Photo by Michelangelo Buonarroti courtesy Pexels
“I know that change is possible – and I see it daily. There is always a way to learn and grow, even when it’s hard…” –Sousan Arafeh (Cohort 17)
“Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” –Kevin Ewing (Cohort 8), Through the Storm
“Ecopsychology research and training explores the links between human well-being and nature in many different ways, including how time in nature improves our physical or mental state…” –Rx: Nature
“…we need to have frank discussions about the dynamics of ‘race’ and racism, whiteness and privilege; they stand in direct opposition to the basic American values of liberty and justice for all.” –Gloria Graves Holmes, PhD (Cohort 7), Let’s Talk About Race (Part 3) – ‘The Danger of a Single Story: Race, Whiteness and Privilege
“…unlike beekeepers, we’re all forgetting to pause before we engage with the other side. We are forgetting to prepare ourselves. To calm down and put on our own protective gear. To speak each other’s language. To respect each other’s practices, take care, act cautiously, deliberately, gingerly. We are forgetting to start with a smoker, before yanking at the other colony’s frame filled with hard-won honey…” –Jen Aniskovich (Cohort 10), Beekeeping, the Two-Party System and Getting Stung
“The cruel indifference of history itself has to be echoed in the enterprise of painting. Strange history in which so many people who are black and brown don’t happen to people the great museums throughout the world… I’m interested in using the past in order to break open into the present day.” –Kehinde Wiley in Seeing (and Painting) Anew
“We are all in it together – each person’s actions affect the larger community. Having a sense that one can have little or no impact can be an excuse – conscious or unconscious – for not taking action. Understanding that one can make a difference is motivating…” –Bill Graustein, Our Adaptive Challenge – A Geek’s Perspective on COVID-19 in Community
“Love is my top core value. It is what drives me to do everything. And not necessarily just, ‘I love my children,’ – which I do – or, ‘I love my community,’ which I do. But it’s love for me being my full self and being able to share that. To be who and what I am, to be free, to be myself.” –Shefau Dabre – Educator, Yogi, and Owner of Zen Zilla Yoga and Wellness (Cohort 12)
“…most leaders underestimate their influence over others and thus they and their team underperform… This is the time to pay attention to your emotions, honor and accept them, and inquire and accept the feelings of your team.” –Relly Nadler Psy.D., M.C.C. in Leadership in a “VUCA” World
“Pope Francis said in his encyclical on the environment and social justice, Laudato Si, Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings, above all, that need to change. In support of this shared vision and desire to help create that change, my own work shifted… to helping humans to practice peace and live mindfully on the Earth.” –Jerry Silbert (Cohort 1), COVID-19 Coping, Tenderness, and Listening
“As a society, beyond just this immediate situation, we should start looking forward to understand how this experience is going to change us – or how it should change us. Because this is going to be transformative… on a personal basis, on a social basis, on a systems basis; we’re never going to be the same again.” –New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in On Our Way to New Normal
“Most importantly, take care of your spirit as you go through these days… I am with you in spirit.” –Jolyn Washington-Walker (Cohort 9), Sharing H.O.P.E.
“…remembering that we can be in community while we’re physically distant from each other. I hate the term “social distancing,” because it really is physical distancing. I’ve never been on so many Zoom and phone calls in my life; it’s definitely not social distancing.” –Lucy Gellman (Cohort 24) Interview
“I want to heal my grief and I want to support us all in healing our collective grief, so that we can continue to be here for the children who are growing up in this new reality, the children who remind us that we are in this fight together. The children who remind us to be kind to each other.” –Mercedes Soto (Cohort 5), Collectively Grieving What We Have Lost
“I was taught – and once believed – that the hard facts of science and the unfeeling gleam of technology were all we needed to solve the problem of human suffering, and that poetry was merely a curious diversion. Of course, we must always strive to advance scientific knowledge… yet let us admit that science doesn’t have all the answers, and see that the most innovative science is born of the same unorthodox thinking that inspires poetic expression.” –Rafael Campo in Medicine and the Soul
“Between each of the rows, she carefully places a flower on top of each person, to acknowledge and honor them…” –Laura Altshul (Cohort 6), A COVID-19 Heroine’s Daffodils
“…one thing I see all of us needing is male role model superheroes. And to be clear: by superhero, I mean Everyday Man.” –Bruce A. Lee Trammell Sr., CFLC (Cohort 29), Our New Superhero is Everyday Man
“We know that this virus is particularly insidious inside of lungs, many times requiring people to be placed on ventilators, because they can’t breathe, George Floyd couldn’t breathe. My breath, “every breath you take” is a form of protest, mine and your existence is a form of protest. We breathe. I write. I cry, I breathe, I teach and want action.” –Marian A. Evans (Cohort 19), Ode to Breathe
“When challenged to narrow down to my number one value, I choose ‘faith.’ Faith is what has sustained me through my darkest hours, my most challenging moments…” –Dr. Karen DuBois-Walton (Cohort 9), Faith and Redemption
“We know that it does not take ‘everyone on Earth’ to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale… In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But … that is not what great ships are built for.” –Made for These Times: Dr. Estes’ Reminder, from Niyonu Spann (Cohort 15)
“The story of Now is being created. What we imagine individually and collectively – what is possible – is expanding. What is your statement? How are you showing up? How will you show up? What commitments are you living or evolving into right now? Please share…” –Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10) & Fahd Vahidy (Cohort 7), in Moments, Movements, CLP Alum Commitments
“In a multicultural world that supports the well-being of all its community members, we can create a shared community that is not based on the laws or rules created by one set of people who do not understand the challenges associated with poverty and the toxic stress that results from this poverty or the stress related to adapting to the norms of another country and the isolation that can occur as a result.” –Cameo Thorne (Cohort 27), Meeting Our Needs Through Restorative Practices
“I intend to live the rest of my life with Love, in all the definitions of the name I selected for myself over 30 years ago. I am living intentionally in my Love of all aspects of the Culture of the African Diaspora.” –IfeMichelle Gardin – Writer, Playwright, Elm City LIT Fest Creator/Coordinator (Cohort 2)
“What makes me most angry is that a decree was handed down rather than a conversation being had.” –Lee Lee McKnight (Cohort 17), How to Knock Down a Neighborhood
“…as a leader, I can’t worry about who I’m not anymore, what I can’t do – it’s who I am and what I can do. That’s what’s helping me to get through this.” –Odell Montgomery Cooper (Cohort 15) Interview
“My local Planning and Zoning Commission is a body that has demonstrated an entitled ignorance, hostility to equity, and manners that my mother would have never tolerated. Knowing that seeing no evil, hearing no evil, and speaking no evil allows evil to persist, I’m witnessing and naming it.” –Colleen Shaddox (Cohort 1), The secret to keeping Connecticut segregated: See no evil, hear no evil
“Allow for, and maybe even celebrate, messiness, malfunctions, and ‘mistakes.’ This is not just about cutting people slack and reducing stress, but also inviting ongoing experimentation, improvisation, creativity and playfulness.” –Curtis Ogden, Network Weaving in a Time of Breaking, Unraveling and Hunkering Down
“I’m grateful that together we can do what no one of us can do alone. I’m grateful for love in my life. I’m grateful for the healing of shared experience…” –Chris Cole (Cohort 12), The Gratitude Difference
“Oh what joy, to show up, work, laugh, break rules, and still be loved.” –Cynthia Rojas (Cohort 4), Taking Back Some Control
“At its core, compassionate leadership respects others’ dignity, acknowledges the pain in the room, and values people. The benefits? It builds resilience, deals with stress, and prevents burnout.” –Burnout, Compassion and Remembering Purpose, with Leah Weiss, PhD
Curated by The Circle’s creative director & editor Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10). To reach Lara directly: thecircle@clpnewhaven.org or Lara@LaraHerscovitch.com