NOTE: You can find more information about the mission of this page here.
Perhaps you have been here. Maybe to enjoy a music festival. Or visit an art vendor. Or savor an offering from a food truck. Or enjoy the ocean breezes and sound of the waves as you jog, stretch, or bike. Or marvel at the holiday spectacle of lights and decorations.
Just a block off the ocean, Jacksonville Beach’s (Florida) Seawalk Pavilion and Latham Plaza provide a venue for a plethora of community activities. The photos below capture its charm early one quiet summer morning. At other times it generates energy and fosters connections. Like here and here and here.
Got me thinking of the good-natured fun you could have naming drinks in your workspace or community group. Maybe even for a family get-together.
Last week, we visited the Schoolhouse Inn in Fernandina Beach, FL. Built in 1886, it housed the first school on Amelia Island. 131 years later (2017), the building was renovated into a cozy 17-room inn with quaint decorations, furnishings, and accoutrements. Cozy accommodations in the historic district.
When you walk in the front door, you will find “The Principal’s Office” off to the left. Unlike what I remember the principal’s office to offer, this one served up alcohol. And it had a sense of humor.
The bartender told us there have been various incarnations of the drink menu, each adding a little twist of an educational term or practice. Like: Teachers Aide, Paperplane, Spring Break, Hall Pass, Burnout, and TGIF.
Of course, our imaginations began to kick in with new names for the menu. You know, like The Valedictorian or Schoolyard Crush or After-School Party or Teacher’s Pet or Merry-go-round or The Scholar or Time Out! Or ……
Got me thinking, also, of the good-natured fun you could have naming drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol) in your workspace, book club, or community group. Maybe even for a family get-together.
You know, like one named for those gosh awful meetings we have all been subjected to: The Sleep Inducer. Or The Goofy could conjure up the office jokesters. Top Dog could feature top-shelf servings.
So what names are popping into your Egg Noggin right now? (OK. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.)
~~~~~
Video recommendation for the week:
Quick video featuring drinking quotes, with a splash of humor!
My latest book, Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit, can be found in eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.
My dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. Please, 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.
NOTE: You can find more information about the mission of this page here.
Roxie (my canine companion) make our way to the sand just about every morning to take part in one of the brightest bright spots of our community: The rising sun over the ocean.
On occasion I’ve heard someone remark, “Oh, the sunrise? They all look the same to me.”
Really?
I never tire of the peace, serenity, colors, texture, sounds, and scents. And each sunrise is different-even only for the promise the new day holds for each of us.
For this post, I have gone back and pulled a few 2021 sunrises that Roxie and I have enjoyed. Enjoy! Some of the brightest spots present themselves each day.
Does serendipity lead to destiny or create destiny?
In April of 2017, I delivered a keynote address in Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. My topic: Purposeful Collaboration in the Workplace. One of the examples I shared with the audience in that ballroom came from Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos.
April 2017
Hsieh wrote that we need to “maximize collisions to accelerate serendipity.” That is, we need to put ourselves in the position to connect with as many pertinent resources as possible in order to increase chances for progress, growth, learning, and connections. Unthinking isolation can create separation.
Zappos office complex. Old Las Vegas.
Laurie and I spent the next afternoon touring the architecture and history of Downtown Las Vegas. Also known as Old Las Vegas, this area is a few miles north of the famous Las Vegas strip. We were fortunate to explore the area with Paco, the Art Curator for Zappos. I had been hoping for a chance encounter to shake hands and get a photo with the legendary founder of Zappos. Chances were slim. However, during the last five minutes of our more than two-hour walking tour, who did we bump into on the sidewalk? Tony Hsieh.
Tony Hsieh and me. April 2017. Serendipity.
Serendipity or destiny?
A few nights ago, I was introduced to two concepts that reminded me of that serendipitous meeting on a Las Vegas sidewalk: Beshert and The Red Thread.
Beshert is a Yiddish term that can be translated as fate, destiny, that something is meant to be. Like the inevitability of a relationship developing.
The Red Thread can be found in the Chinese and Japanese cultures. With slight variations, the read thread is what connects those who are destined to meet. The thread remains throughout life, pulling us toward a situation like a relationship that we felt destined to find. In tough times and in good, the thread connects.
When I heard the explanations of Beshert and The Red Thread I thought of Hsieh’s “collisions” for “serendipity.” If we remain walled off in an office, our home, or some self-imposed isolation, we limit our collisions. We minimize our chances to “bump” into someone or an idea.
Do we, as a consequence, tinker with our destiny?
Think of a serendipitous community connection that introduced you to a project you knew you were destined to lead. Or a blind date that led to a lifetime relationship.
Coincidence or destiny? Meant to be or up to your actions?
Does serendipity lead us to destiny or create destiny for us?
My latest book, Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit, can be found in eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.
.
My dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. Please, 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.
NOTE: You can find more information about the mission of this page here.
Travel east on Atlantic Blvd and you will find Beaches Town Center where the ocean meets the road. Shops, restaurants, boutiques, and more wait for you to enjoy. During the day and into the evening it buzzes with energy from Atlantic Beach (FL) and Neptune Beach (FL) residents, visitors, and the good vibes of business owners.
At dawn, BTC also provides a breath of serenity. I took these photos at sunrise. At that hour you will find the streets with joggers, walkers, canines with their humans, and the quiet of a few coffee shops getting ready for the daily bustle. And you will hear the ocean waves. A serene backdrop to start your day.
I encourage you to go to the BTC site and see what it has to offer.
Go beyond listing a goal statement. Before acting, make sure you understand the why of your what.
I have written separate posts on this blog about bright spots, not-so-bright spots, weak signals, and the five whys. Today, let’s look at how we can use the five whys as a way to take a deeper dive when analyzing what has worked, what has not worked, and what is to come. I will focus on a bright spot example.
Bright Spots
Identify something in your community, workplace, organization, or a personal relationship that works well. Whatever you identify, it must be something that stands out for (example) its meaning and/or excellence and/or accomplishment for the greater good. Whatever this bright spot is, it has made a positive difference.
Photo by Steve Piscitelli
Write that bright spot in one clarifying sentence. For instance, maybe your community has a farmers’ market. The bright spot might be described as
My community has a weekly farmers’ market that allows residents to have access to fresh, organic, and affordable food.
Now apply the five whys.
1. Question: Why is it important formy community to have a weekly farmers’ market that allows residents to have access to fresh, organic, and affordable food?
Answer: The market provides an alternative to big box grocery stores.
2. Question: Why is providing an alternative to big box grocery stores important?
Answer: Residents have the opportunity to talk with vendors and growers and learn more about healthy food options.
3. Question: Why is this opportunity important for residents?
Answer: The local farmers’ market provides an additional source to purchase non-processed food products from local vendors.
4. Question: Why do our residents need an additional source to purchase non-processed food products from local vendors?
Answer: Food options may provide the opportunity for a healthier diet.
5. Question: Why do our residents need food purchasing options?
Answer: Some of our residents live in food deserts and such community markets may bring them closer to healthier nutrition choices and healthier lifestyles.
Obviously, you can come up with alternative Qs & As. And if you give the initial bright spot statement to 10 people, more than likely you will receive 10 different Q & As. More options to help understand the issue at hand.
The point is that this process can help us get beyond platitudes, glittering generalities, and pre-conceived ideas. It will help us drill down on the reason we do what we do. And it may help us generate more ideas.
Once you have gone through the five whys for your bright spots, do the same for the not-so-bright spots. These could be outright failures or items, events, issues, and initiatives that just did not gain any traction.
Or maybe something your organization does seems to have lost its mojo. Identify the particular item and then go through the steps as above to drill down and get a deeper meaning for why this not-so-bright spot exists.
When you are done with the positive and not-so positive points above, move on to any weak signals you have identified for, let’s say, your organization. The five questions help you dig deeper into what promising practices you see in the future.
Go beyond listing a goal statement. Before acting, make sure you understand the why of your what.
~~~~~
Video recommendation for the Week:
This video starts with identifying a problem. Think of that as a not-so-bright spot. And then go from there as you attempt to figure out why the problem is happening. It can help you identify the root cause of the challenge.
My latest book, Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit, can be found in eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.
.
My dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. Please, 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.
NOTE: You can find more information about the mission of this page here.
The sand dunes provide a barrier to protect property. The sea oats help stabilize the dune structure. Photos below show a few dunes in our beaches area today (2021) and how the same area looked as a result of Hurricane Matthew in 2016. With dune restoration (https://news.wjct.org/post/jacksonville-beaches-sand-dune-restoration-begin-after-hurricane-matthew) and community volunteers the dunes and sea oats have rebounded.
6th Street Walkover, Atlantic Beach, FL. 2021 6th Street Walkover, Atlantic Beach, FL. 2021 6th Street Walkover, Atlantic Beach, FL. 2016 6th Street Walkover, Atlantic Beach, FL. 2016 6th Street Walkover, Atlantic Beach, FL. 2021
Fletcher High School Marine Science Club and community volunteers have been instrumental in planting sea oats.
“Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” ~attributed to Immanuel Kant~
Last week I left you with a question, “Do you think a twenty-something and a seventy-something share life lessons, questions, and advice?”
I sent an email to friends and neighbors asking for their answers to three specific queries:
What do you see as the biggest LESSON you have learned to this point of your life?
What ONE piece of ADVICE would you like to pass along to the younger generations—those who represent the future?
As you look ahead to your future, what ONE QUESTION would you like to ask those who are older than you? (What is something you are curious about?)
Below you will find a few of the answers I received for each question. (I have just provided three responses for each category.) You will not find author analysis or scientific fact-checking. Read their words. Compare the age groups. (At this point, I have responses only from people 40 years old to 89 years old.) What differences jump out? What similarities do you notice? What conclusions can you draw? What conversations can you start?
Wise people feel, listen, read, consider, apply, reconsider, and pivot with new data and context. They view the ability to engage in this process a strength, aligning with environments and people that allow for this evolution. ~45 Year-Old Female
Don’t take it personally. Some people are angry, troubled, depressed, etc. It has very little to do with you. ~52 Year-Old Male
Life will unfold according to natural law and human action. No vast benevolent power will come to the rescue. ~89-Year-Old Female
Question 2 (ADVICE):
You have the power to be anyone, go any place, and do anything you want, you just have to work hard, know who you are, where you want to go, and what you want to do. ~57 Year-Old
The one piece of advice I would pass on is to hold on tightly to your own personal integrity against the onslaught of outside judgments and criticisms-especially if you are an empathetic soul. ~65 Year-Old Female
As you transition into adult roles, don’t get so serious or cynical that you lose the sense of playfulness you had as a child or the idealism you had as an adolescent. ~72 Year-Old Male
Question 3 (QUESTION):
Are you where you imagined yourself to be right now? ~62 Year-Old Female
Since I’m already old (72), I’d ask those in their 80s and 90s if and how their views of life, death, and an afterlife have changed as they move closer to the end of life. ~72 Year-Old Male
Is your peace in service or faith? ~83 Year-Old Male
My latest book, Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit, can be found in eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.
.
My dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. Please, 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.
NOTE: You can find more information about the mission of this page here.
From May through October, sea turtles visit our beaches to lay eggs. Their trek from ocean to dune line and back reminds me of the traits of fortitude, determination, and resilience.
We are fortunate to have the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol in our part of the world to help monitor and protect the nesting of these ocean neighbors.
Do you think a twenty-something and a seventy-something, for instance, share life lessons, questions and advice?
Last year, I did some reading about the oldest of old. What they lived, thought, and hoped for moving forward. It made me wonder about the recollections, lessons, and questions our older residents could pass along to the rest of us. What could we learn from, for instance, eighty plus years of living? Hoping to tap into the wisdom of the ages, I developed a list of more than sixty questions to pose to older people in my community.
And then I heard Amanda Gorman deliver her poignant inaugural poetry reading on January 20, 2021. Here was a twenty-something (twenty-two to be exact) with recollections, lessons, and questions.
The obvious occurred to me: We can receive wisdom from all age groupings.
Their perspectives may be the different. A vicenarian (people in their 20s) and a quinquagenarian (people in their 50s) may both experience a job loss but how is the perspective different? Is it different? Does three decades of separation create a different world view? Or six or seven decades? If it does, can we find lessons in that separation that speaks to us as common humanity?
And what about the denarians (10 to 19 year-olds)? They have learned lessons and they have questions. Don’t they have something to share in this conversation? I believe they do.
Life is Like a Round of Golf
The golfer starts at the 1st tee and she makes her way around the course encountering open fairways, sand traps, water hazards, trees and, depending on the location, perhaps an alligator or two. Each hole, obstacle, swing, success and challenge provides experience on which to draw for the next hole. While all eighteen holes occupy the same course, the experience from each hole brings about a different perspective for each hole to come. Finally, on the last hole, as the golfer walks the fairway toward the green, she has an entire round to reflect upon. When the ball drops in the cup, the match is over. The “19th hole” awaits in the clubhouse lounge. (Of course, we can take the metaphor further and compare “diverse” golf courses and clubhouses.)
For example sake, let’s say life expectancy in our nation comes in at roughly eighty years. Staying with our golfing metaphor, that means each hole equates to about 4.5 years. The golfer making the turn from the 9th green to the 10th tee has lived, (using these metrics), about 40 years. She is at midlife looking back and reflecting as she tees up the beginning of the back nine.
At this writing, I am sixty-eight years old. I’ve “played” about fifteen holes with three left before I exit to the “clubhouse.” My view will more than likely be different than those on different tees and greens who had different experiences or a better (or worse) set of clubs.
Regardless of where we are or where we are going, we have recollections, lessons, and questions.
And that is the point: Respect each group from the Denarians to the Supercentenarians for what it has to offer to the wisdom of our respective communities.
Next week I will share some wisdom from different generations. Do you think a twenty-something and a seventy-something, for instance, share life lessons, questions and advice?
You might be surprised.
~~~~~
Video recommendation for the Week:
An Andrew Zuckerman video in which various celebrities share what wisdom is and what it is not.
My latest book, Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit, can be found in eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.
My dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. Please, 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.
A functioning community moves beyond listing and reciting core values. It shares and lives those values. And, it provides a safe place for its members to explore, stretch, learn, fail, and grow.
Steve is not a life coach and does not provide legal advice. He facilitates conversations and helps raise and confront important questions about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.
The Growth and Resilience Network® 