My friend Roger Saillant has written a powerful book (The Power of Being Seen) about his experience growing up in the foster care system and eventually “aging out” of that system. Labelled by the system as "low potential", he was placed on a midwestern subsistence farm. His later life belied the label the system gave him and details the power of those few people who took the time to see him. Roger and I met when he was a Ford Motor Company top executive. His purpose in writing the book is to help each of us realize the power we have in seeing a child, or any other human being who is experiencing erasure, invisibility, who is caught in a system that can’t see them and their potential. In this video he is responding to questions from community members who have read his book.
The one things all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you are going, and above all, being grateful.
We may think it's our strengths that help people connect with us but, Brene Brown helps us see how it's our vulnerabilities, our human side which forms connections with others. Sometimes, I think of the vulnerability she talks about as being emotionally transparent. However you think about it, I hope you find her words encouraging and thought provoking.
This Springsteen piece (“as the old folks say you never can tell”) is a fun example of a group of people willing to try something new for the first time, together. In front of the crowd. And willing to admit when they are a little ambitious. But still forging ahead. Teaching each other, and letting the crowd teach them. Springsteen’s closing words:”We just made it up out of nothing.”
"When you now your why, your what has more impact because you are walking into or toward your purpose."- Michael Jr.
What three words that capture your why?
In what ways could you bring your 'why' to your 'what'?
Shawn Achor at Ted on the Happiness Advantage, notice the 5 steps for 21 days to reorient your thinking, that he provides at the end of his talk.
With humor, self-disclosure, and wisdom that continues to change lives, Jerry Harvey leads us through his famous work on the Abeline Paradox—how we tangle ourselves up by not admitting what’s on our mind.
Diébédo Francis Kéré knew exactly what he wanted to do when he got his degree in architecture... He wanted to go home to Gando in Burkina Faso, to help his neighbors reap the benefit of his education.