IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES
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July 2020
The Taos Institute's mission is to bring together scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value, and their application in relational, collaborative and appreciative practices around the world.
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The Many Ways to Get Involved!
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Brief Encounter with The Taos Institute
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As I wrote, recalling our many light-hearted and productive exchanges, my heart filled with joy. It was as good for me to conjure my gratitude for her as it was for her to get it.
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Listening with others creates a circle of joy that enables shared learning and reveals words and practices that nurture our souls together.
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Circles of Joy: Micro Appreciations
for Challenging Times
Thriving Women, Thriving World: An Invitation to Dialogue, Healing and Inspired Actions
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Several weeks ago, I got a phone call from seven year old Ellee who exclaimed, “Aunt Di, thank you so much, it is the first real letter I ever got in the mail. I really like it.” I was as delighted to receive Ellee’s phone call as she was to receive a letter from me. Together we co-created a circle of joy, a small relational practice that gave us both a reason to smile, even at a time when our smiles are covered by masks.
Something similar happened a few days later when I was on a zoom meeting with a group of colleagues. You know the routine, everyone briefly checks in: where are you, how are you, who are you with? One colleague shared that she had been home for a month –alone. As she spoke it was apparent –even via zoom– that she was feeling a bit down and might enjoy some long-distance appreciation. I suggested we give her an “appreciative shower,” that we immerse her in words of appreciation. We agreed that within the next 24 hours we would each send her an email of appreciation, telling her what we admire and respect about her, what we value about her contributions to our shared work, and what we imagine for her future. As I wrote, recalling our many light-hearted and productive exchanges, my heart filled with joy. It was as good for me to conjure my gratitude for her as it was for her to get it. The next day we received an email from her telling us how significant it was “to be seen and positively acknowledged, especially when sheltering at home alone.” Circles of joy, small gestures of appreciation that shine the light on another can illuminate the darkness of being alone.
Especially now, it can be challenging to know what words and practices will resonate, opening hearts and minds to learning, love and joy; and what words and practices might unintentionally offend, tearing the relational fabrics of our lives. Recently, as I read a friend’s Facebook post, I wondered, how might I compassionately express respect and care for her? As a black woman, sharing her thoughts and feelings about Black Lives Matter and racial justice, she was clear, she would unfriend anyone making racially divisive comments. I took a chance and responded, “I will take a knee with you until our knees are old and weary.” Her response to me was an immediate, “thank you, yes we are all in this together.” Another small circle of joy, not because I told her my thoughts and opinions, but because I was able to be with her. Circles of joy grow from what is called the “platinum rule – do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” Listening with others creates a circle of joy that enables shared learning and reveals words and practices that nurture our souls together.
In this time of dramatic endings and delicate new beginnings, when you wonder, what can I do to create positive change, hold your values close and act small. Micro appreciations such as circles of joy, can change the relational context of our lives. Today, consider:
- To whom might you send a “real letter”? Is there someone for whom it might be a first? Or someone for whom it can be an important reminder that they are seen even if alone?
- Who do you know who might be in need of an appreciative shower? With whom might you organize an outpouring of appreciation?
- Do you need an appreciative shower? Who might you ask to organize it for you?
- Which of your relationships might benefit from more listening and less telling, by practicing the platinum rule?
Wishing our Taos community around the globe good health and healing. We are all in this together. Whatever you do, do it to create equality, justice and well-being for all. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Listen and talk 6 feet apart. Black Lives Matter. Vote.
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A beautiful collaboration between the Taos Institute and Positivity Strategist has emerged to create this podcast series
– a first for the Taos Institute!
We invite you to listen to authors of the forthcoming
Sage Handbook of Social Constructionist Practice
as
they share stories of innovation in their respective fields across the world: education, healthcare, therapy and more.
To receive notifications of these shows as they go live every two weeks and to listen to past episodes, please visit
Season 5 Podcast
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Social therapeutics as a playful, performatory, philosophical methodology for person and community development is the topic explored in this episode. Influenced by three intellectual traditions, it seeks to bring meaning to our relational processes in collaborative and appreciative ways to elevate human connection and bridge cultural divides.
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FREE WEBINAR
August 20, 2020 - 10:00 am - 11:00 pm, New York time
by
Diana Whitney, Caroline Adams Miller, Tanya Cruz Teller,
Marlene Ogawa, Jessica Cocciolone, Haesun Moon, Kathryn Britton,
Angela Koh & Alejandra Leon de la Barra
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About the book
This book is a bold illustration of how to transform deficit-based narratives about global social issues into positive possibilities for healing and systemic transformation. It is a journey from #MeToo to thriving women via appreciative inquiry, collaborative action, dialogue, and life affirming story-telling. The book includes a compelling foreword by Taos Institute co-founder, Mary Gergen; and provocative chapters filled with Appreciative Inquiry questions, poems, stories, and practices to make a positive difference in the relational lives of women and girls at home, at school and at work. Thriving Women, Thriving World is an infinitely useful book - to prompt book group dialogues, to foster social change, to guide organizational initiatives, and to enhance personal and relational coaching practices.
About the Dialogue
During this discussion, the authors of
Thriving Women, Thriving World will share why and how they collaborated to address global issues of gender abuse and inequality. Each author will share how they are in the book, and how the book lives in them! They will describe their collective determination to apply Appreciative Inquiry and social constructionist practices to create a set of tools to flip conversations and ultimately relational realities away from patriarchy toward equality and thriving for all. After a brief overview of Chapter 13: Five Arts of Thriving, they will invite you to discuss how you find yourself in the book. And finally they will facilitate a discussion of how the book has been used and might be used in book groups, families, communities and organizations.
About the Authors
The authors are a team of internationally recognized leaders, consultants, coaches, and speakers. Their collective expertise in Appreciative Inquiry, positive psychology and diversity, equity and inclusion frame the pages of their book, and illuminate generative possibilities for conversations and stories to create a world that works for everyone.
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Professional Development Opportunities
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Do you want to expand your professional potential, explore a vision, follow your curiosity, bring about an innovation for a more promising future? Would you like a mentor, coach and conversation partner who will support, inspire, and challenge you to reach your goals?
An Outstanding Faculty of Global Thought Leaders
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The
faculty for this program includes acclaimed university scholars from the U.S., Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Greece, and more. Advisors are hand-picked to ensure the best match between their area of expertise and the students' projects (and based on the students' preferred language when possible). Taos Advisors are practitioners, consultants, keynote speakers, researchers, published authors, and organizational leaders in fields such as Education, Organization Development, Mental Health, Community Change, Social Justice, Social Work, or Spirituality/Religion. The
Diploma in Social Construction and Professional Practice offers a unique opportunity to work closely with one of the Taos Associates or Board Members! Advisors provide guidance and support from the early stages of planning to the final completion of the diploma project.
Contact
diploma@taosinstitute.net to learn more about the exciting collaboration opportunities that await in our Diploma Program.
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Featured Website
The Constellation is a network of individuals, groups, communities and organisations all over the world, facilitating local responses and fostering ownership through appreciative approaches. Since 2005, they have made a difference in more than 50 countries in areas such as sanitation, AIDS, education, or aging with dignity.
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Featured Book - Free Download
By Corina Ahlers
This book is filled with tender, funny and frustrating scenes, as Viennese and Syrian cultures meet and mingle, and sometimes clash. The author, family therapist and teacher Corina Ahlers, describes her experience as she opened her home in a suburb of Vienna to Syrian refugees. Inter-cultural experiences of a great variety are described, as Corina, her husband, Reinhard, and their dog, invite their new residents to share in the Austrian lifestyle, and as they open themselves to traditions foreign to them.
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International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practices
This free journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants interested in postmodern collaborative practices. Issue 8 is now available.
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WorldShare Books
FREE downloadable books in 12 different languages.
With over 30 books in English and many more from around the world, you will enjoy reading about education, spirituality, organizational life, community building, group dynamics, leadership and more.
Order your free book today!
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Positive Aging Newsletter
By focusing on the positive aspects of aging, and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research not only brings useful insights into the realm of practice but creates hope and empowers action among older people. By moving beyond practices of repair and prevention, to emphasize growth-enhancing activities, practitioners also contribute more effectively to the societal reconstruction of aging.
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Manuscripts for Downloading
Access hundreds of articles and papers on topics such as:
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Collaborative Practices
- Dialogue
- Appreciative Cultures
- Creativity and Improve
- Narrative Practices
- Relational Learning
- Relational Research
- Qualitative Research
- and so much more!
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Donate to the Taos Institute
Given the current global context into which we are moving, the work in which we are engaged is more important than ever. We invite you support the work of institute.
Read more
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John Shotter Memorial Fund
John Shotter's death on December 8, 2016, was a profound loss for the scholarly world, for the Taos Institute, and for many of us personally.
Read more
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Jane Magruder Watkins Memorial Fund
We remember Jane as an avid educator. This fund will support students who apply for a need-based scholarship to attend the various Taos programs.
Read more
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Peggy Penn WorldShare Fund
Supports the publication of new WorldShare Books on topics related to the work and interests of Peggy Penn, Ph.D.
Read more
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