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In all honesty, patience is hard, especially in the northeast. Even when the calendar says spring, green shoots from the bulbs are barely able push their way through the hard, cold ground. Seeking color, we resorted to the grocery store garden store and filled vases with tulips & iris. As you can see, the tulips bloomed beautifully, began to respond to their surroundings, explore, stretch. The iris barely made it out of the spathes & secondary buds, never got to fully express themselves. And, this made me think of our work with youth & young adults in the midst of a massive opioid epidemic, with “leaders” of all stripes at a complete loss. Some are lucky enough to be tulips, but too many have become irises. Dying before they’ve ever had a chance to live.
We’re tired of patiently waiting for the politicians & clinicians to figure out a solution. We hope to offer meaningful tools & resources for young people, their families and communities so we can all enjoy the delicious produce of our shared garden. Only 6 days until spring! Most of our seeds are planted and have started to germinate! Can’t wait to see the 2022 Planting Guide @81 come to life in real time, let alone taste the delicious produce!!! What did we say? Patience…
That was advice I never recall hearing unless it had to do with any behavior I might be engaged in that was objectionable to the advice giver(s).
I never heard many things. That explains an incessant drive to learn. Those pursuits have not always been in the mainstream. That cost me family, friends and whatever experiences I would have had with them. But I did get a kaleidoscopic cache of deep, caring suggestions like the one that titles this blog entry from other interactions along the way. And those became the seeds that sprouted into our coaching framework, MTCoaching. Guided by the maxim "less effort, better outcome". Now that's good advice! Learning the ropes of self-production and publishing digital content. Us as is. Learning. Doing. Dreaming. Much Light...Blair & Fell (click below for more info) artrepreneur.space
Three trees all imbued with the same dream...stand upon a plinth in the front yard.
With a little help. The same yet different. Exactly. Just like every moment. Metaphors and recycling. It's what we do here @81! We gathered to cast off 2021 & welcome 2022 with a shared art installation titled, Repurposed Pinery - not quite done Design by fellblair ningwalla Installation by friends, shared experience, peer support (knot4sail) With the help of more than a few friends and fellow travelers we repurposed a dozen Christmas trees. Renewal for the trees and simple thinking combined to create a momentary community of fun, friends, fire for us and lots of excitement for the birds and squirrels. Not bad for a few hours!
The consensus is we need snow to make it pop and we found a plinth! Enough reasons to book it again next year!
 Here is the email from our latest piece of ART @81...please steal this idea! Hi there!
Thank you again for taking the time to visit... and, for the tour of your fabulous facility; you are such a meaningful resource in our community & I cannot wait to see your full vision come to fruition! So... here's a link to @81, our new immersive coaching environment/micro-retreat. We offer space, time & customized experiences for individuals, partnerships & small groups... built on the following frameworks: Common Arts 2-Week Stretch Stage & Space This year, in our art room, as we set up our "tree" we birthed a new holiday tradition -- the ART of GIVING -- and designated Meals on Wheels of Chemung County as the sole recipient. We encouraged all visitors, clients, etc. to toss change directly onto the wooden floor (it sounded AMAZING). The check I dropped at your office today represents the tangible results of this initiative... I hope the attached pictures capture & convey the intangible joy of all involved. Fell & I remain committed to helping MOW in whatever creative ways you might imagine -- from culinary &/or facility service, to a Soup & Muffin Saturday... or even a BIG MONDAY community dinner :) Last, but not least, I truly meant what I said about dropping by @81. We'd love to give you a tour of our community resource & serve as a sounding board for your expansive & imaginative ideas any time. Much light to you and yours, Blair  "Can you touch your toes?"
This question…posed periodically to everyone in our household has become the foundation for MT’s flagship immersive coaching engagement, 2 Week Stretch @81. What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it? How will you accomplish this? Which strengths, skills & tools do you already possess? How will you make the effort last? Or, rephrased in 1-2-3 statement form: Frame your motivations. Build your resources. Sustain what works. Immersive Coaching @81 offers you the opportunity to work with a coach who has been there (peer support) in a prepared environment (Montessori hands-on learning) with curated interactions specific to your goals (personally relevant). For those who have been asking, “What are you doing over there @81?” we trust this sheds a little light on our unfolding adventure! And because we humans learn by doing, we’re getting better all the time. “How?” you ask. After re-reading & a bit of reflection, we KNOW we could have asked a better question at the top of this post. Not, can you touch your toes, but rather… do you want to touch your toes? A tiny shift in perspective can make all the difference… leading us down new paths, looking forward, learning even more. It’s all in a day’s work @81. Ever drink from a hose that is running so hard the water finds the easiest path to continue its powerful journey...out your nose? It's a simple lesson really, that old simple lesson, "the path of least resistance" or, the more recent "go with the flow" mantra of acceptance. Either way it's been a busy two weeks! Last time we posted we just launched our new enterprise, @81. And a big launch it was with a Seeds, Garlic & Gardens Weekend (11/6-7/2021). We accomplished all we set out to do and more! Enjoy the slideshow and we look forward to your visit!
Meaningful Trainings partners, Blair Jennings & Fell Cadwallader (us😉) have shifted professional roles nine times over 34 years. We are 57 and 58 respectively and tailwinds are indeed blowing us homeward. So, it is with total abandon and precise intention we once again begin anew!
Welcome to Day 1 @81! Like everything we create at Meaningful Trainings @81 began as a series of questions:
Well, we’re going to find out. Today is the day we begin creating from scratch. Leaning into a horticulture metaphor, today we’ll begin the germination process. Our 1st & 15th blog will chronicle the journey from idea to a reality – in REAL TIME. Check back every 15 (or so) days… to track our progress! Like we said, @81 is open! Stop by & join us! Albeit softly, we are indeed launching this idea! This weekend (11/6 & 7) we’ll host our @81 Fall Seeds, Garlic & Garden interactive workshop. To celebrate this season’s planting window, we’ll bury more than 200 garlic seeds, collect even more flower & vegetable seeds from the drying/dying plants of 2021’s harvest, package & label them for next Spring’s planting, build fires, cook healthy food & enjoy easy company. @81 is a suburban oasis @81 provides SPACE & TIME to learn, do, heal & GROW @81 facilitates discernment & communication for individuals and groups @81 offers hands-on, guided experiences within a peer support framework @81 welcomes engaged humans seeking relevant answers for life’s oldest questions WOOHOO!!! Away we go… November 1st, 2021 is Day 1 @81! No need for me to go on with effusive promises of no more lapsed promises! You'll see. So get ready and keep your calendar open for the weekend of 11/6-7/21. Starting the annual cycle with our Gardens, Garlic & Seeds Weekend. Okay, here's another teaser...a sneak peak of the fresh sawed wood for the Stage@81. Told you we are serious...;-)  Almost there. To be quite honest, no one is waiting for @81. Yet Reality seems to say what was once primordial evolved into today! So too we imagine for @81! Here is a sticker from a Meaningful Trainings experiential resource that never fades out of style!    I was in the garden picking this fall crop of purple beans. Very exciting. Very. Good things are on the way, we promise! How about a sneak peak? Okay... It's called @81...  It's our long awaited retreat and facilitation space! And it's about to open...
How about a sneak peek at our first Fall weekend: Seeds, Garlic & Gardens - Fall into Spring, the weekend of November 5-7, 2021? Coming soon...;-) AS this long ago become not a blog, we have exercised our prerogative to skip a few bylines. (Three by my count, but who's counting?). Over four years of barely to never read blog posts you might be thanking me for the respite!
Check back in September for some exciting announcements and opportunities at our newest project, @81....get ready! Still offline after the breakdown of The Process.
Big things ahead. Stay tune...;-) ...to let you know we still believe in "The Process".
(go Sixers!) We have met many of you from our work in the establishing of peer support resources for those who suffer from the malady of addiction and compulsion. The following link takes you to another community that has established a dynamic resource of peer support.
I hope you find as many lessons for your practice or ROSC from this amazing resource that proves once again - wellness begins with peer support! https://www.phoenix-society.org/ Smile. Consider how it feels and reacts within you.
Frown. Consider how it feels and reacts within you. Repeat. Contrast the arising energy within you. Endlessly around. Seemingly limitless.
How do I engage with? Create? Fill? Nurture? Is there a limit of space in my mind thoughts dreams potential wonder ? |
Author(s)Blair & Fell expounding, thinking, sharing, hoping, wondering. Archives
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