All Good Grass Needs Strong Roots Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has-Margaret Mead For some reason, this famous quote and exhortation not only speaks to me, it yells at me regularly and forms much of my narrative. It has been a guiding light on my journey since I first became aware of it many many years ago. It is as much a part of me as my blue eyes and big mouth. A story. True, filtered only through a memory of over five decades. When I was about 16, my late grandmother Ida called me to a meeting. Since she was the original activist, go getter, get the job done, for me it was a no brainer to jump on a couple of busses and go see what up. This meeting was held in a very fancy home in Forest Hill, peopled by some very fancy and wealthy, well connected women . We learned at this meeting, that there are approximately one million Jews in Russia, behind the iron curtai...
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Reimagining Wealth Over the course of the last twenty years, I find myself redefining what success looks like. When I was in my twenties, success was a beautiful new home, immaculately decorated, with cute kids and nice cars. Clothes, vacations and weekend getaways. Keeping up with my friends and neighbours. Both myself and my then partner worked hard to achieve those ideals. It put a lot of strain on an already strained marriage. We divorced, sold the house, divided up the possessions and shared the kids. My thirties were all about coming back - returning from the brink of financial ruin, trying to reestablish what I had before. I chased this idea of success for almost a decade without ever achieving it. When I i turned 40, I had a health scare, a stage 1 breast cancer, that was easily managed with surgery and radiation. Hearing you have cancer brings up a lot of emotions, and deep life questioning. I began to thi...
Our Giving Tree Welcome to this blog, a collaborative effort of many different and diverse good people who share a similar vision and very well synched values. Since the written word doesn’t always express tone and inflection, I suggest you read it out loud and see how it resonates. The link is correct-the name is Our Giving Tree but the domain is Community Giving Tree-sorry for any confusion-trying to fix it, but wanted to launch today as promised. The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, is my favorite book of all times. Not only does it speak to me, it yells at me and shakes me when I need to be shaken. It is supposedly a children’s book, and it can be, but not unlike Robert Munsch’s “ Love Me Forever”, another favorite, it is clearly a very adult book, with all the nuances and messages that entails. I have gifted it often and taught it at many levels in 2 countries, and I always get someth...