One’s dreams, goals, desires, and vision, connect to one’s overall journey.

NOTE: Below is an excerpt from my book Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019, pp. 85-87). As an example of finding pathways and agency to a goal, it references the Atlantic Beach (Florida) Songwriters Night. For the past year, this monthly event has been placed on hold due to the pandemic. But it is making it’s way back to the stage—if only virtually for the time being. A community awaits to re-embrace this treasure of social capital.

Now for the excerpt:

Research tells us that hope requires three ingredients: goals + pathways + agency.

*The goal that attracts and draws your attention must be valuable to you and/or your community.

*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.

Mentors can assist along the pathway. They can help us discover the agency we have not yet recognized in ourselves. We may think of mentors as solo entities, individuals sharing expertise. If one mentor can change a life, think what a community of mentors can do. That’s what the Atlantic Beach, Florida, Songwriters’ Night has provided since 2003.

From the beginning, we (the organizers) hoped to be a pathway for our community members.  A pathway for songwriters to share their talents, gain confidence, and connect with like-minded creative types.  It would also be a pathway for the audience. Neighbors entertaining neighbors while enjoying the company of other neighbors. And for some of the performers, SWN has become one step toward a larger goal related to music, songwriting, and performing.

Over the years, adults have shared the stage with children of the community. These young artists test and hone their musical skills in a true listening-room environment.

For the audience, the event exemplifies the concept of social capital. It serves as a community laboratory to help all ages, of varying abilities, to chase down their dreams. In between songs, before the event, or after the lights go dark, the audience talks about things other than music like neighborhood schools, workplace opportunities, home improvement projects, or important community issues. Spin-off events have occurred as well.

A beach venue for dreams helps create a pathway for other such venues.

And hope lives. When people take time to listen to and give gratitude for the gifts of others, community strengthens. 

---

---

Video recommendation for the Week:

Rather than a video this week, how about a podcast recommendation?

This podcast episode accompanied the release of my book. You will hear Mike Shackelford (the host-musician-songwriter-face-of-SWN) and one of the young artists speak of the power of goals, pathways, and agency.

---

---

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.

My latest book can be found in
eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.

Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story.

Click here for more information about the book. In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019, print and e-book). Available on Amazon. More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) at the above link.
• Stories about Teaching: No Need to be an Island (2017, print and e-book). Available on Amazon. One college’s new faculty onboarding program uses the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos (see the link above) would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts (all 50 episodes) can be found here.

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

©2021. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®