Entering a different flow of time
For many years now I've taken a personal retreat at the end of one year and the beginning of the next— as a time to reflect, review, and consider what's next, how I want to live and work, what I can best contribute.
Writing a newsletter on Substack was one of the intentions I set in my start-of-2023 retreat. I was drawn to the community of writers making Substack their home base. And I was drawn to the tools that the platform was creating to support our efforts.
I started writing The Interconnect in July. Here's what I wrote back then to describe my intentions:
What is The Interconnect?
Welcome. You’ve discovered a place to consider technologies in the broader context of our lives, and especially, kids' lives today—interconnected with the natural world, the climate emergency, biodiversity challenges, social justice, the state of education, and wellbeing. . .
We need vistas—to recognize the bigger interconnected picture
A favorite book to read with my granddaughter features a tiger trekking through a variety of landforms, starting on a steppe, and moving through a gorge, valley, plain, tundra, isthmus, and many more. At the center of the book is a scene with fold out pages giving a wide four-page spread—Vista. It’s a glorious moment in this special book, Most of the Better Natural Things in the World, written by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Angel Chang.
We need vistas today more than ever. It’s so easy to get lost and disheartened, bogged down in fears about the future and our children’s wellbeing. My goal with The Interconnect (and a book in progress) is to offer vistas for parents and caregivers, grandparents, educators, therapists—to widen the frame on the serious challenges we face, and provide inspiration, resources, and practices for creative, playful, critical thinking and courageous, compassionate action required of us.
Reading this About page today, it still holds.
I want to take a moment to appreciate some of my fellow Substack writers whose thoughts have informed me. Here are just a few:
The Algorithmic Bridge by Alberto Romero
One Useful Thing by Ethan Mollick
the examined family by Courtney Martin
The Window by Twilight Greenaway
Dandelion Seeds by Candace Rose Rardon
Your efforts help widen the frame on the serious challenges we face, and inspire me.
This will be my last newsletter until January, 2024. One project I intend to work on during my micro-sabbatical is a collection of poetry from over four decades of my life—I've gathered poems which were scattered to the winds and I’ve organized the sections for the book. Next step is to begin formatting so that I have a book of poetry ready to publish in 2024. Bringing a book into the world requires dedicated time and focus. Whew!
I intend to complete (or at least move ahead in) the Greater Good Science Center’s course on Awe in Education, and I hope to dive in to a few of the Waters Foundation’s courses on the Habits of a Systems Thinker (I mentioned both here in my last post).
But especially, I intend to catch up with myself and my family and friends—stepping out of the rapids and into a different flow of time for a spell.
Thank you for seeking out vistas with me. And especially, thank you for your continuing support.
Take good care. Be well.