A Community Thread

Marcus Legrand recommended Christy to participate here. It took a few months for us to put something on the calendar as Christy keeps herself fairly busy with teaching at eight different high schools while simultaneously pursuing a Master's degree. I am sure had we met sooner, our conversation would have still been rich, but I can't help but be thankful we met when we did as I've lately started pushing a bit harder and asking more difficult questions during these interviews and Christy was up for the task. 

We talk about education, about inclusion, about our brutal history as a nation and our hope for a better future. I recommend listening to this interview as it is conversational and our passionate back and forth is easier to engage in through listening than it is through reading. But either way you take it in, I am sure you will be inspired. 

Tina Bollman recommended Jess to participate here. We met at her home that she is in the middle of selling and as I pulled up she and her son, Henry, were in the yard picking up pine cones. We chatted in the driveway for a few minutes and then ventured into the home that is now staged for selling and absent of all of her and her family's possessions. I can only imagine that felt a bit strange for Jess. Nevertheless, it didn't take us long to get comfortable with each other and start talking about the nitty gritty. 

We met on July 3rd and I tend to feel pretty fired up around the 4th of July. I don't need to get into all the details here, but I dislike the holiday because of what we've deliberately chosen to ignore and how we've chosen to rather grotesquely celebrate the day. I'm on a roll of asking more poignant questions, anyway, but today I chose to dig even deeper, or maybe even pry, with Jess. 

We talk about racism and slavery and wrongful incarceration and our president and the #MeToo movement and uprisings and revolution. Not to spoil the surprise, but we didn't come up with the answers. I am going to continue believing that talking about it is a good start, though. 

Laura Grayson recommend Alli to participate here. They are colleagues at Ruffwear and that's where I ended up meeting Alli. We sat in one of the private meeting rooms and chatted while the rest of the office wound down for the day. Alli's dog, Riggins, sat in for our chat, but didn't have much to say. He's probably heard it all before... 

I'm pretty much constantly trying to find ways to grow this project and make these questions more poignant and cut to the quick of the mess it seems like we're living in and I'm starting to feel as though I might be getting closer to making some substantial changes to this format. So, for this interview, I did dig a little deeper and I was so happy to find out that Alli was willing to talk about some of the hard stuff with me. Her big heart is obvious and it seems as though she wears it right alongside her skepticism that we'll be able to figure it all out. I tend to believe that the more we name our fears and doubts and the more we talk together about how to make the world better, the greater our chances of succeeding. So, I just wanted to say thanks to Alli for joining me in that process today. 

Ashlee Davis recommended Campbell to participate here and described her as a "pure ray of sunshine". That's high praise, but after meeting Campbell, I'd have to say that I wholeheartedly agree. Campbell's desire to make the world better by smiling at others is a gift. Combine that with her efforts in volunteering and she ends up being a powerful force for good. The world needs more Campbells, but I can imagine that she is actually creating more just by her positive example. Some folks act in ways that serve as a contagion. That can be good or bad, but here it's all good. 

Big thanks to David Hopper for recommending Amy here. And big thanks to Tucker the dog for providing some very soothing snoring sounds in the background of this audio. 

Amy and I had a great chat before the interview. I think that time before the interview allows for a significant level of trust and vulnerability to come out during the more formal reordered conversation. Amy's interest in her personal development and growth so that she can better serve and care for others is inspiring. It seems that we can often get stuck in that first phase of caring for or loving ourself and might not get around to that  next phase of caring for others. I actually believe we can do both simultaneously and I got the impression from Amy that that is what she is deep into. 

Paul Arney referred Hunter to participate here. And we played a long game of back and forth over the course of a few months as we tried to schedule our meeting. It turned out just perfectly, though, as it tends to. We chatted outside Hunter’s blacksmith shop, Orion Forge, on a rad piece of steel furniture for a while before heading into his office for the recording. It was such a pleasure learning about Hunter’s past and how he ended up here with his shop and about some of his future plans. I’m sorry you don’t get to enjoy it as it paved the way for the sincere conversation you’ll read or listen to below. This interview has a decidedly different tone than many and one that carries with it some raw honesty and maybe even some admission of not getting it right some of the time. Among a long list of enjoyable characteristics, it is Hunter’s genuine introspection and humility that I found the most endearing. 

Emery referred David to participate here. And I am so thankful! David proposed meeting in a park with some snacks, but I had to nix that for the practical reasons of audio recording, so we instead met at his home. It took about five seconds for us to hit it off and we basically had a mini interview before turning the recorder on. We talked about our childhoods and our jobs and our feelings about many of the things. David's heart for others and his sincerity and hopeful questioning of the world are evident within moments of chatting with him. He's what I refer to as "a keeper" and I am sure you will find that to be true as you read or listen to our conversation. 

Sharon Balsamo recommended Sophia to participate here and Ashlee Davis was singing her praises, too. I am so grateful to them because I really love these opportunities to chat with the younger folks. I don't have the fondest of memories from my high school days and seem to be forgetting more and more of them as those drift further and further back in time, so it was great to chat with Sophia about some of the stuff she's going through. 

What really struck me as we chatted is that the things that are bothering her in her peer group pretty much mirror what is bothering me in mine. I suppose as the years go by we have more and more opportunities to grow empathy and compassion and evolve for the better, but it doesn't necessarily mean we take advantage of those chances. Is it so simple as that? Some do. Some don't. I guess I tend to believe that it's more complicated. At any rate, if Sophia at 15 is any indicator of future Sophia, she seems to be on the right track.  

Courtney Wright recommended Laura to participate here. We had some scheduling conflicts for some time, so we had been talking about meeting for quite a while before it actually happened and that had the effect of bringing some healthy anticipation into the mix. Our time together ended up being a delight from start to finish. I got to briefly meet one of Laura's daughters and mingled with their dogs, Klondike and Aspen, who make cameos in the audio. And we got acquainted over tea and snacks before diving into the conversation below.

This is the first interview that I conducted from start to finish with this new idea of not transcribing it word for word and I definitely felt more ease throughout it. What you'll see below are excerpts, but you can access the full interview through the audio link at the end of the conversation. 

After we chatted, Laura took me over to the new Ruffwear co-working space called Embark (get it?) where she is the Co-working Community Manager and she gave me a sneak-peek into what looks like will surely be a lovely spot for whoever chooses to hang their hat over there.  Hanging out with Laura was a total treat and I am happy to introduce her to you here. 

I came to meet Ashlee through Sharon Balsamo. I didn't know anything about her prior to showing up at her door at our scheduled appointment but within minutes of meeting at her door we became friends and we dove into the deep end pretty quickly.  We cover a variety of topics extensively and vulnerably and I believe this to be a model of an important conversation. It is certainly a heart to heart and I am a big advocate for all of us having more of those. 

A couple of days after our interview I went out of town for a week to get a change of scenery and I wasn't able to transcribe this conversation before leaving. I also had some other things on my mind regarding this project and spent the time away thinking a lot about it. And then when I came back I went to Sharon's office and we had another very beautiful conversation and talked through some of my frustrations. In the end, I made the decision that I wasn't going to transcribe interviews in their entirety anymore. It's an arduous task and one I'm not sure is necessary. It's also my least favorite aspect of this process and has somehow been responsible for the flow of the conversations as I've been conducting interviews in a way that I knew I could transcribe. So, what you will see below is my first attempt at changing this process. The entire interview can be listened to as per usual, but the words below are a synopsis. If you are a regular reader, you will likely see some tweaks as I continue to work into this new flow. 

I'd like to offer a big thank you to Ashlee for this powerful conversation and for her modeling sincerity and integrity and another big thank you to Sharon for helping me figure out some next steps. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Ashlee.