Happy Soul Food Friday,

–Sign in Our Neighborhood

This week:
Whether is it personal, political, educational or musical, there must be something that resonates for you!
Now more than ever, we must work tirelessly to influence, build and support a more just, equitable and humane society.
Silence is Compliance. No Bystanding!

 

What Can I Do?

STOP the CRUELTY with Eric K
Uncomfortable Conversations with Emmanuel Acho

 Political Implications:

America Needs Moral Leadership. Instead, We Have Donald Trump with Stephen Colbert
James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution:

The Role of Education:

Every Day Presents an Opportunity to Make a Difference with Teach For America ED Dr. Randy Ward

 The Power of Music:

The One Thing I Would Like to Say to the Whole World…Rehumanize Yourself! with The Police

 

Stop The CRUELTY!
I’m sad, mad, heartbroken and confused. And I’m frightened. Just like my clients, family, and neighbors I’m asking myself what to do? What to do?

I haven’t figured out great answers. And not figuring out answers really pisses me off. I’m used to having answers, and I have great skills for finding answers. So not figuring it out is frustrating and frightening.

What I have figured out, is that there is much cruelty around us. Marginalization and harassment is cruelty. Bullying and oppression is cruelty. And George Floyd’s murder is cruelty. That wasn’t justice, it was cruel. It’s one thing for a cop to restrain someone, I get that, but it’s another thing to hold someone until they go limp and choke to death. Cruelty is behavior that causes pain or suffering; but it’s also callous indifference to that pain and suffering. Cruelty shows up as racism, and also as anti-Semitism, xenophobia, chauvinism, and bigotry.

As a Jew, my DNA is laced with millennia of cruel persecution, harassment, and organized efforts to kill and eliminate my ancestors and family. I’m not alone in this. So are African Americans, Gypsies, Gays, Palestinians, Rohingya, and a painfully long list of targeted populations. Some cruel people act alone, some act in groups. And right here in the USA there is systemic cruelty in legal, educational, and financial systems.

No doubt you believe that you’d do something to stop cruel behavior. No doubt you’d stand up for yourself and others. But you’re likely deluding yourself. Marianne LaFrance, Yale psychology professor, asked a group of women, “How would you feel if you had a job interview and someone asked you really sexist, ugly questions?”

Almost everyone answered the way you and I would, something like: “I would walk out. I would give the person hell.” So she tested people. Her team set up interviews (the positions were attractive, but the jobs were fake), and interviewees were asked several sexist, ugly questions. Every one of the women interviewees was just silent. Every. One. Was. Silent.

How we believe we’ll behave, and how we actually behave in stressful, cruel, and demeaning situations are not the same. People behave much more meekly in reality than in their minds. And cruelty spreads and normalizes with each instance that we accept and tolerate. With each silent acceptance of pain and suffering we increase the presence of cruelty.

I’ve already said I don’t have great answers. But here’s what I’m thinking about and doing, and what I’m inviting you to think about and do with me.

Say something. I’m not willing to be a complicit participant when I see or hear cruelty. Meanness in the office, bullying in politics, and racism in the streets are cruel actions. Every silence emboldens the cruel. I can speak up with courage, yes. But I can also speak up from love, and I can speak up from my values of compassion, service, and collaboration.

Feel the shame. My feelings are guides and indicators. Feeling shame and remorse are signaling that there is a better version of me waiting to come forward. I won’t drown my shame and regret in rationalization or denial. Rather, these feeling marinate in my psyche and call forward my best self.

Don’t be cruel. I won’t cause pain and suffering to people around me. How can I tell? I watch people’s reactions to me. I will be more curious about their experience of me. I commit to not act with anger, malice, sarcasm, or bullying.

Black Lives Matter. I acknowledge the systemic cruelty of racism and am getting educated about the history and impact of slavery and oppression. Saying “all lives matter” is more denial. Yes, all lives matter, but we have to emphasize returning black lives to equality and dignity.

Vote. Trump is a cruel man who perpetuates cruelty. I’m not a registered Republican, but I’m aligned with some fiscal Republican positions. But Trump’s cruelty in his conduct and speech is perpetrating and perpetuating cruelty. There are better leaders to follow and emulate.

Practice love. I feel love, and I also practice love behaviors. Specifically, I practice compassion – doing something to relieve another’s suffering, and I practice deep listening – giving my full attention to someone.

I wish that every human brother and sister reach their potential and realize their dreams. And I wish that we all rise in consciousness and spiritual clarity. And this much I do know, the markers of spiritual evolution are never cruelty and oppression, the markers of spiritual evolution are always kindness and inclusion.

In the spirit of leading, learning, and loving.
Eric

 

Uncomfortable Conversations with Emmanuel Acho:
An opportunity for allies. Silence Is Compliance!
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=272134207491609&_rdr

 

After Days Of Unrest, America Needs Moral Leadership. Instead, We Have Donald Trump with Stephen Colbert:

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Well said!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuU-SHQljDQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0XKBHhltMIgXl_8zQIdL0rDyO2JwBAs7UkkSMtEYhM2k3BhHob716gsn0

 

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution:
I have the utmost respect for James Mattis. He is a warrior, not just a soldier. There is a difference…
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

 

Every Day Presents an Opportunity to Make a Difference with TFA ED Dr. Randy Ward:

Dear Teach For America San Diego Community,

It is with a saddened heart that we must continually address the injustice that so many of us have persevered over time. The recent protests remind me of those 1968 nights in Roxbury, a ghetto neighborhood of Boston where I grew up, when my brothers and friends stood on the corner of Blue Hill Ave and Dudley Street to watch the unfolding of the Roxbury riots after the assassination of MLK.  I was 12 years old at the time and unfortunately knew discrimination all too well as a young black boy growing up in a very racially divided Boston. That experience has shaped my entire life and dictated all that I wanted to impact in the brief amount of time I am afforded here in this world.

After 40 years in education struggling to create a level playing field for the students, schools and districts I have had the privilege to lead, I have come to understand that every day presents an opportunity to make a difference. That’s why I joined Teach For America San Diego as their Executive Director.  I understand that Teach For America truly has a “Superpower:”  Teach For America finds, develops, and supports exceptional and diverse leaders – individually and in teams – so they can transform education and expand opportunity with children, starting in the classroom.  That is our secret sauce! You are the secret sauce!  YOU continue to give me hope for light at the end of this long tunnel.

I look forward to our collective impact today, and every day into the future.

If you are seeking ways to learn or take action:

Donate

Black Lives Matter

George Floyd Memorial Fund

Black Visions Collective

NAACP

Reclaim the Block

Campaign Zero

Unicorn Riot

San Diego Community Fund (Bail bonds for protestors)

 

Self-Care 

• Self-care in the face of racial injustice from Therapy for Black Girls
• 4 Self-Care resources for days when the world is terrible from Colorlines
• Self-care for people of color after psychological trauma from Just Jasmine
• Black Lives Matter Meditations for Healing from Racial Trauma from Dr. Candice Nicole

 

Learn more

• Affirming Black Lives Without Inducing Trauma from Teaching Tolerance
• What Matters from Black Lives Matter
• Coverage of Criminal Justice on Colorlines
• Let’s Talk! Discussing Whiteness from Teaching Tolerance
• Anti-racism for White People: White People, You Gotta Do Work Now from Awesomely Luvvie

 

Support Students

• The Urgent Need for Anti-Racist Education from Education Week
• Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, Racialized Violence with Kids from the Center for Racial Justice in Education.
• Teaching About Race, Racism, and Police Violence from Teaching Tolerance
• Why Teaching Black Lives Matter Matters | Part I | from Teaching Tolerance
• Teaching Resources for Black Lives Matter School Week of Action from D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice
• Addressing Race and Trauma in the Classroom by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network

 

Take Action

• Follow Arizona-based Poder In Action on Twitter or Instagram for ways to organize and take action locally.
• Connect with a local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice
• Review Active Bystander Training from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University
• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice from Medium

Be well and be safe,

Randolph Ward, Ed.D. Executive Director, Teach For America San Diego

 

The One Thing I Would Like to Say to the Whole World…

Rehumanize Yourself!

The Police
https://www.google.com/search?q=rehumanize+yourself+by+the+Police&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS872US874&oq=rehumanize+yourself+by+the+Police&aqs=chrome..69i57.10719j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

He goes out at night with his big boots on
None of his friends know right from wrong
They kick a boy to death ’cause he don’t belong
You’ve got to humanize yourself

A policeman put on his uniform
He’d like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You’ve got to humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

I work all day at the factory
I’m building a machine that’s not for me
There must be a reason that I can’t see
You’ve got to humanize yourself

Billy’s joined the National Front
He always was a little runt
He’s got his hand in the air with the other *unts
You’ve got to humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

I work all day at the factory
I’m building a machine that’s not for me
There must be a reason that I can’t see
You’ve got to humanize yourself

A policeman put on his uniform
He’d like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You’ve got to humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

Re-humanize yourself
Re-humanize yourself

Thanks this week go to Eric K, Hal D, Arman S-B, Randy W and Ron M.
Please pay it forward with action not silence, with love and not indifference…
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change.
I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
–Angela Davis

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:
Our heartfelt support goes out to everyone dealing with the confluence of climate emergency, compounded by a 100 year pandemic, exacerbated by the sobering economic realities, and now serious social unrest.
Let’s stand with our Black brothers and sisters as well as all historically marginalized communities in the United States.
It is up to us to amplify the voices and ideas that will lead us to a more equitable society.
This has got to change, but it will require every one of us to step up!

 

Spike Lee Releases Chilling Short Film About Police Brutality:
Spike Lee released a powerful new short film about police brutality in America following the death of George Floyd. Protests have been raging across the United States in recent days since Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on his neck. Lee’s new film, 3 Brothers – Radio Raheem, Eric Garner And George Floyd, cuts together a scene from his 1989 film Do the Right Thing, featuring the death of Radio Raheem, with footage of Eric Garner’s death in 2014 and Floyd being arrested earlier this week.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/george-floyd-spike-lee-releases-chilling-short-film-about-police-brutality/ar-BB14RYNy

 

It’s the Twenty-First Century. Why is Everything Still So God@#$%^& Racist? Why Racism Still Defines Our Lives and Poisons Our Societies — And Why It’s So Hard to Unravel with Umair Haque

Why is America still so racist? There are easy answers — it was a slave state, then a segregated state. Just until a few years before I was born, “interracial marriage” was illegal in the great state of Virginia where I grew up. What would it have made of my marriage to a nice white lady? Would it have put me in prison, or her — or both? The easy answer: America’s still so racist because within the living memory of a middle-aged person it was still the world’s biggest apartheid state and we forget that all too easily.
https://eand.co/its-the-twenty-first-century-why-is-everything-still-so-goddamned-racist-5ea49ed03ed5?source=email-825f64e43327-1591011453141-digest.reader——0-73——————8944463b_bd36_414e_8c33_88dbe1d4269b-1-9149dc26_79a9_4ed9_8bf8_731be3e39b31—-

 

I Cannot Remain Silent

Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so by Mike Mullen, Seventeenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-cities-are-not-battlespaces/612553/

 

Do the Right Thing! How a City Once Consumed by Civil Unrest Has Kept Protests Peaceful:

Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, made no arrests and reported only minimal property damage during a weekend march.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/nyregion/newark-peaceful-protests-george-floyd.html

 

Shortening the Line:
Let me tell you the story of a Mughal emperor, Akbar, and his wise minister named Virbal. All the courtiers were jealous of Virbal because he was obviously the emperor’s favorite. They asked the emperor why: “What does Virbal have that we do not have?” The emperor promised to answer the question on some other day. One morning, as his courtiers arrived, the emperor posed a question to them. He drew a line on the board and asked them to “make the line shorter.” Easy! Everyone attempted to rush to the blackboard, and one of them managed to erase a part of the line.

The emperor said, “No, no. Shorten the line, but do not touch it!” Well, that was indeed a puzzle. Nobody could solve the problem. The emperor finally beckoned to Virbal to “come make my line shorter without touching it.” Virbal quietly got up, took a piece of chalk, and drew a parallel line:

_____________________ the emperor’s line

___________________________________________ Virbal’s line

“Your line is shorter, Your Majesty,” Virbal declared.

In the act there was no need to diminish the work of another, no need to compete. Virbal went deep within himself (this is meditation!) for the answer and devoted himself to the task at hand. Whoever is fully restrained, in possession of his senses and emotions, acts constructively and in all humility. Whoever learns from the wise will doubtless achieve “success without competing.”

–From Whole Hearted: Applied Spirituality for Everyday Life by Swami Veda

 

Growing Old:

As a respite from the madness and sadness, experience some sublime natural pictures and insightful thoughts on age & aging…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our heartfelt support goes out to everyone dealing with the confluence of climate emergency, compounded by a 100 year pandemic, exacerbated by the sobering economic realities, and now serious social unrest and protest.
What’s next? Locusts?
Oh yeah, we have them devastating crops and communities in Africa…
Stay Resilient People!

Thanks this week go to Mehrad N, & Larry H for this week’s submissions, as well as to Social Justice & Equity Warriors everywhere.
Keep the faith and please pay it forward… 

Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

 

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change.
I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
–Angela Davis

This week: The Science of Wellbeing, Women in Science & An Interview with God

The Science of Wellbeing:
Let’s Not Waste a Crisis. Here is Yale’s Course Available to All of Us For FREE!

You can engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits.

Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change.

You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

https://bit.ly/3gzSb0r

 

Women in Science

Women in science are battling both Covid-19 and the patriarchy:

The pandemic has worsened longstanding sexist and racist inequalities in science pushing many of us to say ‘I’m done’, write 35 female scientists. Successful female scientists are, by definition, resilient. We have overcome well-documented barriers throughout our lives: discouragement by teachers, family and society to pursue careers in STEM fields; a lack of role models; hostile and sometimes abusive work environments; disproportionate domestic work and caring responsibilities; and biases against us in favour of men in every aspect of our professional lives – hiring, promotion, publishing, pay, service loads and grant allocation. These barriers are felt even more keenly by women of colour, who face the intersectional effects of racism and sexism.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/women-science-are-battling-both-covid-19-and-patriarchy

 

I Dreamt I Had An Interview with God:
Here is something to uplift your spirit. Asking existential questions is a gift of this challenging time, a byproduct of disrupting “ordinary reality” or “business as usual”…If the G’d word bothers you, simply replace with a higher self/purpose construct of your choosing, as this is timeless, universal wisdom, with amazing photographs. This works just as well if you are simply “communing with nature”.
Here’s to that higher power/self/knowing/being- regardless of how each of us conceive it, believe it, & ultimately, strive to actualize it.

INTERVIEW WITH GOD

 

Thanks this week go to Ruby B, Isabelle A & Larry H for this week’s submissions!
Stay safe and please pay it forward.
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

‘When the Heart weeps for what it has lost, the Spirit rejoices for what it has found.’-Sufi saying

This week: Protecting Our Most Vulnerable & Taking Care of Each Other

Jokes aside, those of us that have raised children know the effort and undertaking required by all parties, to get to graduation.
Commencement ceremonies around the Country have been upended by Covid, and educators and parents are coming up with unique and creative ways to honor all the hard work that has led to graduations without “pomp and circumstance”.
Last weekend provided a national stage for a powerful celebration and genuine affirmation for so many that are entering uncharted waters, and these two short speeches in particular really resonated for me as I hope they will for you as well…

 

President Obama’s Speech to the Graduating Class
Obama’s Virtual Commencement Speech To Class Of 2020: ‘This Is Your Generation’s World To Shape’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta5anRPf8rQ

 

LeBron James’ Graduation Message to the Class of 2020: Stay Close to Home
LeBron James congratulates the class of 2020 in his Graduate Together commencement address, offering a message of inspiration as high school seniors around America look forward to their lives after graduation. In the celebration hosted by LeBron and President Barack Obama, LeBron encouraged students to recommit to their communities and set the world on a new path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjyLt9FhlE

 

Protecting Our Most Vulnerable:
Now more than ever, conscious leaders must deeply attend to their most at risk stakeholders. This is both a biological necessity and a moral imperative.
In work with Dr. Alan Daly from UC San Diego, we are supporting local school district leaders in navigating Covid while taking care of the most vulnerable in our communities.
The Emperor Penguins do this intuitively, forming a circle around their most vulnerable and forming a shield with their backs to ward off danger. Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from them!

Honoring Our Past and Preserving Our Future:
When we lose our connection to history we risk it all…
We would do well to acknowledge the land and pay respect to those of the First Nations on whose shoulders we are blessed to stand, instead of through ignorance and arrogance stepping on their heads!
Here is an example of both:

The Navajo Nation At Risk:
The largest Native-American tribe in the United States has the third largest infection rate of Covid-19 right behind New York and New Jersey..
Our dear friends created this video to raise awareness and support.
Please help by sharing this video with others, as they need help urgently…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s9pLNpKhlU&fbclid=IwAR3yVMM9OYw2TYR80JdMKKhkoNI1TI-x8LazcARIGyE4aangxNaEV-n5a7s

 

Speaking of Vulnerability-

No Words Needed…
The Wonderful Thing About Photographs Is That They Often Render Words Unnecessary…

Thanks this week go to Bob C, Alan D, Stefan Y-H, Larry H as well as preservers of tradition and protectors of the vulnerable everywhere!
Please pay it forward with purpose
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is life, fight for it.”

       –Mother Teresa

This week:

WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT:

An appeal to stay empathetic

I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.

For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate emotional, financial & family crisis.

Some can’t stand the loneliness. Others are going crazy because their World has become smaller. While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters.

With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.

Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.

Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend.

Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.

Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.

Some have experienced near death from the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don’t know anyone who’s had it and don’t believe this is a big deal.

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.

Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.

We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.

–Unknown author

 

Reasons to Be Cheerful:
Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?
This episode is not about the Covid-19 epidemic — unless you think it is…
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/reasons-to-be-cheerful/

 

The Choices Before Us: Can Fewer Options Lead To Better Decisions?
To many people, an abundance of options is a good thing, a symbol of freedom and control. You get to choose whether to spend your Saturday at a movie or a baseball game. You decide whether to try the new restaurant down the block, or to stay in and cook. It’s your call whether to take the job with higher pay, or the one with the better work-life balance. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has eliminated these and other options that we used to take for granted. And for many of us, this sudden contraction of choice has been a struggle.
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/04/850104564/the-choices-before-us-can-fewer-options-lead-to-better-decisions

 

Long Live Little Richard!
Little Richard has died, aged 87. BBC Archive will never tire of his 1972 interview on Late Night Line-Up.
This is a classic interview!
https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/2691775331059950/UzpfSTE0NTAyNTU3ODY6MTAyMjA2MDQ4MDA4OTcyMTI/?from_close_friend=1

 

Thanks this week go to Paul S, Dr. Paul C, Arman S-B, as well as gratitude to NPR and KPBS in San Diego!
Please pay it forward.
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“I felt in need of a great pilgrimage, so I sat still for three days.”—The 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz

This week:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”—Victor Frankl

Thank A Teacher!

 

Ticket Without A Seat:
This movie has won an Oscar for the best animated movie, yet it is only 3 minutes long
See how life can change when our perception changes…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlfqFe9xyd8

 

How to Assess Trustworthy Leaders During a Pandemic:
For people deciding which leaders to trust during the coronavirus pandemic, examine their arguments.
During this pandemic, two types of trust have been guiding how we motivate, impact, listen to, and influence one another: affect-based trust and competence-based trust.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-04-21/commentary-how-to-assess-trustworthy-leaders-during-a-pandemic?src=usn_tw

 

Are You In ‘the space between’?- with Carolyn Tate:

n Zen, Ensō is a circle drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes. It expresses the reality that everything that has a beginning also has its end. Some endings, such as the ending of a season occur gradually without us really noticing. Other endings, such as the loss of a job, are abrupt and traumatic and turn our life upside down in an instant. Yet other endings, such as the end of a marriage, occur slowly and painfully over time.

Absolutely everything that begins, has an end. Nothing is eternal. Some endings we choose. Many we don’t. Endings can be sad or joyful. They can offer relief or send us into despair. Nothing will stop an ending if it is meant to be. Endings occur because something new must emerge.

I think we all agree something new will emerge at the end of this virus, as does Charles Eisenstein, author of  The Coronation. It’s a most erudite and compelling essay that poses many questions and offers no answers. I loved every word and read it three times to let it sink in.

My good friend Angela Raspass loved the essay too, so we decided to record a podcast on it. I’ll share ‘Conversations on The Coronation: A woman’s perspective’ next week.

Now back to Ensō. Some are drawn or painted as closed loops, while others are left open as in the image above. Ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe and mu (the void). When I reflect on the void between the beginning and the end of the brushstroke, I think of the famous quote by Victor Frankl.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Right now, many of us are sitting in ‘the space between’.  In this space we can rest and reflect on how to respond once the virus subsides – as citizens for society and as business leaders for the economy. We can ask ourselves the important question. What purpose do I want to serve in this new world?

How are you sitting in ‘the space between’?

Thank you so much for allowing me into your life. I don’t take your support lightly.

Yours on purpose

Carolyn Tate

 

“Forget Retirement – It is Time for You to Uncover and Live Your Passion and Purpose -The Next You” with Marcy Morrison and Eric Mowrey:

My dear friends & colleagues, Marcy Morrison and Eric Mowrey of Careers with Wings have just launched their free online course “Forget Retirement – It is Time for You to Uncover and Live Your Passion and Purpose -The Next You”. This course consists of 3 videos that are less than 10 minutes each, with easy to use worksheets to help you get clarity of what you love, the difference you want to make, tips on how to connect and collaborate with other leaders and how to map it out to take action now.   This is built on Marcy’s 13 years of helping 100’s of people uncover and live their passion and purpose through Careers with Wings.  Here is the link to the free course https://careerswithwings.com/the-next-you/.

 

Think About Our 4-Legged Friends And Not Just On Giving Tuesday:
Giving Tuesday is past but the need hasn’t’…

It’s no secret that I love dogs.  And like many of my friends, we love helping them experience a better life.

Tuesday May 5 was more than just Cinco de Mayo this year.  Giving Tuesday is a day when each of us can reflect on our good fortune and give back in many ways.  Every day is a perfect one to donate and every dollar we send to any of them helps a four-legged friend in need.

Here are some links below to some options. I hope you elect to choose your favorite.

 

HOME FOR LIFE
www.homeforlife.org

 

SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY
www.sdhumane.org

 

LAB RESCUERS
www.labrescuers.org

 

RANCHO COASTAL HUMANE SOCIETY
www.rchumanesociety.org

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GERMAN SHEPHARD RESCUE
www.socalrescue.org

 

HELEN WOODWARD
www.animalcenter.org

 

COASTAL GERMAN SHEPHARD RESCUE OF SAN DIEGO
www.coastalgsrsd.org

 

SAVE THEM ALL
www.bestfriends.org

 

Thanks this week go to Larry H, Paula C, Carolyn T, Marcy M, Eric M & Bob C.
Please Pay It Forward.
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“The future is not the result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created – created first in the mind and will, and created next in activity.
The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.
The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.” –John Scharr

This week: Movement, Mindfulness, Mastery and Meaningful Connection
Laughter and Small Acts of Kindness can go a long way to keeping you well…

Reframing Challenging Times with Resiliency & Authentic Connection- Better Business  Bureau Webinar Recording from Last Week:

As several of you requested it, here is the YouTube link to the recorded BBB webinar from last week. Hope you find it useful as you navigate current turbulent waters and help yourself (self-care) and others (leadership) to plot a course to new ports of call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AYp3VmYvR8 

Upcoming Webinar: Leading Consciously with Purpose: May 7 at 1pm PST a Think Tank Mastermind of Business Leaders 

Leading Consciously in the post COVID era is not just a nicety but a necessity, as for most of our stakeholders their worlds have been upended. Intentionality and purpose are more important than ever. This requires leading both ourselves (self-care) and others with:

• Our Head which is about tapping into wisdom not just smarts
• Our Heart where empathy & compassion are at the center of every business model
• Our Gut which requires courage and fosters a bias toward right action

As leadership is a decision not a position, everyone- regardless of your role or even your enterprise- can be equipped to be a “right responder” to help forge a new future for your employees, customers, community, and the planet through the power and promise of ethical choices.

Please register here to lock in your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4DwtUB4-Tm-PSYxx9OmZ4g

Note: You don’t have to be a BBB member to register for these webinars. These are made available by the BBB as a public service to all leaders and organizations in the community.

 

Self-Care-
Be Kind To Yourself:

Today, where do you find yourself on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

I’ve been seeing so many friends seriously beating themselves up because they aren’t “maximizing” their time in quarantine by organizing their closets, repainting, developing a side hustle, becoming a piano virtuoso, exercising themselves into a lucrative career as a swimsuit model, etc.

Everybody! Seriously. Stop. And breathe.

If you’re feeling adrift, there’s a reason. I’m about to drop some first semester nursing school on y’all. It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Humans have basic requirements (the bottom of the pyramid) like food, water, air, shelter, sleep, etc. The biological basics.

If those are met, then the next rung of the ladder is Safety and Security. If we feel safe and secure, then we can climb up and start on our Love and Belonging needs and on up the ladder we go until finally at the very tippy-top is SELF-ACTUALIZATION which would entail all of the cool aforementioned activities.

The catch is, you cannot level up until the needs at the current level are fulfilled. If the needs remain unfulfilled, we remain stuck on our current level until the situation changes.

Friends, in the midst of a pandemic, we are dwelling in the basement of Maslow’s pyramid. How in the heck do you think you’re going to kick ass at the highest levels when we can’t even find toilet paper for Pete’s sake.

You physiologically and psychologically aren’t built to live your “best life” right now. Your only job is to live “a life” right now. A luxury that is being denied many which increases the pressure to really make every day count.

But listen.

Every day you are here counts.
Every breath you take counts.
Are you eating, drinking water, and sleeping at all these days? If so, that is a triumph right now.

Cut yourself ALL THE SLACK. Focus on the bottom level. Are you showering? Eating a vegetable once in a while? Getting some sunshine and fresh air? Keeping some semblance of a sleep schedule?

Start there. And be extra gentle and abundantly gracious with yourself. We’ll get through this. And right now, getting through is absolutely enough.

I love you all. Hang in there. ❤️

 

To this end, here are some self-care resources to help us get through and make the best of the weekend:

• Happiest Songs on Earth: With a Mathematical Formula
• Self-Care Bingo print copies and get your family/roommates involved)
• Work from Home Survival Guide -Self-Care Matters! No one is going to give you a badge of honor for sacrificing yourself and allowing yourself to run out of gas, in service of whatever or whomever has taken over your operating system.

Stay well…

 

Most Uplifting Songs List:

https://loudwire.com/queen-dont-stop-me-now-worlds-most-uplifting-song/

 

Self-Care Bingo:
Try this with your family or roommates.

In the same way that getting showered and dressed is a message to your brain, so is having a home-to-work commute, says the Asheville, North Carolina–based productivity expert Tonya Dalton, author of The Joy of Missing Out: Live More by Doing Less.

The best part is that now your commute gets to be whatever you want it to be.

“Sit outside with your morning coffee, listen to the birds,” she suggests. “Maybe take a walk, or read a chapter of a book, or do some yoga. Whatever it is, think of it as your transition time into working, the same as a commute would be.

The entire article can be found here: https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/your-work-from-home-survival-guide-for-self-care/

 

Now Here Is a Conscious Leader-

 New Zealand’s Prime Minister May Be the Most Effective Leader on the Planet:
Jacinda Ardern’s leadership style, focused on empathy, isn’t just resonating with her people; it’s putting the country on track for success against the coronavirus.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/jacinda-ardern-new-zealand-leadership-coronavirus/610237/

 

Finding Your Inner Strength with Erwin Pearl:

My Dear Friends,

For many years you have thought of me as a stylish gentleman who has brought you beautiful fashion jewelry.

It has been my great pleasure to have this role in your life.

But for this short time we must go through some tough times together and just for a few minutes I’d like to share some hope with you as your friend who has been fortunate enough to live a very long time.

By now you know exactly what to do to protect yourself physically from this new virus. Avoid crowds. Keep at least 10 feet apart. Stay inside your home as much as you can.

We know these things work.

They protect you and your friends and family.

But there is also an emotional toll we are all paying. Fear of danger and uncertainty. Fear for your livelihood. Upset at being kept cooped up away from friends and loved ones. Dread that this may never end. That’s what I’d like to talk about.

First of all I want you to know you are brave. It’s true. I don’t mean you aren’t afraid, concerned, confused. But even though you may not realize it yet, you have the inner strength to get up each morning and keep going. Human life has almost never been a nice smooth road. There have always been wars and famines and catastrophes. And it’s been that way for so long, that bravery and hope have become built in to each person.

Otherwise the human race would never have made it this far. Just would have given up.

One way to find that inner strength is to find things to hope for, things that mean something to you. Here’s something I know has meaning for you. You appreciate beauty. (I know that because you subscribe to my jewelry newsletter. Must be true.)

This is not the time to push your sense of beauty away. Instead, call on it to calm you and refresh you. Try that now. Whether beauty to you is paintings in a museum, vast trees in a park, wonderful music you love or beautiful things in the aisles of a fine store, close your eyes and go there just for a quiet moment. Leave the news and worry behind and, for
just for this whisper, travel somewhere beautiful. This is all going to be over.

Soon you’ll be going to the places you love just like before. No reason you should have to wait. Go there in your mind right now.
And in the calm you find there, you will find your inner strength, your survival.

You may think it’s easy for some old guy to talk about hope. But I think I’ve earned it.

When I was 14, I fled to America when the Nazi army marched into Austria, my homeland.

My parents put me on the train to Holland, from there to America to stay with my uncle.

My parents stayed behind because their visa was not called. They said they’d meet me in New York. When they didn’t come, didn’t answer, I grew afraid. Then when I was 15 ½ my Uncle passed away. I was alone. I feared for my future.

Didn’t know where my next meal would come from.

It was then I first found inner strength that I didn’t know I had.

I learned I shouldn’t keep focusing on big distant problems I couldn’t solve. That wears you down for no result. Just get up and place one foot in front of the other. Take care of what’s in front of you. Just keep going, just keep going, just move. Eventually, a kind man took me in as an apprentice diamond cutter, and I was on my way.

Even after that, life has given me challenges. I found my parents’ names on a list of victims of the Nazi gas chambers. I built businesses and lost them. Lost more loved ones. Stood on the roof of my office building and watched the World Trade Center fall.

Life is rarely perfect. But do I think it’s worth the trouble?

Yes! Absolutely yes!

I want to take a minute to talk about a simple but important worry some of you may have. What will happen to your job? I have to share something I know about my clients. About you. I know most of you are care about your work. Most especially, you care about doing a good job. This is what I want to tell you. When this quarantine ends, you’re going back.

How easy do you think it is to find people who really care about doing a good job?

Not easy. You’ll be back.

And to my friends who are a little older you’ll be back out with your friends and family, hugging your children and grandchildren.

Back travelling. Back at museums, theaters and concerts.

But for now, movies on Netflix and visits on Zoom will have to do.

History is filled with plagues and pandemics. This is just one more. And this time we are blessed to live in an era of modern medicine. Right now things seem confused because it’s just the beginning of the work.

But each day that goes by brings science closer to a cure.

Each day we survive the % are in our favor.

Please take care of yourself. I believe things are already starting to look better. But don’t go rushing out into crowded malls or clubs before your feel it’s safe. There are still joys and satisfactions big and small ahead of you in the years to come.

Stay well.

With my deep affection and love,
Erwin Pearl

 

Isolation Putting Some Stress on Your Relationships?
6 Easy Ways to Reset Your Relationship with Lisa Lapides Sawiki:
http://www.life-coach-san-diego-ca.com/relationship-stress/

 

Don’t hoard!
Our food calculator tells you how much you really need:
https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/FOOD/ygdpzjrwpwa/index.html

 

The Tenacity of Trees:
Every day is Earth Day

Thanks this week go to Vicente R, Deanna F, Elyce deB, Team Sawiki & Sanya D.
Please pay it forward so we don’t go backward!
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“If I can stop one heart from breaking I shall not live in vain.”–Emily Dickinson

Happy Soul Food Friday & Happy 50^th Birthday Earth Day!

“The Great Reveal”- Leveraging, Love, Conscious Leadership, and Resilience to Unmask Humanity’s Greatest Distortion & Manifest its Greatest Gift
“The greater the hiding, the greater the self-revelation”

Welcome to The Fourth Phase in Our Collective Evolution as a Species:
Phase 1-  Beyond Conscience (Primero Ne’)- our first birth whether by creation, evolution or both
Phase 2- Dependence (FATE/Destiny) – Came with our reliance on “high priests” of many stripes to decode truth for us, and leaving us dependent on their erudition and validation. “Conform or be cast out.”
Phase 3- Independence (Renaissance/Free Will)- our self-reliance to find and hold our own truth. Our Promethean nature thought we had it all figured out and our quest for fire branded us both evolutionaries and heretics
Phase 4- Interdependence (Love, Global Awareness & Eco- Consciousness) in the post COVID era, portends our inextricable reliance on one another to not just survive as a “superspecies” and planet but thrive. We recognize implicitly that we are better together. Antiquated mechanistic models of yesteryear are replaced with dynamic living systems theory. Ego-systems take a back seat to eco-systems. We > Me.

Note: Each phase had its adaptive and maladaptive function and features, that rightly understood and applied leads to continued evol-ution (love spelled backward) or improperly considered assures our continued MAD-ness and likely extinction (MAD- mutually assured destruction)

In phase 4 the great reveal is making it abundantly clear how interdependent and interconnected we are. And how self-centered tribalism while highly adaptive in smaller groups and different times is untenable with more than 7 billion people requiring huge resources that are quickly outstripped by demand and inequity.
Today’s confluence of conditions; climate emergency, economic disparity, mass migrations, and now a pandemic reestablishes what is “normal”, demands that we wake up and shed the old and dated view of our skin of self (wrongly identified as just us in individual or localized communal form) and ties us unequivocally on the same rope- which we can either use to pull ourselves up and out of this crevasse, or use to hang ourselves.

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately”- Ben Franklin

If/when the lessons, principles, practices and re-orientation of humanity hits critical mass, there will be no turning back to our ego-centric ways.
All of a sudden, the world was no longer flat. Bloodletting was not a best practice anymore.

Leading with head (wisdom not just smarts), heart (empathy/compassion) and guts (a bias toward right action) we will forge a new future for humanity and the planet, as soul subordinates ego and our new, deeper, more congruent and more accurate identification of self, unleashes our greatest potential and gifts. Love conquers fear, faith slays doubt, hope supersedes despair and herstory is rewritten for the better. Then and only then may we consider ourselves a superspecies (which I find arrogant, regardless)…

“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire!”–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

World Care-

 One World Concert Finale: Let This Be Our Prayer
I can’t think of a more apt prayer/aspiration for our whole world today…
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=one+world+together+last+video&docid=13844920218950&mid=72DE6390AA4147225DEE72DE6390AA4147225DEE&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

 

 

Wouldn’t It Be Nice If We Recommitted to the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
When Will We Ever Learn?

Great Advice for Difficult Times: with Ozlem Brooke Erol:

😊to live life one day at a time 😊.

Otherwise it gets overwhelming. We don’t have all the answers yet. So it does not help to think so much about the future.

Here are other parts of my life here that help me:

💖Being surrounded by heart-centered people who are constantly working to bring humanity to a better consciousness level in my #humansfirst #greatworkcultures Future of Work Türkiye communities give me hope.

⭐️#purposeful living helps tremendously because even if we don’t have business coming in, we know what we are here to do. It keeps our minds and hearts busy. We pivot and see how we can be helpful in these times.

♥︎We all feel #grateful even more if all our loved ones are safe and healthy.

This is a picture I took in November when I was up in Morro Bay. It gives me peace to look at it.

I hope you love it too.

💙Thank you for making my life better by being here, sharing amazing valuable stuff, tagging me, including me in your meaningful conversations and even sharing what you learned from me. You keep me grounded and safe. 💙

Addressing the Strain the Coronavirus has put on America’s Food Supply Chain with José Andrés- 60 Minutes

Getting food to people in the U.S. has become an enormous challenge since the country has been gripped by COVID-19. Anderson Cooper reports on the charge being led, in part, by world-renowned chef José Andrés to make sure Americans have something to eat.

Andrés approach, speed to market and impact are completely awe inspiring!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-andres-chef-feeding-coronavirus-impact-60-minutes-2020-04-19/

BTW in the same vein, our Mission Fed Matching Grant Campaign for the San Diego Food Bank, has already raised

$280,000!

Thank YOU San Diego!

 

Self Care-

Getting Back Pain While Working From Home? An Ergonomics Expert Offers Advice
Don’t wait until it is too late!
https://time.com/5821252/back-pain-work-from-home-tips/

Zoom Exhaustion is Real.
Here Are Six Ways to Find Balance and Stay Connected
https://www.mindful.org/zoom-exhaustion-is-real-here-are-six-ways-to-find-balance-and-stay-connected/

Wonder-
Seeing the World Anew and Hearing the World for the First Time:
Ready?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwGtw6EHbUQ

 Comic Relief-

Thanks this week go to Brooke E, Tamika F and Larry H for some of this week’s contributions.

Would you consider paying this forward?
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

“Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp,
but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne

Greetings!
Rather than simply obsessing over the unearthly challenges and problems associated with the COVID pandemic, I am hell bent on seeking out the deeper lessons, both for us as individuals and our families, as well as for all of humanity. This means reframing and retooling our mindset, heart set and skill set for current times.

At home, it is about creating some semblance of normalcy while navigating the disruption of all our familiar routines and outlets, and addressing the close quarter social pressures most of us are facing.

At work, it is about effective communications, maintaining positive morale, and ensuring we are giving back to those who have it a lot tougher than we do.

In community, it is about staying virtually connected with all the social networks and groups that have contributed to our betterment and ensuring we support those that are taking care of us, including our first responders in all walks of life, including our educators, and the nonprofit organizations that strengthen the social fabric of even our most marginalized stakeholders, especially in times of need.

To that end, please join me next Wednesday, April 22 at 1pm PST, as part of the Better Business Bureau Webinar Series, where I will be hosting a zoom webinar on Wellness Wednesday-taking care of yourself and your business, entitled: Reframing Challenging Times with Resiliency & Authentic Connection

https://www.bbb.org/article/events/22100-bbb-pacific-southwest-wednesday-wellness-reframing-challenging-times-with-resiliency-authentic-connection

Resiliency and effective communications are new meta-competencies in the post COVID era. This wakeup call has helped us to recognize implicitly that we are better together. Antiquated mechanistic models of yesteryear are replaced with dynamic living systems frameworks. Ego-systems have taken a back seat to eco-systems.
We > Me.
Today, there is no turning back, any more than when we realized that the world was no longer flat, or when we realized that bloodletting was not a best practice anymore…

Now we must:

• Retool new resiliency and new connection systems
• Redesign how we foster authentic connection- often virtually
• Reimagine our work selves & workspaces

Together let’s reframe these challenges and turn our stumbling blocks into stepping stones to a brighter future, both for ourselves and our valued stakeholders.

Please register here to lock in your spot and add to the conversation: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lUY3sji3QDC8gC6EcGUgqQ

Note: You don’t have to be a BBB member to register for these webinars. These are made available by the BBB as a public service to all leaders and organizations in the community, far and near.

As part of navigating how we show up better in the post Covid era, I stumbled upon this fantastic article in The Atlantic that I felt compelled to share with you, especially if you have filed a similar flight plan to mine.

Here Arthur Brooks cites three powerful equations to help us both understand and enhance our happiness or “subjective well-being”.

What are the components of happiness and what role do genetics, circumstances and habits play in that equation?
What habits serve us best? Do faith, family, friends and work play instrumental roles in our happiness?

What is the role and purpose of our work which Arthur defines as productive human endeavor and “the sense it gives you that you are earning your success and are serving others”?

Is satisfaction based on the relationship between what you have and what you want?

If you want to regain more control over your circumstances, and move the needle toward happiness and fulfillment both for yourself and others, then this article is for you.

The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic:

“How to Build a Life” gives you the tools you need to construct a life that feels whole and meaningful with Arthur C Brooks

We’re stuck at home; our lives on COVID time have slowed to a near halt. This creates all sorts of obvious inconveniences, of course. But in the involuntary quiet, many of us also sense an opportunity to think a little more deeply about life. In our go-go-go world, we rarely get the chance to stop and consider the big drivers of our happiness and our sense of purpose. Here is a fantastic article based on a class on happiness that Arthur teaches at Harvard Business School…

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/04/how-increase-happiness-according-research/609619/

 

For Leaders-

LEADING THROUGH A CRISIS with Jon G:

We’ve been through challenging times before, but we’ve never been through THIS before. There is no playbook on how to deal with a global pandemic combined with a shutdown of the economy. There are, however, guiding principles on how to lead through a crisis, regardless of the cause. These principles don’t change based on the circumstances. They steadily guide you and your team to help you overcome your circumstances.

1) Tell the Truth and Communicate the Facts – In any crisis it’s essential for the leader to be honest and transparent about the situation. Explain the challenge you are facing. Communicate the facts. This is what we know. This is what we don’t know. This is where we are as a team, company or organization. These are our numbers and forecasts and while they don’t look good, we must confront the reality of the situation. I’ve found that even if you communicate bad news it’s still better than the negativity and uncertainty that comes with poor communication.

Remember, where there is a void in communication negativity will fill it. And whatever you do don’t sugarcoat the situation or lie. I once saw a superintendent of a school district get a standing ovation even though he had just announced that they were having to lay off 10% of employees. He spoke with compassion, he shared the facts, was always truthful and had earned their respect.

2) Lead with Optimism and Belief – Even when you are in the middle of a crisis and your circumstances are not positive you must stay positive and lead with optimism. After all, pessimists don’t change the world and neither will you if you let your circumstances define your attitude. This doesn’t mean you ignore the reality of the situation. It means you believe you will find a way to overcome your situation. Leadership is a transfer of belief and the optimism and belief you share with your team plays a big part in how you work together to overcome adversity.

3) Share the Plan – When Alan Mulally took over as the CEO of Ford in 2006 they had lost 12 billion dollars. He turned the company around in a few short years and many say it was one of the greatest leadership feats in history. He told me that everyone had to know the plan, embrace the plan and relentlessly work towards the plan. It’s essential that, as a leader, you share the plan and explain why the plan will work and how it will be executed. This brings clarity and clarity leads to focused action. As I think about what our country is going through, one thing I would like to see is a comprehensive plan that explains how we will restart the economy while saving lives. I suspect it is coming soon and it will be very helpful when it does.

4) Point Towards a Positive Future – After you tell the truth and communicate the facts, share your optimism and plan to succeed, you then want to share a vision of what success looks like in the future. “Yes, this is where we are now. This is our situation. But here is where we are going. This is what we are working to create.” What success looks like for each team and organization is different. The key is to define it and share the vision with your team. We all need something to hope for and work towards and when you share a positive vision for the future it engages, ignites and rallies your team to create the vision together.

 

For Educators-

Three Core Principles For Higher Education As It Prepares For Its Pandemic-Uncertain Fall

• Share Best Practices
• Stay Close to Students
• Focus On Competence

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/04/09/three-core-principles-as-higher-education-prepares-for-its-pandemic-uncertain-fall/#701dea53348f

 

“The world without music would be a mistake.” -Nietzsche

Music to Make Up for Easter and Passover Restrictions:
Andrea Bocelli- Music For Hope – Live From Duomo di Milano
https://youtu.be/huTUOek4LgU

 

Humor-
Subject: Dealing with Sequestration:

I used to spin that toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I’m cracking a safe.

I need to practice social-distancing.  From the refrigerator.

Still haven’t decided where to go for Easter —– The Living Room or The Bedroom

PSA: every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.

Homeschooling is going well. 2 students suspended for fighting and 1 teacher fired for drinking on the job.

I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks we’d go from Standard Time to the Twilight Zone

So, after this quarantine…..will the producers of My 600 Pound Life just find me or do I find them?

Quarantine Day 5: Went to this restaurant called THE KITCHEN. You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue how this place is still in business.

My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I pee it cleans the toilet.

Day 5 of Homeschooling: One of these little monsters called in a bomb threat.

I’m so excited — it’s time to take out the garbage. What should I wear?

I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to Puerto Backyarda. I’m getting tired of Los Livingroom.

Classified Ad: Single man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good clean fun.

Day 6 of Homeschooling: My child just said “I hope I don’t have the same teacher next year”…. I’m offended.

Better 6 feet apart than 6 feet under!

Thanks this week go to the BBB, Arthur B, Devin V, Larry H, Bob C and Charles B for touching our head, heart and soul!
Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation,we shall harness for God the energies of love.
And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire!”–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

This week:
Getting into the Positive

Who Do I Want To Be During COVID-19?
This helped me take stock of my options and pick which Neville is going to show up…

Use Me with the Delectable Bill Withers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE

SURVIVE AND ADVANCE with Jon G:

The NCAA basketball tournament is normally held every March and it’s called March Madness. While they didn’t host the event this year because of the Corona Virus, we certainly experienced our own different version of March Madness.

Every text and email and conversation with friends and clients seemed to begin with, “This is crazy.” It felt like we were living in a bad movie experiencing a surreal moment that made you confront the reality that this isn’t a game or a movie, but life as we know it. Each morning I woke up wondering if it was just a bad dream only to turn on the news and understand the seriousness of this situation.

The goal of basketball teams during March Madness is to survive and advance. Teams want to somehow, someway make it through one round to advance to the next. How they do it doesn’t have to be pretty. They may not play their best. They may not thrive. They just want to win the battle today to give themselves a shot to compete in the next round where they hope to adapt and ultimately thrive.

From a physical standpoint it’s the goal for all of us in April and the upcoming months. We have a new version of a virus that we haven’t experienced before. The goal, if you get it, is to survive with a strong immune system, win the battle today, advance and allow your body to adapt (develop antibodies) so you can ultimately be stronger and thrive in the future.

From an economic, business and career standpoint for most of us the goal is the same. This year is likely not going to be great unless you are a grocery store, Amazon, Wall Mart, and make toilet paper. The goal is to find a way to survive so you can advance. As you advance you can then adapt and seek to thrive in the future.

Survive. Advance. Adapt. Thrive.

It’s going to look different for each of us depending on our job, company, industry, situation etc. But the goal should be the same and I hope these four words help you. I keep saying them to myself each day as I take on this challenge with you.

If you watched my Positive Summit video I talked about The Shark and the Goldfish that I wrote during the great recession about my experience losing my job during the dot.com crash. It’s the story of a goldfish that has always been fed. He gets brought to the beach and a wave of change hits and takes the goldfish back into the ocean with it. He must learn how to survive, advance, and adapt so he can thrive. He meets a nice shark that teaches him how to find food and how to adapt so he can ride the wave of a change to a successful future. It’s a story for this time.

We’ve been hit by a massive wave of change. For most of us this is not a year that we are thinking about thriving. For many we are just trying to keep our head above water, pay our bills, feed our family, teach our kids, keep our homes, deal with the fear and anxiety, stay healthy and make it to another day.

In this spirit, let’s look at the ocean of possibilities and maintain optimism and hope. Optimism is not a supplemental way to think. It’s an essential way to think to overcome adversity and waves of change.

Let’s look for ways to survive and be creative and innovative so we can advance and adapt that will allow us to thrive once again in the future.

Through this process when we look back on this time we’ll learn that surviving allowed us to advance, our discomfort lead to our growth, the change made us adapt, and adapting made us stronger which helped us thrive as a result.

-Jon

P.S., If you’d like us to send you a daily positive message to help, sign up for free at DailyPositive.com

When The Motor Stops:
With СОVID-19 spreading in Michigan, ad agency Doner, headquartered in Detroit since the 1930s, chose to send a message of strength and resilience to its city in the form of its new video
https://youtu.be/W7C1GAPsPbI

The F-Virus with Prince Ea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBi85WjeDyg&feature=youtu.be

Helping leaders in college reboot with Seth Godin

We’re announcing a free intensive today, especially for people who are finding their college journey disrupted right now.

If you know someone in that situation, I hope you’ll forward this on to them.

We’re looking for some students ready to leap forward. To shift from education to learning, from following to leading, from holding back to leaning in.

The months and years after school are often fragile. The pressure is on, trajectories are being set, and most of us were probably without a clue. Doing that in the middle of this disruption has to be significantly harder, and we’re trying to help.

The typical reader of this blog skews older than that, but you might know precisely the right people for this program.

It’s a five-day sprint, a virtual program with daily zoom calls, an insane amount of group work and a shift toward a posture of possibility.

You can see all the details and the application here.

 

We can all be Right Responders, we can ALL Make a Difference:
Mission Fed set up a dollar for dollar match up to $50,000 to the San Diego Food Bank to support those struggling with adequate access to food in our community.
As of this writing we have already raised $79,765, thanks to generous support but the need remains mission critical! Here is a spot to get the word out:

 

Click the link below to donate any amount and help support fellow San Diegans.

 

 

Have you been watching Tiger King?
Would You Be Willing to Be An Animal Angel?

My wife and daughter belong to a wonderful organization called Lions, Tigers and Bears, a sanctuary for, you guessed it, Lions, Tigers and Bears!

Long story short, the organization is run by founder Bobbi Brooks – who serendipitously discovered that a huge exotic animal trade exists in the USA.  Bobbi uncovered this while looking in the “For Sale” section of New York newspapers years and years ago.  She was a restaurateur looking to purchase restaurant equipment and below “R” for restaurants she kept noticing under “T” – Tigers for Sale.  She became curious, started investigating the situation and here we are many, many years later.  Very importantly, Bobbi has been instrumental in passing legislation to end private ownership of exotic pets. Read more about Bobbi here: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/meet-the-team  

So, to continue the story, Bobbi started rescuing privately owned exotic animals kept in terrible conditions and now has a beautiful 93-acre facility that houses more than 60 exotic animals in Alpine – just a short drive on Interstate 8 east.  When Bobbi uncovers an exotic animal that is kept as a pet, she firstly tries to place the animal in a zoo or other appropriate environment – but when that fails, she brings the unplaceable animal to Lions Tigers & Bears.  In fact, she has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles across the USA to rescue animals transporting them to Alpine in a trailer!  What I like so much about this shelter is the no touch, no breed, no kill policy.  Her facility is not a money-making amusement park, rather it is a last chance sanctuary and forever home for these exotic animals who would otherwise be euthanized.  Learn more about her sanctuary here: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org

Fortunately, these rescued animals have amazing habitats – spacious with pools and plenty of food to eat.  I’m sure you can imagine the cost — $20,000 a month! Lions, Tigers and Bears do have fund-raising events which as a family, we have enjoyed.  But, of course, these activities are suspended during COVID-19.  As such, I am asking you today for a donation.  Any amount that you can give will be a benefit.  Also, rest assured that 100% of what you give goes directly to food and shelter.

Please visit their website to learn more: https://www.lionstigersandbears.org .  And check out the amazing and beautiful animals.

My favorite animal is Bakari https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/our-animals/lions/bakari – the lion – such a handsome boy! Aysha, the future Anthro-zoologist, her favorite is Meatball https://www.lionstigersandbears.org/our-animals/bears/meatball – the bear.  Such a great story about Meatball. Thank you.  Be well!  Love Barbara and Aysha

You can donate here if you are so inclined: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/LTB/BarbaraSedgwickBillimoria

 

Bill Withers of ‘Lean On Me’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ fame dies at age 81 from Heart Complications:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lean-on-me-aint-no-sunshine-singer-bill-withers-dies-at-age-81-2020-04-03?mod=nextup_bomw

 

 

Thanks this week go to Vicente R, Bob C, DJ K, Barbara and Aysha SB, Michelle G, and the inestimable soul brother Bill Withers!
Please pay it forward.
Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“When your legs are tired, walk with your heart.”—Paulo Coelho