Eighty-year-old Janey Cutler is the newest singing sensation on the talent circuit. Check out her performance in week four of the Britain’s Got Talent competition here.
Collaboration: An Endangered Competence?
By Jim Selman | Bio
I cannot remember having experienced or even having read about a time when there have been so many “extremes” co-existing in terms of political points of view and ways of understanding the world. All seem to simultaneously have the quality of being both ‘life threatening’ AND intractable. Whether we’re discussing climate change, social justice, lifestyles, civil rights, the economy, our political process or the price of oil, everyone seems to have a strongly held point of view without much evident interest in learning or working toward some common resolution of our differences. It would seem collaboration is fast becoming extinct—an endangered competence.Collaboration isn’t the same as compromise or negotiation. Collaboration is not about winning an argument or making the strongest case for a particular point of view. Collaboration is grounded in the simple notion that we can’t accomplish something alone. To collaborate means to accept and value our differences, rather than attempting to homogenize our thinking into some sort of bland agreement. Collaboration, like coaching, is primarily a process of creative
The Gulf: Captured By Our Creations
By Jim Selman | Bio
We’re all witnessing the horrifying disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of us are running the gauntlet of emotions from sadness to anger. There is a lot of handwringing as the Gulf Coast girds itself for yet another devastating blow. It is not clear if this will be worse than Katrina, but that possibility looms large. We can rebuild after a hurricane. The damage from an oil spill of this magnitude can last for decades—or for all eternity.No doubt British Petroleum will pay. The Valdez cost Exxon upwards of $5B I’m told. Since these costs get passed on, the fact is that, at the end of the day, we all pay.
Following the Valdez, I was hired by one of Exxon’s subsidiaries to craft an alcohol and drug policy. We worked with about a hundred individuals representing a cross-section of the company from the CEO to ship captains and union representatives to office workers. Over eight weeks, we debated the ‘rules’
Why is this the best time to be alive?
By Jim Selman | Bio
Being alive at any time is preferable to the alternative. However, as the years go by, I am increasingly appreciative of the extraordinary time in which we are living. I don’t mean this as some sort of a “Pollyanna” platitude, but as a serious reflection on our world and who we are becoming at this particular time in human history. I believe that what is happening today is analogous to what people who were conscious and aware of what was happening experienced in
Older Americans Month
May 1st marks the beginning of Older Americans Month. As part of this year’s activities and events to honor older Americans, the U.S. Administration on Aging is inviting individuals to either share their "recipe for strength" in a national contest and/or participate in a one-mile walk on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Contest entries should creatively promote the Older Americans Month 2010 theme: "Age Strong! Live Long!". They may be submitted as a video, photograph,
Tending the Earth, Sharing the Garden
By Shae Hadden
This spring, seniors and students of Richmond, British Columbia are coming together again in the garden on Richmond High School’s property. Seniors who live in the high-density housing around the city centre started the Community Garden in the same plot of land that the High School had used for its garden in previous years. Working in the same space, they have created the beginnings of intergenerational relationships with students of the Fit for Life and Pre-Employment
Wisdom 101: A matter of time
By Jim Selman | Bio
The older I am, the more I reflect on the aphorisms all around us and wonder why it is so difficult to accept and live with this obvious wisdom. Robert Fulghum memorialized many of them in his bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. All of these little ‘nuggets’ of wisdom we’ve accumulated over the years are generally, well, wise. It is befuddling why so few people take them to heart.Why do so many spend a lifetime learning these kinds of lessons the hard way? Actually, why is it that any of us continue to act badly, do things we know won’t work, or become engaged in behaviors that, in any of a hundred different ways, are harmful to ourselves and others?
Theologians, psychologists, teachers, philosophers and parents have been occupied by these questions for a very long time. The larger underlying questions at the heart of this inquiry are:
- “Who am I?”
- “Do I really have a choice about what I do?”
- “Is it really possible to learn from our experience?”
If by ‘experience’
The Beauty of Aging
By Shae Hadden
I recently came across a website called The Beauty of Aging. Besides the fact that I love the title, I was impressed by film producer Laurie Schur’s commitment to find role models who demonstrate that aging is a beautiful process. Her 35-minute documentary, Greedy for Life, captures the stories of two dynamic women over 80 who embrace life—despite its challenges—with energy and enthusiasm. Shirley Windward,
New Dream, Next Steps
By Jim Selman | Bio
Last Friday night I had the pleasure and the privilege of attending an “Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream” Symposium, an event offered by the Pachamama Alliance. This short program has each of us examine ourselves and our relationship to a world “in crisis”. The purpose of the Symposium and the Alliance is to change our collective vision (dream) and to “bring forth an environmentally
World Health Day 2010: April 7
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s campaign this year is called "1000 cities, 1000 lives". The goals are to open up public spaces to healthy activities (like clean-up campaigns, closing off streets to cars, town hall meetings, etc.) and to collect stories of urban health champions. The emphasis is to raise awareness of the many health challenges related to the world’s increasing urbanization and to promote improvements to urban living conditions that make cities accessible