Connect-Able

10/28/2024

10/26/2024

10/03/2024

All the enduring ancient wisdom teachers used stories, metaphors, and parables. Why do we fight over instead of look through the literal?

09/19/2024

Worth the 24 minute watch for friendship, romance, work, faith, politics, education, etc.

Join Simon Sinek and Trevor Noah in this candid discussion where they dig into the critical role of friendships in mental health, success, and happiness. Sim...

07/14/2024

When chaos seems to be winning, it can help to remember that healthy complex systems are adaptive and to reorient ourselves to being, doing, and relating in ways that cultivate the re-emergence of homeostasis.

12/07/2023

For the last five years, I have been working with Connect St. Helens. Shout out to one of our Core Team members, Jamie Griffin, who preached the Connect Coalition ideology, and Jennifer Bartocci, who connected the FRC to Yankton! St. Helens is doing good collaborative work and it is transformative.

09/09/2022

Hello FB friends - I'm teaching an Enneagram-oriented, trauma-informed class (Building Belonging with Storytelling) at Clark College over 6 Tuesday nights starting on September 20th. We will look at belonging, the Enneagram, and our shared stories as the structures in which we work, learn, relate, and grow in. So, if you want to learn more about your own story, how you can improve team, family, or friendship, sign up and join us. Here's a link to register:

Groups that lack a sense of community often suffer from poor communication, low productivity, and power struggles. Learn storytelling skills that will improve the health of your family, work team, classroom, or neighborhood dynamics. A stronger you and a stronger team are only a story away! 

08/23/2022

Last year I said I was going to write a book. I did and I learned a lot along the way. But I wasn't satisfied. So I wrote it a few more times. Version seven is undergoing my final editing process and now it says what I wanted to say the way I wanted to say it. It is much more accessible - even (especially) for people who don't like or have time/energy to read books.
I'm now looking for beta readers who can provide perspective from fresh eyes and brains. I'm also looking for prufereeders who can find all the spelling and punctuation errors.
The book is about how to build belonging out of personal stories using a set of tools I call KNOTS:
- Know your story,
- Notice the larger story
- Offer what you have
- Take what you need
- Share the new story
It's a little over 70k words - a 280-page manuscript. I'm offering a free copy to all beta readers and proofreaders as well as a meal together if you're local or a gift card if you're not. I need 5-10 of the former and 3-4 of the latter. Thank you ahead of time - message me if you're interested.

04/12/2022

One of the most critical elements of true belonging is identity. It is easy to get confused about identity if you can’t trust your people.

04/11/2022

For belonging to be durable, each identity in a system needs to be clearly articulated and put into collaborative action. Nothing can be left out without weakening the whole system.

03/03/2021

I am teaching a six-week trauma-informed class on storytelling as a way to create belonging. It'll be through Clark College on Wednesday nights from 5:30-7:30 April 14th through May 19th.
This will be a fun, interactive, life-changing experience that will prepare you to facilitate storytelling for small groups and have more fulfilling conversations with your friends, family, and work colleagues. Come by yourself or bring a group of friends!

Creating Belonging Through Small Group Storytelling: a trauma-informed pathway to individual and community resilience This interactive, student-centric course will offer participants a measurable increase in the experience of belonging as they learn how the natural laws of the interdependent human s...