My "next act of disruption"...

This phrase resonates with me...

Four Years Apart: Beginning My Second Term

After four years apart from working as a teacher in an organization to working as "who I really am," I feel like an onion with the layers being peeled back year after year. I am thankful for the trust, respect, and love from others.

3 Years Not in Office

Another attempt to blog...this is my first entry since 2011.

Another year "Out of Office" and another year fascinated with living meaningful days.

Another year wrestling with time and another year challenged with questions.

However, another year of experiential learning of the tallest order and another year of being well-loved.

The Long/Short Answer

I’ve been trying to think more deeply about taxes and government spending, why we are taxed, what should be taxed, where should the tax money be spent, and so forth.

My life story totally affects my views from my childhood that influenced my path as an educator and then my life-long career in teaching where my paycheck was paid by the taxpayers and the children I taught received their services because of a government who regulated and financially provided for the human rights of children with disabilities through paying for their education and many services related to it.

In this context of life-long advocacy for children who would not have basic human rights without the intervention of government, it is complicated negotiating the thinking around the role of government on many other issues.

I like to go back to definitions at times because sometimes my understanding of a concept gets distorted, so I reviewed the following:

Democracy - a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections,

Capitalism - an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market, and

Culture - the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.

These three elements complicate my understanding of the role of government in the United States when it comes to the common good, especially around disenfranchised populations…by the way, I consider children a disenfranchised population.

OK, this entry is all prompted by the threat of government funding being taken away from National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

My short answer: Based on what I see on capitalistic radio and television programming (and our culture’s materialistic traits), our children need public radio and television services…simply stated. Based on democracy and a government who represents the people, I think everyone wants a society where our children are influenced by ideas and concepts that promote responsible citizenship in a free society…

Where in the media does that occur? A democratic government that funds pubic media is investing in cultural outcomes that will serve the people well.

Crossroads

When I began this blog I was at a crossroad, made a decision, and lived with the results ... unsure that it was the right decision (despite the usual rhetoric from "my people" who thought it was best...you know, basically telling me it was my destiny and so forth )...until yesterday. I'm sure there will still be times of periodic anxiety and doldrums, but I believe and hope that the doubt is gone. Yesterday's ongoing events brought forth, for the first time, a true sense that I made the right decision 18 months ago...that is patience.

Yesterday, I was beginning to understand that a new feeling in my mind, heart, and soul was crystallizing...beginning with a phone call in the morning, another email, a web conference in the afternoon, and then an unexpected voice from one of my angels. This is the angel who gave me a conceptual base to truly understand charity vs. justice and the importance of relationship and mutuality in mission.

I am blessed with humbled gratitude for those who are in my life...from my family to many near and far. Onward to becoming a "teacher of hope."

One year later

It has been a year since I "left office." Time to begin anew on blogging my days whether they are 1sts for anything or not. All the things that I have "done" this past year seem minor in comparison to what I have "not done." I don't mean "shoulds"....I just mean I am surprised by the reality. Time remains a mystery to me...

Day 74: Louie

A day doesn't get much better when a beautiful child is born. Check out Louie Jacobs, born to my nephew Joe and his wife Izumi in Japan. What joy for the Jacobs family!!!!