tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78339922847279801552011-11-27T19:54:56.513-05:00A collection of seemingly unconnected thoughts, ideas, links, and people that all come together and shape who I am becoming.ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-78458902988042910412011-05-10T21:02:00.001-04:002011-05-10T21:02:49.752-04:00

I’m a recovering control freak.  My mom taught me to be a very responsible person.  Unfortunately, she taught me I was responsible for everyone else, but myself.  Learning to be responsible for myself has been challenging. When you are responsible for everyone else, you put their happiness above your own.   That almost sounds noble, but it’s not. It means you deny who God has made you to be. 

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-49141067016236318552011-04-06T12:12:00.001-04:002011-04-06T12:12:13.921-04:00

Five years ago, I began standing with others on Mother’s Day. The origin of Mother’s Day in the United States was not about brunch, cards, or flowers.  Those things are nice, but not what the day is really about. We have forgotten and need to reclaim that memory and intention. In the 1800s, two women left their mark on the beginnings of Mother’s Day, Julia Ward Howe and Ann Maria Reeves

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-42897488298867684642011-02-22T13:27:00.001-05:002011-02-22T13:27:21.554-05:00

A few weeks ago, as I drove through an intersection (I was the 4th car back and had arrived just as the light turned green) - the cars in front of me were swerving to the left to go around a stack of lumber that was in the middle of the intersection.  As my brain slowly processed what I was watching, I saw a man get out of a pick-up truck and walk toward the lumber.  He started sliding the lumber

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-55139801191449701632011-02-22T13:18:00.001-05:002011-02-22T13:18:01.583-05:00

A few weeks ago, as I drove through an intersection (I was the 4th car back and had arrived just as the light turned green) - the cars in front of me were swerving to the left to go around a stack of lumber that was in the middle of the intersection.  As my brain slowly processed what I was watching, I saw a man get out of a pick-up truck and walk toward the lumber.  He started sliding the

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-9094439837267426042011-01-26T09:17:00.001-05:002011-01-26T09:17:48.635-05:00

Something prompted me look at this email again and to post it on my blog.  I wondered why.  Then I remembered. It is getting close to the date that my mother died - only eight days before her 75th birthday.   A few weeks ago, a friend asked me if I had any words to give her to help comfort a friend. Here is what I told her. "I have been sitting with your invitation to help you with words to

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-27506599646473077032010-11-12T13:27:00.001-05:002010-11-12T13:27:06.796-05:00

It was spring.  Lots of spring cleaning kinds of things to do in that kind of weather. I’d made my list of supplies to pick up and was almost ready to leave to run my errands when I looked out the kitchen window.  There in the back yard, my husband, Eric was trimming and cutting away at the fast growing honeysuckle and the bushes and shrubs that were turning into trees.  As he was working with

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-5403637039780916412010-11-09T13:06:00.001-05:002010-11-09T13:06:55.249-05:00

I’ve been in the habit of praying for my children, husband, and extended family for a long time.  It isn’t a long prayer – simple really.  God – please watch over my husband, my children and son-in-law, grandchildren, parents, and my sister and her family keep them safe today.  Send your armies of angels to surround them and protect them and keep them safe and from causing harm to others. I am

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-51589981231912795222010-10-31T12:08:00.001-04:002010-10-31T12:08:40.906-04:00

A week ago, I watched a TEDxHouston video with a talk by Dr. Brené Brown.  Since then, I have watched every YouTube video with her in it, I can find.  I’ve read her website and blog.  Yesterday, her two books, “I Thought It Was Just Me” and “The Gifts of Imperfection” arrived.  Of course, I am trying to read them both at once.  What she has to say about the power of vulnerability so

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-41561995303256375532010-09-24T16:23:00.003-04:002010-09-24T18:01:29.290-04:00

Looking at "the Big Dipper version 1.0" - leaves me feeling very sad and takes me back to how powerless I felt much of that summer.  No matter how much research I did, how hard I worked at learning this new vocabulary of cancer, hospitals, doctor's offices, and nursing care, I could not save my dad.  How did I survive that summer?  Somewhere along the way, I learned the gift of gratitude and to

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-68061662816990448742010-09-24T11:43:00.002-04:002010-09-24T18:02:28.712-04:00

I’m very excited because TEDxCincy is happening on October 7.  (Cincy = Cincinnati, OH)If you don’t understand my excitement, then perhaps you are not familiar with TED.com.  Why am I excited?  Because the TED conferences that have been happening since the late 1980s has been geared to the elite and wealthy.  In 2006, Chris Anderson made the decision to make the videos from these events public on

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-39401273746984641682010-09-23T12:45:00.010-04:002010-09-24T18:00:32.633-04:00

To begin, close your eyes (well read this paragraph first) – imagine it is a beautiful clear, cool summer’s night. Look up into the sky at all the stars and the moon shining bright. Now, find the Big Dipper. Can you remember how you learned to find these seven stars and know they were the Big Dipper? Slowly open your eyes and I will you my story about those stars. I started playing with the

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-78645678061417963112010-09-02T13:35:00.003-04:002010-09-02T13:35:28.760-04:00

These words inspire me and have the power to set me free.  May they set you free today. Enjoy!

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-27544149953765977952010-08-17T18:45:00.001-04:002010-08-17T18:45:09.276-04:00

I’m new to Posterous.  The more I play with it and explore it capabilities, the more I am excited by the power of this tool. As I understand there FAQ section, I can use Posterous to target my post just to my Twitter account (or Facebook, or LiveJournal, or…) – OR I can just send it to Posterous and it will distribute to all my linked accounts. That is a pretty cool tool. Check it out.

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-77003096551358073292010-08-13T18:51:00.001-04:002010-08-13T18:51:26.941-04:00

Peter Block making me laugh at our A Small Group Intensive, Fall of 2009.

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-22952136828278851362010-07-07T11:08:00.000-04:002010-07-07T11:08:55.222-04:00

I am reposting a comment I left on my friend, Craig's website this morning - Recycle Your Faith In late May of this year, I heard Louise (from South Africa) share that after making a presentation - a woman came up to her.  The woman asked Louise if she could offer a suggestion for future talks.  She told Louise that the certainty with which she spoke about the subject had left no space for her to

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-39880710438583343902009-11-13T11:15:00.001-05:002009-11-13T11:16:59.762-05:00

This has been working on me for a while. I left this writing sit to be sure I really believed it.  For all of us that have experienced this shift, I feel there is an obligation for us to spread the word - to help others to have eyes and ears to hear this new world order that is evolving.  Maybe you've only had a moment where it seemed like the group really came together - lots of energy - no

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-11222498085199007602009-11-04T13:19:00.010-05:002009-11-04T14:27:10.165-05:00

Here is the question that has been working on me, "why is it important to me that I live in an egalitarian society?" I am inviting you to engage with me in a conversation about hierarchy and egalitarian gatherings. How are they different from each other? How can we each lead from the side to move to egalitarian gatherings? This issue of egalitarianism is beyond gender. Which then raises the

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-36213500405023158442009-11-04T13:06:00.003-05:002009-11-04T14:34:00.539-05:00

This is taken from my recent speech at a Toastmaster's meeting.Welcome. Thank you Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters, and honored guests. I’m pleased to present to you today. I have a question for you to ponder - How many times have you facilitated a workshop or made a presentation– and at the end, despite all your preparation and practice, things don’t go according to plan and you wonder what

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-76798042649768945372009-04-13T11:51:00.006-04:002009-04-13T12:18:55.388-04:00

Transparency is the capacity to share relevant information, to have transparent systems and processes – to be authentic and more. (You can’t really hide things, no matter how hard you try – it will always manifest itself.)Dissent is the capacity of an organization or relationship to allow each other to express a different point of view. If you are not allowed to say NO (dissent), does your YES

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-7573116866535188462009-03-08T13:10:00.008-04:002010-05-05T08:18:30.963-04:00

It has been a long, short week for me. So much stimulation. So much to think about…Christina Baldwin’s workshop, Phyllis Tickle’s talk on the Great Emergence, a new project and training with Sweeten Life Systems, and of course, the monthly A Small Group gathering at Peaslee. I’m feeling exhausted (and strangely energized) this morning. And, as if that wasn’t enough – we’ve switched to daylight

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-26851037536080166862009-02-27T21:21:00.010-05:002009-02-27T22:05:25.150-05:00

I've just returned home from the Story as Leadership workshop led by Christina Baldwin in Columbus at Ohio State University. This has stimulated something in me - the possibility of stories could take me to a new place..Here is the story I told at this workshop:Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved her mother very much, but she was afraid of her mother's anger. One day when she was

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833992284727980155.post-79383013652659919832009-02-20T17:43:00.004-05:002009-03-11T23:10:57.146-04:00

randomDefinition: haphazard, chanceSynonyms: accidental, adventitious, aimless, arbitrary, casual, contingent, designless, incidental, indiscriminate, irregular, objectless, odd, unconsidered, unplanned, unpremeditatedcha·os1. A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.2. A disorderly mass; a jumble.3. often Chaos The disordered state of unformed matter and infinite space supposed in

ElaineSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13404155699482915177noreply@blogger.com3