Hello and welcome to my blog. If you want more info about me, then check out the “About” tab along the top
This post is meant to explain the title and theme of the blog, and take a first cut at framing how I intend to communicate with you over the next 2 years! I think it’ll also expose some of the influences that have shaped the way I think and live in the world.
Doorway to the Universe: This is taken directly from a recent leadership session about coaching that I participated in. We were asked to think of a noun to represent “Who are you when you’re at your best?” I wrote “doorway to the universe”, which means that when I’m in my element I’m a connector who links ideas, people and potential into something real. I love working with people and organizations, love creative approaches to fundamentally human problems. And I think that tapping into the energy of the universe and creating the space for the future to emerge through me is what life is all about. Here’s a much more articulate explanation taken from one of my favourite books, Presence:
“It’s common to say that trees come from seeds. But how can a tiny seed create a huge tree? Seeds do not contain the resources needed to grow a tree. These must come from the medium or environment within which the tree grows. But the seed does provide something that is crucial : a place where the whole of the tree starts to form. As resources such as water and nutrients are drawn in, the seed organizes the process that generates growth. In a sense, the seed is a gateway through which the future possibility of the living tree emerges.”
Telling personal stories… I think the subtitle of the blog is a little more intuitive to understand. You can expect stories of every size, shape and colour on this blog. I hope to use stories to show you things, rather than tell you them. This way you can draw your own conclusions, while also in some akward imperfect way live vicariously. But of course, I get to choose which stories to tell, and which aspects I emphasize. I’ve got big dreams of guest posts, but we’ll see how far that goes. Because the difference between my Canadian university stories and the stories of a Ghanaian university graduate working for an NGO could be quite different. And different still would be the stories of local chiefs or politicians, or the rural poor farmers – who are voiceless in a broader context but maybe still the only voice in their household. And finally the women and children who are limited in their ability to act, their choices, yet who are the lifeblood of the country. My goal at the end of the day is to share multiple stories to attempt to “regain some kind of paradise”
… to illustrate systemic issues: This gets to the heart of the way I think about the world, and the type of work I’m going to be doing. We live in a complex world where things are deeply interconnected in ways that are challenging to understand – situations change quickly and we need to be open to changing our approach and taking advantages of the opportunities in front of us. Just because the world is complex doesn’t mean we should give up on understanding it. So while I intend to tell many stories on the blog, I hope to connect people, their experiences and situations to the broader system that created their circumstances and created opportunities or challenges for them. By zooming out to take a wider view of the systemic forces that affect people’s lives, I hope I can push you to think and act more intelligently in the world. The realm of systems thinking is ambiguous and new to me, so you’ll get to watch me figure out how to apply and communicate it. Another quote from Presence that gets to the essence of this is that ‘relationships are more fundamental than things.’
How do you learn? I’ve done some “learning about learning” in my preparation for my placement, and a simple but important conclusion for me was the real impact of Multi-Sensory Learning: You learn and are able to remember things much better when you engage with them in multiple ways.
Read/See: I hope you learn from reading my reflections and stories; from looking at photos and videos, and pushing yourself to imagine what it’s like to be there. If you want to do more reading on your own, check out “Amazing Books” for some recommendations.
Hear: A brand new feature for this blog is VOICE POSTS! I can’t hold back my excitement for this. Check out the Tab “Speaking Truth to Power” for more on this. Expect some ad-hoc interviews and some spoken-word poetry. Also, I’m going to keep sharing music through the “Inspiring Music” page – so feel free to throw on some tunes as you read the blog!
Do: This is key! 3 actions you can take to take your learning to another level: (1) Comment on a post, write me an email, call me, (2) Share the posts you love more widely – facebook, emails, send it to a letter-to the editor, (3) Do some research for me.
Shining Eyes: How do you measure success? In one of the most powerful TED talks I’ve ever seen, conductor Benjamin Zander describes the phenomenon of “shining eyes”. If you leave this blog with that shine in your eyes because you’ve been engaged in your head and your heart, then I’ve been successful. If your heart beats a little bit faster and you feel the boundaries between yourself and “Africa” dissolving even a little, then we’re doing life together.
Nice post! i’m looking forward to the stories in multiple formats. The Benjamin Zander TED talk is one of my favorites too 🙂
Good luck.
Mike, I’m so proud I get to be your sister. Shining eyes for sure! Thanks for doing this.
peace,
xo anna
What a start! The title is great! And way to explain it. Looking forward to your stories and wading through systems thinking.
Here’s a start at the resource list:
Systems Thinking and E-Participation: ICT in the Governance of Society
Source Author/Editor: Jose Rodrigo Cordoba-Pachon (University of London, UK); Alejandro Elias Ochoa-Arias (Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela)
Copyright: 2010
Mike.
Great to see your blog. The most useful single document I’ve ever read on changing a system is called “Leverage Points” by Donella Meadows from the Sustainability Institute. I’m not sure how to make an attachment here, otherwise I would’ve sent you a copy. (check your email)
Good luck. Hope you guys are doing life stories during pre-dep.
Mark
Hey Mike!!
I’m SO excited for this blog. I loved following your summer blog, and now this looks like it will be bigger and better. I love that there’s a books and musics tab, two of my favourite past-times, and I am super pumped to hear the word poetry and audio clips!
All the best,
Leah
Here’s the pdf on Leverage Points.. Awesome:
Click to access Leverage_Points.pdf
So excited for this blog Mike.
Guest posts – absolutely loving the idea (along with the other gems you talked about).
All the best bro and give Ghana all the incredible heart and spirit you have in you.
hey mike!
my eyes pricked up when i read your hope to create shine in the eyes. what a beautiful, honest and sweet thing to strive for…so far, you done good! looking forward to reading more!!
peace–jordan