Category: Community Building

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Consultation, Family, Governance —

From Governing One’s Family to Governing the World: Learning to Use the Vital Instrument of Consultation

April 26, 2016

Someone recently mentioned that there is no institution older than that of marriage, which really got me thinking. If this institution has been part of human society for millennia, why are we still so terrible at maintaining it, with divorce rates in North America so high? No wonder, then, that so many conversations revolve on… Read More From Governing One’s Family to Governing the World: Learning to Use the Vital Instrument of Consultation

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Consultation —

Why Compete? Building on Strength as an Approach to Seek Truth

April 26, 2016

I have had the amazing opportunity, in the last year or so, to both see and be a part of decision-making processes that were very different from what I had experienced previously. Those processes were based on one person convincing the others that his or her opinion was the best. It felt more like a… Read More Why Compete? Building on Strength as an Approach to Seek Truth

— Community Building, Community Development, Consultation —

Conversing to Consult or Conversing to Convince: Implications for Community Building

April 26, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 04 26 Conversing to Consult or Conversing to Convince Implications for Community Building

Living on different continents allows for the immersion into different types of cultures.  The way these differ is a great way of gaining insight into patterns of behaviour that affect our personal development and our contribution to building vibrant communities. A really interesting surprise was the difference between conversation styles in different cultures.  In some,… Read More Conversing to Consult or Conversing to Convince: Implications for Community Building

— Community Building, Community Development, Empowerement —

Not Breeding Passivity, or Who Would Have Thought that a Simple Dinner Could Turn into an Empowerment Festival?

April 19, 2016

Hospitality is probably as old as humanity itself. I can easily imagine cave people inviting each other over to share fresh mammoth meat around the warmth of a fire. Since those (very) simple times, hospitality has evolved into a complex concept that varies from culture to culture, but also from one socioeconomic background to another.… Read More Not Breeding Passivity, or Who Would Have Thought that a Simple Dinner Could Turn into an Empowerment Festival?

— Community Building, Community Development, Empowerement, Personal Development —

Positive, Powerful, and Empowering: Standing Up for Compassionate Justice in the Face of Sexual Abuse

April 13, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 04 13 Positive Powerful and Empowering Standing Up for Compassionate Justice in the Face of Sexual Abuse

Sahar’s Blog’s editorial calendar is pretty clear: Wednesdays are dedicated to product reviews.  But once in awhile, things happen and plans change. One of these things is an amazingly powerful post Martha uploaded a little under a month ago.  In it, she discusses how she was affected after being sexually abused by a family friend… Read More Positive, Powerful, and Empowering: Standing Up for Compassionate Justice in the Face of Sexual Abuse

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Personal Development —

Voicing Our Concern for Injustice: It Starts at the Very Foundation of Our Societies

April 12, 2016

If you are a long time reader of my blog, it will come as absolutely no surprise that I am a firm believer in the power of the individual to make a difference. And I believe in this power not only in the small or even medium things, but in the big things. One such… Read More Voicing Our Concern for Injustice: It Starts at the Very Foundation of Our Societies

— Celebrity Culture, Community, Community Building, Empowerement, Personal Development —

Respecting Human Dignity While Working to Eliminate Rape

April 10, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2015 10 10 Lady Gaga's new video

“Till It Happens To You” is Lady Gaga’s powerful new song which she co-wrote for use in the documentary on campus rape in the United States called “The Hunting Ground.” The numbers make it clear that drastic action is needed to raise the kind of men who would never degrade themselves to subjecting someone to… Read More Respecting Human Dignity While Working to Eliminate Rape

— Community, Community Building, Media, TV —

Community-Building and Friendship in the Era of Friends and The Big Bang Theory

March 29, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2015 06 15 Community-Building and Friendship in the Era of Friends and The Big Bang Theory

A community is in part defined by the relationships that binds its inhabitants. More specifically, the number of relationships, their nature, and their quality will have a big influence on the life the community. Both Friends and The Big Bang Theory have given millions of fans something that seems to be, on screen, very healthy:… Read More Community-Building and Friendship in the Era of Friends and The Big Bang Theory

— Community Building —

Building Understanding in an Increasingly Multicultural World

March 1, 2016

The topic of building understanding in an increasingly multicultural world has been touched upon a couple of times on this blog (here, here, and here). But while it’s easy to agree on the importance of building understanding, it’s not as easy to come up with ways to do it. Oftentimes, the answer to such big… Read More Building Understanding in an Increasingly Multicultural World

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Personal Development —

Developing Virtues: Never One At the Expense of Another

March 1, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 03 01 Developing Virtues Never One at the Expense of Another

Last June, I came across an article by John Haltiwanger in which he explained why optimists are always late. While articles such as his do help understand how people—ourselves or others—think and function, the way Haltiwanger went about excusing lateness as a natural consequence of a virtue didn’t jive well with me. I felt that… Read More Developing Virtues: Never One At the Expense of Another