Good day!  Wishing you and yours a lovely fall season.  For this issue, we highlight several topics.  First, naming the western structure of time as a social construct, not any more real than others.  Next, the tools to dissolve polarization within close quarters.  Third, resources to support collective resilience through conflict.  And finally, a reflection on the value of expanding the highest definition of intelligence beyond the cognitive and abstract. Regards, Birju

The Tyranny of Time

"A clock does not measure time; it produces it." This essay traces the roots of western conceptions of time, names what is lost in obeisance to it, and identifies ways to expand our relationship to time. Read Full Story »

How to Overcome Toxic Polarization

How did everything become polarized? The for/against dichotomy has taken center stage and nuance has been asked to leave the room. The author of a recent book on the topic describes his research. His number one suggestion? Mixing groups, and creating containers where we can ask genuine questions of each other, to connect in our humanness. Read Full Story »

Conflict Resilience Resources

The Transition Network, which has been focused on supporting a movement away from unsustainable communities, has put out a document to support conflict management. They found in their work that moving towards harmonious community cannot simply be about energy and material use, it must include tools for relating. They specifically name the difference between conflict resolution and conflict resilience, and why the latter is meaningful to engage with. Read Full Story »

A Smarter Way of Thinking About Intelligence

Why is one particular intellectual capacity valued over so many other worthy qualities, like compassion, honesty, courage, and common sense? This essay in Boston Globe dives further into the research and ramifications. Read Full Story »

Be the Change

Thanks for sticking this far!  Here is where we are invited to put words into practice.  Take on a practice to shift/expand your relationship to time; invite a space (even amongst 2?) to dissolve polarization; turn towards a conflict in your life, with intention of collective resilience.  Any reflections?  Please reply and pass along!