we write a letter expressing our gratitude to someone. Then we visit this person and read them the letter. His research shows that people who do this are measurably happier and less depressed a month later.

4) Say Thank You at Work  – When Doug Conant was the CEO of Campbell Soup he wrote approximately 30,000 thank you notes to his employees and energized the company in the process. Energize and engage your co-workers and team by letting them know you are grateful for them and their work. Organizations spend billions of dollars collectively on recognition programs but the best and cheapest recognition program of all consists of a sincere THANK YOU. And of course don’t forget to say thank you to your clients and customers too. 

5) Say Thank you and Goodnight  – At bedtime reflect on your day, identify and share all that you are thankful for. If you have children you can read Thank You and Goodnight with them and add to it.

Teaching Kids to Be Thankful with Scott S from The YouSchool:
Foundational Question #12: What are you thankful for?

A HABIT OF GRATITUDE
I’ll admit, I took most everything for granted when I was growing up. Yes, I did write thank you notes to my grandparents and brought teacher appreciation gifts to school that my mom bought. Generally, though, thankfulness was more about having good manners than an internal quality. Most things came easy to me and my parents gave me a lot- resources, experiences, and love. It really wasn’t until much later well into my adult years that I began to both practice gratitude as well as feel grateful. 

A lot of kids are like me. They take things for granted. They don’t have a broader perspective of who sacrificed for them or really have to work for what they get- nor should they. They’re kids. But can you imagine a full-grown, mature, healthy adult who still takes life for granted? I can’t. 
Wise and emotionally healthy people would say: Everything is a gift. Everything. How do you learn that? How do you teach that?

Gratitude is something that you develop over time. You have to be guided into it. It has to be something that is caught, not taught deliberately or overtly. You have to pause and reflect on what you’ve received. It’s one thing to go through the motions of gratitude, it’s another to express it to someone else. And it’s an even higher level to feel it in an authentic way on the inside. 

Okay, so how do you teach and train kids to be grateful?

1. You have to model it
2. Create an expectation for it
3. Carve out consistent time to practice it
4. Celebrate and rejoice every time you see it

It’s easy to forget all of the foundational elements a kid needs in order to make the transition to healthy adulthood. There’s a lot to learn and a lot that’s really important, like how to change a tire, how to interview for a job, and how to pay your insurance premiums on time. Those life skills can seem like the most important things we need to pass on. But what we’re trying to do is provide clarity to parents and educators about the most important lessons. 

A key foundational element for building a meaningful life is developing a practice of thankfulness and gratitude. It’s so important, we build an entire course about it.

Click to Download the Meaningful Life Checklist 

I’d love to hear from you and how we can support your work with students. 

All for the sake of kids,

Scott Schimmel
President & Chief Guide | The YouSchool

– Alain De Botton (B – 1969)
British-based author and television presenter

Thanks this week go to each of you, my family, my work family, and my community family.
Please pay it forward with gratitude!
Joy shared is doubled. Misery shared is halved. Can you share this with someone who might benefit?

Love all,
Neville

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest
appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.“
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

First and Foremost- Stay Safe Over Thanksgiving!
“In terms of risk, the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday couldn’t be worse…experts recommend a scaled-back Thanksgiving — with open windows, fewer people and a big serving of precautions,” writes the New York Times. Please protect your loved ones and remember the guidelines for safe gatherings. The Swiss Cheese defense below (from Australia hence the spelling variations) is a good model to share with your loved ones!

Making Sense of the Moment & Purging the System-
Ball of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)
Written in 1970, this Temptations classic is 50 years old but as relevant as ever, and be very cathartic if the power of music speaks to your soul.
Crank it up and dance like no one is watching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9poCAuYT-s

The Potentiality of Our Impact in the Short Time We are Here on Earth-
VINCENT VISITS THE GALLERY:
What would it look like if you were able to step back to the future and experience YOUR impact on the world, years or decades later?
Here is to living, loving, learning, leading and leaving your legacy…https://youtu.be/ubTJI_UphPk

Legacies are formed over time:
Thoughts à Actions à Habits à Character à Legacy or Destiny

So what is the one thing we could be doing now?
The One Thing:
Given the unprecedented times we find ourselves in, with climate emergencies, 100 year pandemics, economic debacles, racial reckonings, a divided country, etc., what is the ONE thing YOU think we need to be doing to meet this moment? I asked some of my beloved friends that I value as conscious, authentic leaders, and some of their responses follow. What do YOU think?
I would love to hear from YOU and share your responses in a future Soul Food Friday!

Foster Common Understanding- with Mehrad & Michele
The Latin word communis or communicare is the root word here which means to create something common; whether it is a community or a common understanding. This building process is through the energy flow between a sender (speaker) and a receiver (listener). Through this process of communication, the energy goes back and forth between the two and each time is amplified to create a better understanding and build a richer sangha (community).  But, what happens in a society where speakers are rampant, receivers are extinct and messages are false/unreliable? That is the birthplace of misunderstanding, division, conflict, and erosion of community.

Whether we are creating a community of conscious leaders, or scientists or simply a healthy family we need to learn the principles and laws that are governing such interactions (ie: trust, mindfulness, intention). 

My humble offering is to promote and elaborate these principles through Enlightened Negotiation: 8 Universals Laws to Connect, Create, and Prosper, so we can listen to understand. After a spoken word, we pause for five seconds or three breath to digest and then respond. Finally to honor truth, beauty, and love in all our interactions.
Love,
Mehrad 
🙏♥️🙏 PS: FYI: Michele happened to read my note and as a picky reader reminded us that one should remain open to the emergence of the next avatar. So, we agreed on this: …the “next buddha could be a sangha” IE. our shared communal wisdom will influence our future far more than any single charismatic or sage in the 21^st century…

Addressing Man’s Inhumanity to their fellow Man:
The AntiRacism Institute- with Hal D
It is time to face our Racial Reckoning head on
Btw, this program goes live this Sunday so check it out!

Unconditional Acceptance- with Mikel B
To completely accept everything as it is, to completely trust that everything is as it should be, & to experience joy in everything that we do!

Staying Present- with Dr. Paul C
Be Present 
Listen
Love

Love- with Kurt C
The one thing is right in your signature Nev
LOVE
Choose love 
Choosing love allows us to transcend ourselves
Sublimate ego for presence 
Raise awareness and consciousness to allow kindness humility and compassion to be our leading edge The issues are irrelevant to this challenge

A Part or Apart with Greg C:
I exist seemingly alone as a fragment, separate but interconnected with the whole. As an individual I feel a need, compelled really, to express my individual thoughts, gifts and passions. I stand alone as a “skin encapsulated ego” ( J Campbell) ready to assert my rugged individualism in defense of fear, distrust, hatred and divisiveness.   I am like you but separate. But, as an aspiring conscious leader, I ask myself how to incorporate a more balanced, unified view into my life by the way I operate. Is there a way to satisfy my yearning to be whole by honoring others’ truths without diminishing my own? is there a way to create a grounded space to speak truth with integrity thus honoring both parties? Is there a single One Thing I need to do?

I am possessed with a miraculous nature. There is no one I could not forgive or have compassion for if I heard their story. I can honor their uniqueness to the whole as I honor mine.
I understand that in my own reactivity I miss the truth. I can take every opportunity to connect and bridge the gap of separation.

Step 1. Stop, be silent and observe my own reaction to “the story of separation”
Step 2. Be still and know what is – deeply listen
Step 3. Let everything be as it is without judgement. Allow potential solutions to occur
Step 4. Bridge separation to wholeness. Call on your miraculous Spirit to guide you. Speak your authentic truth with heart.

I am comforted that my authentic truth expressed in even the smallest way will lead to change because of the interconnectedness of all things.

This change needs to come from my heart with the highest possible degree of moral congruency. I align in this way with that One Thing as part of All That Is.

Much love, Greg

Changing Our Electoral Process with Peter D
My one suggestion is that we change our system, where instead of having partisan States being in charge of the election process, we have The US Election Assistance Commission be in charge of the process. A non-partisan, non-govt agency as a third party being responsible for the election. This is being done in India, Canada, Mexico and Australia by third party entities, and it works to bring credibility to the entire process. The USA is currently ranked 37th out of 38th countries as having a credible democratic election process. We can change that and eliminate the potential of thinking that the elections are politically rigged.

Wise Speech with Ken B
To help heal the current great divide in America, I would teach and promote the practice of Wise Speech, a key tenet of Buddhism.
Indeed, when the Buddha reached the state of Enlightenment and laid out his Four Noble Truths, he observed that one could ease the inherent suffering in this lifetime by following the Noble Eightfold Path.
Among these, is the path of Wise Speech, sometimes known as Right Speech or skilled speech.

Wise Speech requires forethought, presence and vigilance, but it is the most effective tool I know to engage peacefully and lower barriers to meaningful dialogue.
Wise Speech requires that before speaking, in a situation where it’s important we be heard, we engage in the following internal inquiry about the words we are about to utter:
1. Is it kind? If you trigger the other’s defenses, you won’t be heard (i.e., no accusations, hooks, barbs, guilt pushing, blame, etc.). This requires good will and a compassionate heart, often expressed as an “I” message rather than a “you” message. Indeed, a partial explanation for the shift of middle American from ‘blue” to “red” is the resentment felt by blue collar workers, farmers and rural America from being “talked down to” by the Coastal elites. Condescension is unkind.
2. Is it true? Speak your honest truth about your feelings and beliefs (i.e., no fabricating, twisting, manipulating, hedging, sugarcoating, blaming, etc.). Truth, and the trust it engenders, are the foundations of Wise Speech.

3. Is it necessary? So often we throw words at someone, like a flycasting fisherman, hoping the receiver will bite, or simply because we decided it needed to be said. So ask yourself, honestly, is it really necessary for me to say this? Or am I expressing a thought or opinion, often out of frustration, which is unlikely to be heard and may be received as  hurtful or irritating?

A reading of various Suttas, the transcribed teachings of the Buddha, suggests two other questions should be added by the wise speaker:
4. Is it timely? Ask yourself, is this an appropriate time for me to speak about this? Sometimes, there are times to speak, and times to remain silent. For everything, a season.
5. What is my motive in speaking these words? So much that is said, need not be. Am I speaking from a place of ego in search of external validation? Am I seeking to ingratiate myself? Am I being retaliatory or passive aggressive?

It’s also important to note that “Wise Listening”, listening with your whole self and a kind heart is also an essential element of Wise Speech.

As with every one of the Noble Eightfold Paths, practicing Wise Speech is a process, requiring mindfulness and a desire to shift the usual dialogue from confrontation to comprehension, and then, perhaps, to real communication that can help heal wounds and promote understanding. I know of no better way to bridge the divide.

Thanks to each and every one of you for your contributions!

Finally…

Humble Bragging Rights-Mission Fed Named THE 2020 Top Workplace by The San Diego Union-Tribune!

I am so excited and proud to announce that in the last week, Mission Fed was named THE 2020 Top Workplace by The San Diego Union-Tribune AND won Spotlight Awards recognizing Diversity and Leadership! The announcements were made public in a special section of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Congratulations to ALL Mission Fed stakeholders; our member-owners, employees, community partners, and volunteer Board members for making Mission Fed a Top Workplace!

Heart(y) Congrats to ALL the other winners too… Culture Matters!!

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/twp/story/2020-11-13/san-diegos-top-workplaces-2020

Have a great week and do your one thing!
Thanks go to Barbara S-B, the Conscious Leaders group, Larry H, and the whole team at Mission Fed this week!

Pay it forward with civility, conscious leadership & culture.
Have a safe Thanksgiving!
Love all,
Neville

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?
And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
—Rabbi Hillel

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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

We CAN Get There from Here
By Ken D & Neville B

The most votes in a US Presidential election have been cast, with Donald Trump garnering more votes than any other candidate in the history of the United States, except for Joe Biden.

Now, results from a deeply divided country continue to trickle in, both at the top and through to the bottom of the ballot. As anticipated, about half our country has to absorb, make sense of, and adjust to present realities in our collective efforts toward charting our course forward in service of the future of our beloved but fractured nation. 

It is a proud testament to American democratic ideals that so many of us exercised our right to vote. That said, simply voting in this election, might in hindsight, turn out to be the second most important decision of our lifetimes, not the first as speculated by both sides during this lengthy, polarizing and divisive election season.

After nearly a week of excruciating uncertainty in the national ballot counting enterprise, the presidential election was called on Saturday. Within minutes of one another, news channels, on all the major networks and on both ends of the political spectrum, declared Joe Biden the President Elect. Now, headlines across America and some parts of the world will read either “Trump Loses”, or “Biden Wins”.

Whether you’re dancing in the streets in jubilation and relief, or find yourself in a state of abject disbelief, disappointment and despair, the decisions you and I will make in the coming hours, days and weeks, regardless of which side of the political aisle you choose to position yourself on will, in our opinion, turn out to be the most important decision we make with respect to the future of our country.

We see four basic choices:

First, if your candidate won, your default choice might be to gloat; self-righteously rubbing the noses of everybody on the other side, including family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and strangers in their frustration, humiliation and defeat. Exuberant expressions of victory are one thing.  Mean-spirited gloating is another.

Second, is the choice to feed that beast of rageful anger, despair and/or grief by taking up arms with conspiracy theorists and those who are determined to vengefully contest the election at all costs? Legal issues supported by evidence must always be explored, but contempt prior to investigation is something else altogether.

Third, is the choice to temperately and rationally determine if there is in fact, a substantial, legal basis for contesting and/or challenging the results of this election? There arguably will be claims, investigations and possibly even recounts in the most closely contested areas in the weeks to come. Based on the evidence, if nothing untoward is found, will the disaffected be willing to suspend their disbelief, moving forward constructively and accepting the reality of the results?

Fourth is the inspired choice to join those in your community and across the nation who are determined to co-create a positive path forward for our cherished democracy? Will we be willing to come together with diehard patriots from the other side who are equally committed to building a trans-partisan roadmap to begin the healing, reconciliatory rebuilding of our deeply divided nation? Would you be willing to roll up your sleeves to help till the soil of common ground on which we can build the kind of safe, just and prosperous nation we all want for ourselves, our kids, our grandkids and future generations?

Once again, the whole world is watching.  Particularly our kids, so let us lead by example.

When the “future you” is being held to account; either by our own selves, or by the next generation(s) and are asked point blank where you stood on those fateful days in 2020, and asked whether you chose to encourage the divided states of America or united states of America, what will you say?

The most important question of the day, today is, “How will you and I elect to get there from here?” We think it is crystal clear what will happen if we choose gloating and/or vengeance. Oppositional defiantly disordered liberals and conservatives can only contribute to the increased escalation of dangerously political civil unrest. Without self-regulation our worst nature spills out of our heads and hearts into the streets, society, and by extension into our government.

Choosing instead to allow the courts to weigh the evidence of any electoral wrongdoing, evaluate whether it was enough to materially change the results of this election, and as needed support the transition of power will help our nation find its best path forward from 2020.

We are a great democracy in the throes of a historic and evolving experiment to create a more perfect union. Let’s all take some time to process, decompress, and recover from the stress of this vitriolic election, while giving others the grace to do the same- all while staying COVID safe and characterologically strong in our collective resolve to set the table for America’s best possible future as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.  Please elect to support those who are doing what is best for America’s health and wellbeing, give our democratic institutions a chance to succeed, while personally modeling leadership by rolling up your sleeves and doing your part in voting America First. And let us ensure that our current leaders will follow suit.

We can get there from here. Please do the right thing. It is the right thing to do!

Speaking of Inspiring Veterans that were willing to come together with diehard patriots from the other side…

John McCain’s Concession Speech from the 2008 Election Has Gone Viral with Over 12 Million Views

Here it is (4 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Mba8ncBso

On a lighter note-
Brilliant Puns:

Thanks this week go to Ken D, Chris B, Bob C, and to all of you that serve and sacrifice for the betterment of humanity!
Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
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Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” – Thomas Jefferson to William Hamilton, April 22, 1801

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
–President Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865

“Don’t Let Me Down”

Lake Street Dive – [The Beatles cover]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPYm5cjP23Q

Voting for AMERICA- No Matter Who Wins:
As we sit on the cusp of this historic and divisive election, I wanted to share this Op/Ed that Dr. Ken Druck and I co-authored, and was published in The Hill in Washington DC the evening before the election.
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/523997-voting-for-america-no-matter-who-wins
If you agree with our premise, please share this and help us spread the word, so we can meet this moment in our nation’s history, and through our collective will chart a civil course forward for every generation that follows…
Love,
Neville (and Ken)

The Real Choice is Between Trump and John Dewey: “Democracy is not something you have, it is something you work on together.” He is not up for election, but it is in his spirit that I have now voted by mail: the great American philosopher John Dewey. With him as our guide, we can restore American democracy
By Tim Whyte, U.S. Citizen and Secretary-General of MS.

When I recently mailed in my vote for the upcoming US presidential election, I was caught off guard by doubts: Is this worth it? Will my vote be counted at all or will it be discarded by the army of lawyers who, after the election, will try to have as many votes as possible declared invalid? Does it still make sense to maintain my citizenship in a country where the democracy and ideals I hold dear are all but publicly abandoned?

My doubts are partly related to the fact that it took an alarmingly long time to even get my ballot this year. At first I thought it was probably just because of the many absentee ballots this year. But soon my concerns grew: could it be deliberately mislaid? I could see on the Oregon Electoral Office website that my ballot had been sent, but after more than a month, I still had not received it. Finally the ballot arrived and I got to vote. But I was left with a question that I think many Americans share: how did we get to this point, where my first thought is whether my vote will even count this year?

There are indeed many things that are unusual about the US election this year, but one of the most worrying is that so many ordinary voters on both sides have gradually lost faith in the most fundamental thing in the democratic toolbox, namely the ability to hold a fair election. And with good reason. The president has thundered against the voting by mail which will be used by many millions of Americans (mostly Democrats) during the COVID crisis. Now we have an ugly mix of heavily armed civilian militias at the polls, restrictions on how ballots can be returned in some states, and an army of lawyers who are trying to discount as many votes as possible.

Seen from Denmark, it may seem like a peculiar way to decide an election. It is. But it is important to remember that the history of the United States is, in a way, a long struggle to expand the right to vote. The founding fathers’ battle cry of “no taxation without representation” was more groundbreaking as an idea than reality. From the Civil War to women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement, Americans have since fought to be allowed to vote. But unlike many other democracies, the exercise of restricting the right to vote is still today an active part of the Republican Party’s strategy of maintaining power. During the 2000 election, Republican lawyers stopped recounting of votes in Florida, where several thousand votes were declared invalid. That was probably crucial to Bush winning the election. Even then, Republicans called it a fight against voter fraud. The good news is that trying to restrict the right to vote usually motivates people to fight even harder to be allowed to vote. The preliminary figures this year also show that a historically large number of voters will vote this year.

But even though the conflicts over suffrage are old, there is still something special this year. For one thing is certain: no matter who wins this year, there will be millions of Americans who do not recognize the result. It is a problem that goes beyond the election process itself and is about a deeper democratic crisis in the United States. And it is here that the United States’ version of Grundtvig and/or Hal Koch, the great American philosopher John Dewey comes into the picture.

John Dewey said of democracy that it is more than a form of government. It’s a way of living together. The more I look at my second homeland now, the more I think about Dewey and what we have lost. Many Danes associate the United States with the extreme individualism that characterizes the Republican Party in particular today. But it is a simplified picture of American culture, society, and history that ignores a far more community-oriented spirit that characterized most of the last century. John Dewey was absolutely central to this. He was the greatest American philosopher and intellectual in the first half of the 20th century, but he was also a social reformer who played a crucial role in building the public education system and understanding democracy and society. Much of what he said about the basic form of democracy shows exactly where the country is off track today.

Take, for example, the resistance to wearing a face mask, which viewed from Denmark seems completely incomprehensible and which, according to the leading American epidemiologist, has made the corona pandemic significantly worse in the United States. The president, along with many Americans, has made this out to be a matter of individual freedom. But Dewey would say they have completely misunderstood freedom. One of Dewey’s basic points is that freedom is not something we are born with or can achieve alone. It is something we achieve through collaboration with others. My freedom to take the bus, send my children to school, participate in society and generally stay alive in the midst of a pandemic is conditional on others wanting to wear a face mask, maintain social distance and practice good hygiene. To put it another way: freedom is achieved through community cooperation.

Dewey says the same about equality. And that, in turn, is quite revealing of the vastly different ways Americans view the major social movements, BlackLivesMatter and MeToo. Republicans are allergic to all talk of systemic racism or sexism because everyone is born equal in the United States and therefore it is a mockery of the country and their self-esteem to claim that people’s conditions are different. Aka AllLivesMatter. But Dewey would say that equality is something we create for each other. That we obviously are born with different preconditions and perspectives on life, and the task of society must be to ensure that everyone has the best possible opportunities for growth.

Fundamentally, the democratic crisis in the United States is not just about a single president or presidential election. It is about rebuilding the democratic culture of the United States. According to Dewey, democratic culture is first and foremost about three things: our ability to influence the small and large communities of which we are a part; the ability of those communities to help us reach our potentials, and last but not least, our ability to be able to participate in several communities and groups across the board. In all three areas, the United States has been challenged by the extreme economic inequality that has developed over the last 40 years. The political system is deeply dependent on money and has given many ordinary voters an experience that they cannot really influence it, no matter who they vote for. Social mobility has stalled in the United States, so the American dream is in reality far more accessible in Denmark than it is in the United States today. And the polarization in media, education, income levels, and even voting districts has become so extreme that the various communities and groups in society are virtually living in different countries. Developments in social media in recent years have only made the polarization more extreme.

This is not the country that I love and feel a part of – I can barely recognize it. But in choosing to hold on to my American passport, it’s because there’s another story about the United States that’s worth fighting for. In deciding to be hopeful and use my right to vote, it is because – as Dewey said – democracy is not something you have, it is something you work on together. That work is imperfect and unfinished, and that is exactly why millions of Americans continue to engage. Movements such as BlackLivesMatter, MeToo and the climate fight have in recent years inspired not only Americans but people all over the world. And that work continues.

Peaceful Protesters Social Media Kit:
I get that many of us will be upset with the results given the polarizing nature of the election and divisiveness in our country.
That said, here are some tips on peaceful protesting that might serve us all well.

Sky Art By Mother Nature

Thanks this week go to Ken D, Elizabeth D and The Future Design Society, The San Diego Non-Violence Coalition,  Charles B & Larry H.
Please pay it forward with civility!
Love all,
Neville

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