My vision is that belonging should be at the heart of a fundamental discovery: that we all belong to a common humanity, the human race. We may be rooted in a specific family and culture but we come to this earth to open up to others, to serve them and receive the gifts they bring to us, as well as to all of humanity.

- Jean Vanier, Becoming Human, p. 36

One of my most favorite discoveries on my first trip the Western Cape region of South Africa was the Alluvia Winery. Located just outside of Stellenbosch this boutique winery makes some fabulous wine. It is a much smaller winery than those surrounding it, yet there is some truly unique about the place. It also has a great story. When there last time I learned that the owner of the vineyard had decided to venture into the winery business as a way to leave a lasting legacy for his children. He also believed that Johannesburg, with its high crime rates, was the best place to raise a family.

On a recent trip to South Africa this fall, I had the opportunity to visit the winery again. Was stocking up on some great South African wines from various vineyards (hope Canada customs is not reading this!) and remembered that I liked this particular vineyard a lot! Upon arrival into the tasting room (got to love the tasting part!) my father and I discovered that they had added another wine to the Alluvia collection. The story behind why this particular wine was developed is remarkable.

After moving his family to the area, the owner discovered that just down the road from where his vineyard was located is a place called Kylemore. This particular area is one of the Stellenbosch region's poorest areas. Even in beauty lies poverty. When this was discovered the owner felt that it was necessary to do something. Hence the "Give Me a Chance Trust Fund" wine was created. At the moment the proceeds of this wine are going to help a certain amount of youth in Kylemore. From what my father and I gathered from the individual telling the story, it is not just money that is given to these youth, but also time. Already because of this fund there has been some of the youth entering university.

Anyways, just thought I would share as I thought it was a nice little twist to the story of wine-buying in the Cape Region!

Words can't even describe how I feel right now. After 18 weeks of training, I have achieved what I once thought was impossible. When I first started running years ago in Montreal I never thought I could run a marathon- if someone had said to me after running that 10 km race that one day I would run a marathon I seriously would have thought they were insane. But strangely enough how I felt yesterday was similar to how I felt when I crossed that 10km finish line years ago. The sense of accomplishment and achievement is still the same- no matter what the distance.

I think one of the main reasons that I achieved what I did yesterday has a lot to do with the people that are in my running life. Some may think that running is a pretty solitary sport and maybe for some that is the case, but one of the main joys of running for me have been the people that I have met along the way. All of the people I have run with have helped me become the runner that I am.

I can't believe that I have run a marathon- is a really surreal experience. Crossing that finish line has made me realize that I can achieve the things I set my mind too. Impossible really is nothing.

We all know I'm a big fan of technologies and gadgets... so when I read last week in the New York Times that one of the more innovative genetic mapping companies (23andme) had reduced the price of its Genetic Mapping service (which many companies sell for up to $2-3,000) from $999 to only a few hundred dollars, I decided it was an amazing amount of information and education to be able to get access to for that amount, so I took the plunge and signed up.

A day later, FedEx delivered a Spit Kit to my house, which requires about 10 minutes of spitting into and mixing together with a solution, and your DNA sample is ready to send back! And off it went to Los Angeles, California to a laboratory today. Funny enough, the FedEx Pak they provide specifically says "do not send liquids" on it :)

So in 6-8 weeks, I'll know where my ancestors are from, whether I'm genetically lactose intolerant, whether or not I love broccoli because I can't taste the bitterness in it, and whether or not I'm a bit more likely than average to get certain diseases or be susceptible to certain conditions in my lifetime, along with dozens of other interesting facts. For less than the price of a university course in genetics, I can view and learn much of the world's most up-to-date knowledge on the relationships between genes and personal/medical conditions personalized to my specific genetic data. How cool is that?

You can make a case against "messing with your life" this way (I had an interesting discussion about this with someone just the other night), but I think that given the great power we have as humans to be intelligent and understand life in a way that no other species can, we then have a responsibility to use it to maximize the potential of our lives. Right? I guess it's also just a bit of an extra motivation knowing that you're slightly more at risk than average to do something about it! (from 1-2 times more or less likely than the generally population, in most cases)

I'll check back in with the results in a few months!

Hey guys, hope you are all doing well! As all you Canadians know we are going to be having an election soon! So, I just wanted to invite all of you to share your views on the up-coming election! Is voting in the Canadian election important to you? If so, why is it and what are the issues that you care most about! Check out the blog here: http://www.tigblog.org/group/elections08

This Sunday I managed to run the longest distance I have ever run- 35 km and then some (I say then some because I think I may have added some distance by messing up the route). The route took us all over the place and I also experienced another "First"- seeing what Scarborough look like!

The run was a really good one for me physically and mentally. If I could run a race like that I would be extremely happy. I also was really proud of myself for finishing this distance. It made me realize that I should have confidence in myself and that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I think when I cross the finish line at the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon at the end of this month it will mark a new chapter in my life.

I know that this blog was supposed to be about my road to the marathon, but today's entry is not really about running--more like my lack of running these days.  At the moment I just feel so overwhelmed, useless, and all round tired (emotionally and mentally more than physically).  I haven't slept more than two nights in my own bed since July 29th and won't sleep in my own bed again until August 25th.  My diet is thrown off and I can't eat where or when I want.  Am just worried about if I will actually fulfil my goal and my dream at this point.  Agh am way too emotional.

I headed off in the morning to the Australian Science and Math School, hosted at Flinders University. The school is only a few years old, and is built with an open concept -- no classrooms, but instead a number of large spaces with desks and chairs that reconfigured in many different ways to foster teamwork and collaboration. We had a large group - about 50 teachers and school leaders, and had a really interesting day -- when I showed the "Are you listening?" video, a whole bunch of students gathered upstairs in the area overlooking where I was speaking to watch - I think they were really curious that so many teachers were learning about their way of using technology!

After a fantastic dinner by the water with a group of curriculum developers, I headed to sleep -- because I had to catch a 6:40am flight to Canberra!

I made it to the nation's capital early in the morning, and it was freezing! 0 degrees but it warmed up as the sun rose... I had a few hours to fit the gym and have lunch before heading to Canberra University -- the group in Canberra decided to have an evening workshop (4-9pm) with dinner. Although everyone had a full day of work before showing up, we still had a lot of active participation, and after wrapping up at 9 and getting back to the hotel around 10, it was time for sleep for another 6:45am flight back to Sydney for the last workshop of the trip!

Arriving in Sydney in the morning, with my 32kg on-the-dot bag faithfully appearing on the carousel, I headed off to Parramatta right on time, and arrived 3 minutes before the workshop was to begin! We had the biggest crowd of any session -- around 60 people, and so a lot of the interactive sections took a lot longer than usual, but they had great ideas and a large group of schools approached me after and wants to deeply engage their entire district with TIGed, which is exciting! After wrapping up and chatting with a bunch of the attendees, I was off to one of my favourite hotels in the world -- the Westin Sydney, to relax, enjoy their great gym, and have dinner with Jenny, who had the whole series of workshops organized, to debrief on the experience (yum, Tasmanian lamb!). After that, I met up with Jarra and Nick, and headed to Micky's for dessert (Banana Pancakes and Ice Cream!) to catch up and for me to celebrate the completion of 10 sessions in 11 days in 5 cities!

I'm writing this now on the flight to Vancouver -- I managed to get right to sleep after lunch on the 10am flight, which will hopefully mean I can work through the North American day and head to sleep at a proper time tonight. Saturday, we head to Quebec City for the World Youth Congress to meet TIG members from all over the world. I've also agreed to head to Brisbane on the 19th to speak at the Queenland Government's e-learning summit, and after that, I'll be ready to just settle down at home and enjoy the rest of the summer in Toronto :)

Now that I've been away a full week, I forced myself to carve out some time to reflect on the intensity of the time so far before kicking off the second stretch.

As always, our summers at TakingITGlobal are quite busy -- generally for the education "industry", most conferences are held during the summer when teachers have school holidays. This summer, as a follow-up to my keynote at last October's ACEL (Australian Counsel of Educational Leaders) conference (which was apparently quite good even though I was quite sick at the time), I was invited to be a "Traveling Scholar" for ACEL, presenting 5 full-day workshops on TakingITGlobal to school leaders and teachers across Australia. In addition, I started off the trip by keynoting a leadership conference at Melbourne Grammar School, and today keynoted the International Middle Years conference in Adelaide... so I've made quite good use of two weeks!

Sunday - Wednesday: Melbourne

After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.

On Monday, I woke up nice and early and arrived at the charming greened campus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected private schools. To their enormous credit, they had invited students from a broad cross-section of Melbourne to attend the conference, in addition to a grade of their students. I was brilliantly introduced by one of their capable students, and my keynote was well-received - with more questions from students than we had time for. Following the keynote, a panel including a futurist, scientist, and Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, who cited my presentation several times as they discussed issues of leadership in the 21st century and challenged students to act on the issues they felt challenged by. In the afternoon, I ran several hours of hands-on workshops guiding a small group of students through the TIG site and beginning the Guide to Action as a tool for action planning.

Tuesday morning, I visited Kilsyth, a suburb of Melbourne, and ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of teachers across that region looking at TIG and especially with an interest in Health education... it was a good challenge because we didn't have Internet except for a very slow 2G connection, so I was able to get well prepared and experiment with some activities for the following days' sessions!

That evening, I traveled to Mooney Valley Racecourse (home of Australia's best race - the Cox plate, worth $3 million!) and presented our work at TIG to about 150 principals, who also had some great questions, and I enjoyed meeting a teacher who grew up in Mississauga and had spent his recent years enjoying and exploring Australia's wilderness.

On Wednesday, I spent from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with an enthusiastic group of teachers and principals learning about TIG, exploring global issues, and understanding how to fit our programs and ideas at TIG into the curriculum and everyday use in their classrooms. I also shared our Best Practices on Global Education resource with them... and then I was off to the airport, heading to my next destination: Tasmania!

Thursday - Saturday: Hobart, Tasmania

On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.

After a short 2 hour break to refresh and do some e-mail, I headed off to the Hobart Yacht club, where I addressed about 50 high school principals, who weren't able to attend the day's workshop because they were having a leadership retreat. I had to pack 90 minutes into a 30 minute before dinner speech, so I think it was overwhelming, but many of them were quite excited by what we do... and I had delicious local Salmon which was a bonus!

The next day was my main day off. I decided not to head off to my next destination right away, but to stick around in Hobart and see some of the beautiful wildlife Tasmania has to offer. So I signed up for a Tasman Island Eco Cruise - having no idea how much of an adventure it would be! After a scenic bus ride to Port Arthur, one of the main convict colonies from the 1800s, we boarded a powerful boat (675 HP) that they describe as a 4x4 of the sea. Initially the ride was quite smooth - and we discovered some caves and amazing rock formations on the coast. The "swells" were only about 1 meter, and so it was just like jumping waves on a boat at home.

However, once we got out to the Tasman Sea, things got a lot more interesting. The waves and the winds were coming strongly from an unusual direction, and 2-3 meter waves and swells gave us quite a ride! I had chosen to sit in the 4th row (moved from the 2nd) and for close to an hour, we jumped waves and it felt like we were on a roller coaster as we plunged down after riding a wave.... but I stuck with my seat - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

We arrived at two areas with Australian and New Zealand seals, and at a cove where dolphins chased our boat around until we had to leave - amazing to lean over and watch them at the water and bow of the boat jumping up playfully! A number of albatross with their huge wingspans also provided us with an amazing show - watching them fish and gracefully glide across the sky with nothing around us but huge rock and menacing water... or what looked menacing in my book. In 1998, however, the water was so rough that in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, five boats sank and six sailors were killed.

On Saturday morning, before heading to the airport, I spent a few hours enjoying the Salamanca Market, with hundreds of stalls offering delicious local treats and art and coffee and everything needed to pass a few hours and take in the culture of a place!

Sunday - Monday: Adelaide, South Australia

Now I'm here in Adelaide, where this morning I keynoted the International Middle Years of Schooling conference, and was again introduced by a fantastic student duo! I gave out dozens of bookmarks afterwards, with many many people promising to check out the site and connect their students into TIG. I was also followed by an excellent presentation by Professor Erica, who gave a talk on creativity that linked really perfectly and built on top of many of the themes I covered.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Science and Mathematics School to do another day-long workshop, and then heading to Canberra the next morning... I'll be sure to check in soon with more! And I'll be editing this entry in about 2 hours with photos once they upload.

G'day for now, Mike

I found this book review over at Curledup.com:

Peter Block is an inspirational thinker. To quote from his website, "Peter is the author of several bestselling books. The most widely known are Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1st edition 1980, 2nd edition 1999), Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993), and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work (1987). Peter is the recipient of the first place 2004 Members' Choice Award by the Organization Development Network, which recognized Flawless Consulting as the most influential book for OD practitioners over the past 40 years." In this latest work, Block has taken the word "community" and kneaded, massaged and squeezed it into extreme flexibility, so that it can compact itself into the microcosm or expand to fill the whole world.

Reading this book took me back to my days as a community activist, when the rage was the work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. I was glad to note that Freire's name still crops up from time to time, along with that of philosopher E.F. Schumacher, both icons of an earlier generation of change agents. I'm intrigued to see that community action has not changed - that is, it is still hard to motivate people, and calls for constant shifts of language and even room arrangement to keep the energy flowing. Block wisely refers to America's urban centers as "New Orleans without the flood" and urges us not to become complacent just because our own lives are proceeding according to plan. There are still people in our country who are suffering and who need the assistance of dedicated activists. The distress and chaos "out there" is our responsibility.

Community is a how-to (bearing in mind that "the answer to how is yes," according to Block). It allows the potential activist to do a lot of self-winnowing - asking him/herself such questions as "to what extent are you here by choice," "what is the yes you no longer mean," and "what promises are you willing to make." This sets up any planned meeting with a greater chance of success. Block makes practical suggestions for how to plan a meeting - invite decisionmakers, money-raisers and experts as well as marginalized people who bring important news from the field. He reminds us that we are all citizens of our country but also of our community, and we need to take that responsibility seriously. While many sincere people perceive needs and want to help, they will have to galvanize their vague aspirations and work with a collective gestalt in order to achieve concrete goals.

Here is one example of the radical way that Block approaches the issue of community building: "We need to tell people not to be helpful. Trying to be helpful and giving advice are really ways to control others. In community building we want to substitute curiosity for advice. No call to action." It is input like this that makes Block's work so groundbreaking and, among serious community workers, so popular.

In order to transform our communities, we have to be willing to transform ourselves. For some this will be relatively easy - a quick shift in inner orientation - and for others it will require more deep trenching. In a profound sense, aspiring to improve our environment and assist our neighbors requires that we improve ourselves. That is the challenge of community and the rallying cry of Community.


Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Barbara Bamberger Scott, 2008

The Tamarack Institute is a truly rich resource for those of us working in community. They recently surveyed 501 people and asked them the question: What does belonging mean to you?

Below is the leader story from Tamarack's site and pdf file with all the reponses.

462 people responded to the question: What does belonging mean to you?

Jean Vanier says that belonging does for human beings what soil does for plants: it nurtures us, and enables us to grow and to blossom.

That’s certainly what came through in the survey responses.

“Belonging,” wrote one respondent, “means feeling safe to be who you are without fear.”

Most of all, belonging is about being – it’s about sense, emotion, relationship - it is at the essence of where we all want to be. It’s a place and a feeling we yearn for. And, when we feel as though we belong, we are in community.

As Paul [Born] continues his research and writing for his forthcoming book Seeking Community - Finding Belonging in Chaotic Times, he’ll share his thoughts on his blog. Join him there, or email Tamarack, with your responses and thoughts on belonging.

If you ever find yourself in Austin, Texas definitely check out Zilker Park for its great running trails. Beautiful routes, great water fountains, and even a couple of showers to wet your head if you are too hot! Fantastic! Did my 10km tempo run there (although not too sure if it was really tempo...)

Even a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn to check out along the way...

Belonging

The longer we journey on the road to inner healing and wholeness, the more the sense of belonging grows and deepens. The sense is not just one of belonging to others and to a community. It is a sense of belonging to the universe, to the earth, to the air, to the water, to everything that lives, to all humanity. If the community gives a sense of belonging, it also helps us to accept our aloneness in a personal meeting with God. Through this, the community is open to the universe and to humankind.

Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 17

Training for this marathon will not only involve me doing a lot of running distance-wise, but will also involve me doing a lot of running in hotel gyms. Had my first hotel treadmill experience--considered running outside, but is super humid here in San Antonio and have no clue where to run, so just decided to bite the bullet and run in the hotel gym (Holiday Inn Riverwalk in San Antonio= not the best gym)....But I managed to do the 6m I was supposed to do tonight and also managed to calculate what 6kms is in miles...well, had some help with that...otherwise known as conversion calculator.