A Community Thread

Amanda Stuermer put me in touch with Shanan, recommending her with high praise. And Shanan enthusiastically responded to my invitation to participate here. We met for a coffee to get to know each other and to chat about some other things before meeting for this interview, so it seemed like we were old friends by the time we finally got down to it. It turns out that Shanan is super easy to be around. She's got a great, contagious energy and seems to be filled to the brim with encouragement. She's a real busy lady, but finds time to genuinely and deeply connect and, from what I've seen, she has an incredible knack for bringing people together. I look forward to all future things involving her. Keep an eye on the schedule for her Night Light Show with Shanan Kelley and Magnificent Guests.

Rose Archer very kindly put me in touch with Barbara Hastings to learn about my Enneagram type. While chatting with her she highly recommended that I interview her partner, John. She patched us together via email and, without delay, John and I set up a time to meet. He met me at their door and we immediately dove in. We were well into a deep conversation by the time we even reached the top of the stairs and over an hour went by before I got my recorder out. After getting a little acquainted, I learned that John's a musician and he often won't let anybody listen to his music. He pointed to boxes and boxes of music files, so I found it impossible to ignore my urge to lovingly chide him about his similarities to Vivian Maier. John's a very wonderful guy. And he's challenging himself to look for more opportunities for connection, so I'd like to encourage you to say hello if you happen to encounter him. I am grateful for our meeting and sincerely looking forward to our next time together.

Alyson recommended I connect with Erin. In our first correspondence, she mentioned that we had previously met at a workshop with Mark Montgomery at Bend Community Healing. It must have been close to a year ago, but I remembered meeting her. We played the scheduling game for a few weeks, but we were finally able to meet up at her home. I am so glad we made it work because we had a wonderful conversation and I am really excited to share it with you below. I felt very peaceful chatting with her. She talks about some of the recent changes in her life and I got the sense that those changes have allowed her to become a fuller and truer version of herself. I wonder how different our conversation would have been last year. You never know how you will cross paths with someone and when you might meet again. Maybe you can go about your day with that in mind? Try it just for today and see how it feels.

Rose Archer recommended Amanda to me, which is just one of the many things I have to be thankful to her for. When I asked Rose to think of some folks to refer me to, she mentioned Amanda’s name immediately. And we managed to just catch Amanda in her last window of availability before heading out on some extensive international travels. She welcomed me into her home and we seemed to connect instantaneously. I had the chance to briefly meet her husband and one of her sons and her trio of dogs and each of those interactions was quite warm and lovely. Amanda is dedicated and accomplished while maintaining humility - a rare and admiral combination of qualities. We don’t talk about it directly during the interview, but she is the founder of The World Muse, an organization focused on inspiring social change for women and girls.

I owe Carol a huge thank you for introducing me to Courtney as we had a really lovely time together. It will likely not be our only visit and I am already looking forward to the next. We chatted in her kitchen for a short time, surrounded by her daughters and their neighbor friends and the productive sound of renovation work coming from the other side of the house. We eventually made our way into Courtney's work space and dove into some very great conversation. After over an hour of chatting, I had to insist on firing up the recorder - and the beautiful interview below is the result. Courtney's perspective is so refreshing and provides us all with an example of the grace and compassion we should be striving to interact with. There are nuggets upon nuggets of wisdom below, so I hope you enjoy.

I used to tell folks that the interview process would take about an hour, but that is proving to no longer be the case. I should change my pitch as it occasionally goes well over that mark. For example, I spent four hours with Rose! We talked in her kitchen over a very tasty homemade smoothie. Then we chatted in her backyard, serenaded by the birds and the neighbor's welding project. We later moved into her living room for the recording portion. And, finally, out into her front yard for the photos. And I can assure you we were not just talking about the weather. I am so grateful to Casey for connecting us together. Rose offered me nugget after nugget of inspiration, hope, and encouragement and told me many powerful stories about her journey through this life. I hope you'll get a sense of the power and impact in our conversation as you read or listen below. Rose has wonderful things in store. Keep your eyes out.

Throughout this interview, you will likely notice a number of longer-than-usual pauses between questions. And that is because I am processing what Dorothy just said. I don't know that I've ever had so many revelatory moments in a single conversation before. Casey recommended Dorothy to me and she promptly and happily accepted and invited me into her home. We got into real talk right away and, after quite some time, I had to insist that we do the interview for fear that Dorothy might have to repeat herself for the interview. And then after the interview, we dove right back into it. I probably should have just left the recorder on because I found much of our continued conversation to be profound. Dorothy gifted me with her wonderfully unique and refreshing perspective and I will do my absolute best to keep a firm hold on her words of encouragement. She is a life coach... should you be looking for one.

I could sing any number of high praises for Darlene, but I am going to keep this introduction short because you will know them all to be true by reading or listening to this interview. Meeting her was one of my greatest delights. She exudes kindness and joy and love in ways I have rarely, if ever before, encountered. Just being with her offered me very welcome encouragement and she will long remain a source of inspiration for me. I owe a big thank you to Susanne for connecting us together. Darlene's participation in this project is a gift to every single one of us.

She met me at the entrance to their community-focused neighborhood and walked me up the hill to her home. We sat across from each other in the sunlight and immediately dove into a deep and warm conversation. We spoke for close to an hour before we officially started the interview and that thing I couldn't name in the introduction to my interview with Josh came alive again during that time. Carol has beautiful words to describe whatever it is that settles into the conversation between one and another. She and I share a skepticism for the system and the way it demands our participation and it is likely the source of that doubt that is responsible for our pursuit of a different way of navigating through this life. We talked through some tough questions and shed some tears together. I didn't feel like a stranger when we first met and I certainly left feeling like a friend. Thank you, Carol, for being so real with me today.

Lisa told me that just after she made a new commitment to participate more fully in community, Darlene reached out to her about this project. Funny how things happen like that, isn't it? Lisa and I had a lovely conversation in which we both expressed a desire for change and growth while recognizing and admitting not having all the answers. I believe there's a lot of power in admitting we don't know. I'd love to see us all coming together to support one another for the greater good and communicating and listening about how best to do that. Lisa left the impression on me that she really cares about our path forward and moving in that direction together. She was so obviously sincere and thoughtful and seemed quite comfortable in those characteristics. I can't help but assume she's like that all of the time.