Horse Play

We have a horse in the house! A horse named Beemer.

Affectionately named after a pony she met at the Jackson rodeo last 4^th of July, Luji’s horse is a sparkly pink hula hoop (“spinner hoop”) on which she has been racing around our house for the last couple of weeks; effectively inventing her own and redefining our idea of horse play.

Her vivid imagination has drawn us in. Invited to announce her first race, we now hold horse races several times per day, complete with starting gates, enthusiastic announcers, and a chance for an admiring audience to pet the winning Beemer.

The course around and around the couch ensures tons of exercise as Luji and her faithful pony race at top speed to edge out their competitors. More than a commuter tool, Beemer is her friend. She talks to him, encourages him when he feels sluggish or tired, celebrates him when he works hard and succeeds. She feeds him, brushes him, and settles him in his “pen” at night. It is a labor of love. She freely admits, “Mom, horses are a lot of work!”

The imagination and thoughtfulness of this little creature never ceases to amaze me.

And it makes me wonder: how would the world be if we as adults could magically embrace this sense of wonder and open play? What kind of world would we live in if the kid in each of us was celebrated every day rather than suppressed in fear of being judged or humpfed at? I’m not sure my imagination is creative enough to answer these questions.

Maybe a ride on Beemer with my vivacious four-year-old daughter will help.

Giddy-up.

12 in 2012!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Woop!

It starts today! It was a beautiful desert morning in Southern Utah for the first of 12 races I have committed to finishing in 2012. Yep. Me.

Amy (fittingly, one of the original inspiring girls) planted the idea in my mind just before the New Year and surprisingly, I immediately loved it: run 12 races in 2012! So simple. And such a commitment.

I’ve run one race in my life and while I liked that I did it, in all honesty it did not speak to my heart. Finishing races as a way to reward myself for creating natural habits, however, seems to. It fits in well with my desire to live an active lifestyle...as a fundamental part of maintaining a soulful existence...and even I have to admit there is a pure sense of accomplishment and pride in oneself that goes along with finishing a race. That feeling alone is a motivator and if this year’s first race was any indication, it will be a productive one.

So thank you, Amy, for sharing your inspiring goal with me. It has already made a wonderfully positive impact on my life in 2012 and I can’t wait to finish a few of these races with you!

And if anyone out there wishes to join me: you have an open invitation. Just share your desire and I’ll share my race plans. After all, you might just develop a motivating little personal race series to enhance your own evolving natural habits.

One down, 11 to go. Run on, Girls.

Beaming

Once again my 4½-year-old has inspired me to the core.

She called me last night via iChat to say goodnight (I’m here, she’s there, once again) and the first thing she did after saying “Hi Mom!” was to open a book she had checked out from her preschool and read it to me - from cover to cover.

She had waited patiently all day to read her book with me.

I am still beaming.

Mixology

My passions in life are like ingredients for edgy cocktails: a mix of creativity and education, collaboration and innovation, anthropology and leadership, design and entrepreneurship, blended together in varying amounts to reach a desired flavor with maximum impact...and always rimmed with a global perspective.

A recent life cocktail was the annual meeting of the Horasis global visioning community in Zurich. 100 business, government and academic leaders from around the world connected in an intimate, action-oriented meeting to address our world's current economic and sustainable growth challenges.

The meeting's theme was "Thriving on Risk." In the end the general consensus is that we, as global citizens, consistently operate in a risky environment - which this group perhaps not surprisingly views instead as opportunity in the making. From capitalizing on the complementary roles of males and females in leadership to a focus on creating disruptive solutions to our worlds various crises by tapping into our spiritual barometer, inclusiveness and collaboration in this risky environment will define our approach to the many challenges of 2012.

Themes aside, the expertise and connections of this group (a cocktail of its own!) are beyond impressive. But what makes Horasis fundamentally different from other organizations is how these powerful, successful folks leave their posturing at the door and let their true personalities shine through. Founder Frank-Jurgen Richter sets the tone for collegial interaction, showing what is possible when you place trust in others and take care to build honest, lasting personal and professional relationships.

Horasis is a community of global visionaries committed to making our world a better place. For everyone. The topics addressed are complicated and challenging, and the people addressing them are warm and inviting. For an innovative anthropologist like me it is an intriguing culture where new ideas and differing viewpoints are not only helpful, they are encouraged and embraced.

For these reasons, as Horasis continues to evolve, I will proactively support our own mix of inclusive growth - advocating for an even broader sweep in backgrounds, interests and experience to add depth in perspective and brilliance in ideas…crafting a vibrant cocktail of inspired, sustainable human-centered solutions.

I AM

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a design class to give feedback to students on their final projects. One of the students had created a short video to advertise his idea for improving students’ experience on campus. He called his idea I AM.

It’s simple really. He suggested that the campus community don a button (think a quirky campaign badge from the 1970s) that reads “I AM _______.” Each of us fills in the blank, sharing something about ourselves that our students and colleagues probably don’t know, sparking conversation with people and around issues on which we may never otherwise connect.

Some of the video “I AMs” included “I AM Colorful,” “I AM 40,” and I AM Alone,” and “I AM Creative.” The descriptions were diverse and real. The video was well done. It was a refreshing approach to learning about our community, one member at a time. And it was already having an effect: each of the mentors and nearly all the students present remarked on how moved they were by this student’s simple, inspiring idea.

Moved as we were, our reactions varied. Some easily identified a word, wrote it on their button, and casually pinned it to their backpack. Others fingered their button, looking at it, looking into space, clearly contemplating what word would describe them concretely enough to write on a button. Others simply stuck the button in their packs or left them quietly on the desk as they left class that final day.

My button has remained thoughtfully attached to my bag while I consider how I wish to fill that flirty little blank; that space that exists to share something special about me; to create Opportunity. Adventure. Success.

At last I have decided what to do: I shall simply leave it blank. For you see, for me, the button as is serves its purpose. That beautifully simple open space has started more conversations than I can count, and it allows me the latitude to define myself in the moment – which, in the end, is most authentic for me.


Now I wonder, what might your button say?

Tegla

If you have never heard of Tegla Loroupe, your inspiration arsenal is not complete. If you have, you will perhaps understand the intense honor it was for me to meet her in person yesterday.

Tegla was born in Kenya and began running - barefoot - during her 10km trek each day to and from school. For all of us non-metric folks, that is over 12 miles! She has gone on to become one of the most celebrated female runners of all time and a global ambassador for peace.

Her panel's topic at the Horasis Annual Meeting in Zurich was titled "Thriving on Risk - Ensuring Inclusive Growth." Tegla was the only non-business person on the panel, yet she embodies perhaps better than anyone both of these ideals in a very real, very practical way. I felt, from the moment I met her and shook her hand, that she is a warm, passionate, compassionate, and incredibly intelligent woman. As I absorbed her story and her thoughts on Risk in Sport, I learned she is also courageous, strong, collaborative, humble and diplomatic. She saw a very risky opportunity to use something she loves, and is beyond good at - running - as a catalyst for peace. And she is succeeding.

For me, Tegla's panel was the highlight of this meeting, and meeting her personally was a truly inspiring gift. Of the many things she talked about there was one that especially caught my attention: her choice to leave her job in 1994 to move to another country and pursue a career as a professional runner. She stated that this decision opened more doors for her [personally, as well as for the global peace effort] than staying to earn money ever could have. She believed in herself, put her passion front and center, and transformed it into a global tool for good.

I hope we can all find, and seize, Tegla in each of us. If we do, the possibilities are endless.

Happy 2012! Shape Away!

Happy New Year, Inspiring Girls!

Turns out we all seemed to need a couple of months off during the holidays to recharge. Traveling back and forth between a new home and an old job poses some interesting challenges - and more importantly, many very sweet family moments. And the holidays this year were a firm reminder to spend my precious time and energy with the ones, doing the things, that really matter.

I'm in Salt Lake tonight. My husband and daughter are at home in a different city. It's my third night away from them. As much as I appreciate being able to focus on my work, and spending time with my colleagues and friends here, Friday can't come soon enough. During our bed time phone call tonight, Luji told me, in her most sincerely loving voice, "I miss you soooo much, Mom, from my heart." We talked for quite a while, my four-year-old and I. Guess a little long distance love is what matters most just now.

So here is to a 2012 full of moments that matter. To spending our time and energy on the stuff that means the most to each of us. To making a difference on our terms, in our own special, unique, glorious ways. And to not wasting our precious resources on crap that drags us down, makes us worry, feel inferior or question our own place in this world.

After all, as some guy named Gary Lew apparently said (which I recently read on a goofy coffee mug), "This is your world. Shape it or someone else will."

It's up to us. Let's get to shaping, shall we?