Category: Community

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Family, Parenting —

Three Things I Wish People Would Stop Doing and Saying to Pregnant Parents {and what they could do instead}

May 6, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 05 06 Four Things I Wish People Would Stop Doing and Saying to Expecting Parents

As discussed last week, a pregnancy is a very intimate affair and yet has a certain community-oriented side which I have been very lucky to experience both as a non-pregnant and pregnant community member. There are still, however, many boundaries that need to be respected.  Learning how to identify and respect these boundaries is further… Read More Three Things I Wish People Would Stop Doing and Saying to Pregnant Parents {and what they could do instead}

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Governance —

Eeny-meeny-mino-mo, catch a leader by the toe…

May 3, 2016

It’s election season in North America! Just like Thanksgiving, Canada went first, and soon the US will follow. These elections are being touted as being of particular importance; after watching the markets go up and down in the last couple of weeks, I have come to the brilliantly original conclusion that it’s because things aren’t… Read More Eeny-meeny-mino-mo, catch a leader by the toe…

— Community, Community Building, Governance, Personal Development —

Coherence: Asking of our Leaders only What We Work For Ourselves

May 3, 2016
Sahar's Blog Coherence Asking of our Leaders only What We Work For Ourselves

I have been keeping abreast (as much as my poor heart can take it) of the horrific events in and around Syria. The photograph of the drowned little boy shocked me just like it did many others; the outcry following it made me initially quite happy; perhaps his sacrifice would mean that others wouldn’t have… Read More Coherence: Asking of our Leaders only What We Work For Ourselves

— Community, Community Building, Community Development, Governance —

A New Kind of Leader: Stepping Away From Old Conceptions of Leadership

May 3, 2016
Sahar's Blog 2016 05 03 A New Kind of Leader Stepping Away From Old Conceptions of Leadership

My concern about the advancement of humanity through the development of each community makes me naturally think a lot about the question of what makes a good leader.  I find myself often wondering how the conceptions about leadership that I encounter in my reading and in my conversations with other can ever pave the way… Read More A New Kind of Leader: Stepping Away From Old Conceptions of Leadership

— 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, 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

— Community —

Violence in the Media We Consume: Is it worth the risk?

April 12, 2016

The most recent rape scene in Game of Thrones is serving as a potent form of fuel for an ongoing debate: does exposure to violence in the media we consume cause behavioral problems or not? Does it do so for only an at-risk segment of the population? Would limiting the creation of violent media solve… Read More Violence in the Media We Consume: Is it worth the risk?

— 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