2015

Wow. 2015 was quite the year! My heart swells with gratitude for its blessings.

I turned 40. Big deal. Big party. It was so good to have so many friends from so many parts of my life brave the Boston Snowpocalypse in order to have a good time.

Mr. Tom Tan, my father-in-law, crossed over to the realm of the ancestors where we trust that he rests in peace and continues to watch over his beloved daughter and grandson.

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No More Silos

When I say that culture leads, that it is the most important lever of change, I’m not usually talking about the MoMA. But I do trust there is culture there, I do see a barometer in that space, I do like to visit and experience that sort of museum art.

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Gibran Rivera93-123
An Evolving Relationship

Today marks my last day at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. This has been my professional home for the last 10 years. IISC is the community that has shaped me and my capacity to fulfill my life’s purpose. I am eternally indebted to this place. This is the platform that has allowed me to make my contribution to our quest for liberation. I leave with love, appreciation and commitment to our evolving relationship.

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SEED Summit

I just facilitated the Rauschenberg Foundation's SEED Summit and I found it truly refreshing work. Artists bring a different energy to the work of collaboration. They have an intuitive understanding of our inherent capacity to create. Most of these artists are not explicitly movement artists, they are not explicitly committed to social justice. It might sound strange but this too is refreshing. I am appreciating time with people who share my values but live outside of my echo chamber.

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Wild Dreams

We did it! The first-ever Evolutionary Leadership Workshop was a remarkable success. It was the landmark experience that we meant for it to be. Participants launched their projects, they committed to an experimental approach and they dared to take their dreams out of their heads and into the world.

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Grace Lee Boggs

We lost Grace Lee Boggs this week and our world feels a little bit smaller. But I try not to lose sight of the nurturing presence of our ancestors and I feel strong again when I know that she is among them.

I cannot say much that hasn’t been said about the life of this true American [R]evolutionary. I can say that her wisdom has shaped some of the most important aspects of my life and how I choose to live.

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Breathing Patriarchy

I was overcome by shame when I read this piece on the experience of women in our culture - It was easier to give in than keep running. My heart aches with the awareness of my role in perpetuating patriarchy. You don’t have to be a rapist to be part of the problem. We swim in a patriarchal ocean, patriarchy is found in every crevice, it threatens to define each of our micro-interactions. We practice patriarchy with our gaze, with the energy that we bring into a room, with the sexualization of a friendly smile.

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Waking Up

Eleven years ago today I had an encounter that changed my life forever. The glance of a spiritual master led to an awakening experience that is still unfolding within me. It was an initiation so far outside my realm of possibility that it took two years and the breakdown of my life for me to begin to come to terms with it.

I am still learning the lessons that come with that unlocking... 

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