This week’s blog post draws on the fourth core value from
Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019):  Give voice to our RAINBOWS—our dreams and aspirations—and act to move toward them.

Goals represent hopes for a brighter future.

Research tells us, though, that hope requires three ingredients: goals + pathways + agency. The goal—a rainbow that attracts and draws your attention—must be valuable to you. A pathway—a plausible route to the goal—must be present. And, you intuit that you have the ability, the power, and the talent to reach that goal.

Just like each of us individually, our communities have dreams as well. They could be for complete streets, access to fresh food and medical care, a vibrant park system, transportation for shut ins, or transparent connections with community leaders.

Residents consider what is in front of them now and what their community will need in the future. We construct stories of what is and what we think will be.

What stories do you and your neighbors share about the future of your community? What do you see as the top priorities for your neighborhoods? How do you know these are, in fact, priorities? According to what standards or observations?

Your Call-to-Action

• Walk through your community, pause, and look. Really look. What beauty have you taken for granted? What areas of concern have you overlooked? Take the same walk with a neighbor or two. What do they notice?
• Based on your observations, what relationships and resources will your community need to (1) take full appreciation of its beauty and (2) work on its challenges?
• What can you do this week to move from observation to action?

As you move forward, consider the reminders right in front you and your neighbors to stay open to the possibilities of where our dreams can lead us. And, to live passionately.

Podcast Recommendation of the Week:

In this short clip from an upcoming (March 2019) podcast on The Growth and Resilience Network® podcast channel, we hear how one community (Atlantic Beach, FL) uses music as a resource to connect neighbors to neighbors.

My book,
Community as a Safe Place to Land,
has been released! At this point, you can purchase it on Amazon. More purchasing options coming. More information at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

Make it an inspiring and grateful week and H.T.R.B. as needed.

You can still order my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017), by clicking here. Another university recently (January 2019) adopted it for training and coaching purposes. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.

The paperback price on Amazon is now $12.00 and the Kindle version stands at $3.99. Consider it for a faculty orientation or a mentoring program. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network® (http://stevepiscitelli.com/media-broadcast/podcast).

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2019. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®