The Sheer Force of Sorrow

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connecting, courage, death, destroy, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, force, grief, health, humanity, life, Life's like that, living in the moment, loss, love, memories, paradox, power, save

When you use the sheer force of your sorrow to crack open your heart, it promises to drop you down into a deeper capacity for compassion and care for all living beings. You become initiated into your own humanity in a way that connects you to all life. Such is the paradox of grief. It holds the power to either destroy or to save you. Which one is up to you.

Katherine Woodward Thomas

● DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ●

You Have More In Common With The World Than You Think

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200 words, common ground, community, connecting, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, differences, DNA, doing the right thing, family, Fear, in common, justice, life, love, Relationships, talents, vulnerability

We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.

William James (1842-1910)

The things that make people interesting are their unique talents. Like someone whose guitar playing moves us, or someone whose storytelling captivates us, whose art transports us, whose passion inspires us to change the course we’re on.

Sadly some things that make us different also divide us, like the colour of our skin, our level of education, our societal status, our culture, our belief system. Different takes us out of our comfort zone, makes us feel vulnerable. The unknown is frightening.

So we vilify those who aren’t like us. ‘They’ are less civilized, less intelligent than us. We create rules and laws that hurt them. We find ways to protect ourselves from them while overlooking the injustices we impose upon them.

The above quote is a good metaphor to clearly illustrate how we are all connected. What will it take for us to remember that although we are separate on the surface, we are very connected in the deep?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES

I am so moved when the woman in the video learns she has a cousin in the room…

 

Face to Face

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200 words, addiction, alone, community, connecting, depression, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, family, health, herd mentality, human nature, humanity, interaction, interdependent, isolation, living in the moment, love, Relationships, social, teamwork, technology

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

– Albert Einstein

I’m sure that when we first got mail service, a mother who missed her adult son said, “Now he doesn’t have to visit, he just writes a letter,” and it broke her heart.

And I’ll bet when we first got telephones that some jilted lover missed seeing her man face-to-face when he called.

And TV sure did it’s part to break up the family conversation around the dinner table.

But we got used to these things. With the passing of time, we became accustomed to each new way of communicating and being, and only bemoaned technology when a new one popped up.

These days with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, texting, it’s almost like technology is enabling us to connect again.

But is it really?

When you don’t see facial expressions or reactions, are you really connecting?

With record numbers of people struggling with depression, addiction and loneliness and countless others thinking suicide is their best option, isn’t it time we reexamine the value of connecting one-to-one and creating a sense of belonging through community?

Isn’t it time for us to get face-to-face?

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Doing Things Together Is Like Magic To Me

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building community, common ground, community, compassion, connecting, heart-to-heart, Hump Day Chronicles, laughter, life, living in the moment, love, mission, passion, Purpose, Relationships, stories, vision, working together, world issues

We can do more together than can be accomplished alone

This last week has served to remind me how much I value, and how important community is. Community, or a sense of belonging if you will, drives us to discover the things we have in common and start from there to create something beautiful together.

On Thursday night from 6:30PM to 3:30AM on Friday, I volunteered with a group of people, some of whom I’d never met, at a local casino to raise funds for Oxford House Foundation of Canada. It was only the second time I’d ever worked a volunteer shift at a casino. And oh man, staying up all night is not as easy to bounce back from as it was in my twenties! A month or two ago I worked a day shift for another wonderful organization called Fresh Start.

I gotta tell ya, both volunteer shifts were incredibly fun in that I always like learning new things and I always love meeting new people. The outstanding part of this experience for me, has got to be the fact that over the two days that a non-profit organization hosts a casino, up to 40 volunteers are needed to make it work. And they all work together, very hard I might add, to benefit a specific charity.

It really is something of great value when opportunities like this arise and one is able to take part in them!

On the following Saturday, I was invited to speak to a group of about hundred people on fundraising. Fundraising is both a science and an art, and I focused my talk on the art.

The art is all about relationships. And relationships are all about two-way communication, learning from each other and adding and gaining value from working together. In essence, it’s about building community which just happens to be my core passion!

My talk was divided into parts including: Know yourself and know others. One of the best ways to build solid relationships is to connect through stories: telling your story, learning their story and building a story together.

In other words, my story with the challenges I’ve faced and the resolutions I’ve come to have shaped who I am, what I value, what I am passionate about and why. The same is true of your story. When I know myself and I know you and what your values and passions are, we can find ways to be together for the greater good to create a better world for all of us. We are committed through our common values, passion and goals.

Now that’s like magic to me! What could possibly be more meaningful than that?

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

What is one of your favourite stories about working with a group toward a common goal? What was one of the challenges you have faced in your life that has made you who you are today? Which values did you adopt because of it? What are you passionate about?

 

Technology: Does It Connect or Disconnect Us?

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cell phone, communication, community, connecting, family, First World Problems, friends, social, social media, stories, technology, Tourist in my own city

A recurring conversation I find myself a part of, is whether technology has marked the end of connecting with people or opened up a way to connect that would not have been possible in days gone by.

Louise wrote on Monday in her post 52 Acts of Grace l week 2 about how difficult it is to share even a smile with people on the sidewalk or C-train, because most folks seem to be staring at the tiny screen on their cell phone.

I’m sure we can all share tales of being at meetings or out with friends only to be interrupted or completely ignored because someone is texting or Facebooking or Tweeting or taking selfies or…

I’ve been guilty of it myself.

I have a friend who admonishes me every time I take a picture, convinced that I’m missing the real-life-sized experience when I’m looking at it through the screen of my Blackberry Q10.

And I admit that any picture I’ve ever taken pales in comparison to the beautiful beach, mountain range or sunset I view in person with my own eyes.

Maybe while trying to capture the moment, I lose it all together.

And then there’s safety!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been walking down the street and I have to stop dead in my tracks, because the person approaching me is staring at that screen, completely unaware of what’s going on around them.  I cannot guess if they will go left or right and so I stop. When they finally sense my presence it shocks them – some have even given me dirty looks!

More frightening are the times I cross the street and someone making a right-hand turn while using their device narrowly avoids hitting me with their car. I’ve learned to make eye contact before stepping into the cross walk.

So when I read Louise’s post on Monday, I mentioned I was texting on Easter Sunday. I couldn’t be with my family. My brother and his family and my mom were having lunch at the Willows Inn in Hudson, Quebec and the next best thing to being there was texting each other Easter wishes and real-time photos.

So you see sometimes technology does connect us. Only problem is, I was walking while texting and almost tripped on a crack in the sidewalk!

Below, the pictures we took and shared in real-time

Mom and Mike at Willows Inn

Me on the corner of 14th Str and 13 Ave SW

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

So what do you think? Does technology connect or disconnect us?

Oxford House is on Facebook and Twitter!

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addiction, Alberta, Calgary, Canada, caring, community, compassion, connecting, Diana Schwenk, dry housing, Edmonton, facebook, home, Hump Day Chronicles, non-profit, Oxford House, recovery, stories, Twitter

Meet Earl, Oxford House’s Program Coordinator and Tracey, Finance Coordinator and Vince, Support Worker and yup, that’s me at the end as we appear on our new Oxford House Facebook page!

See that yellow oval circle I drew around the sign up button? That’s where you would click on our Facebook page to sign up to receive awesome emails from us. And that’s just what I’m asking you to do. Sign up and like our page. You can also find us on twitter @OxfordHouseAB!

It just blows my mind that as of today, I’ve been at Oxford House for 271 days and I’m feeling very grateful to be here. I’ve participated in two events. Arranged for three plaques to be given to generous funders. Developed and implemented a monthly donor program. Sent out a media release for needed items during the holidays. Created an annual report. Thanked countless folks for their generosity. Pulled and analyzed loads of data and…and can you tell I’ve been in up to my armpits in stats???

Yet stats are only what we use to back up our incredible stories and that, as you know if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, is what really turns my crank. Because stories are what connect us.

Like Janice who told me in a matter-of-fact way, “I’ve been a low-life my whole life.” Heart-breaking words, but it’s not unusual for people to feel this way when they first come to Oxford House.

“I love it here,” she said while we chatted on the phone.

Believe it or not, it’s also something she has to get used to – living in a sober house, free from the pressure of people enticing her to have a drink, that is.

Last year Janice was in a serious car accident that resulted in brain damage leaving the whole left side of her body numb.

She spent a month of her four-month stay at the hospital in a coma. “It was a wakeup call.”

More determined than ever, Janice signed up for a six-week treatment program and then applied for housing with us.

Since living here, Janice is grateful to have a place to call home. “It is hard sometimes, I feel lonely.” But she’s working on that too, having recently signed up for an art journal course and registering with a job placement agency.

Janice is not a low-life. And we will stick by her until she knows this for herself and is ready to move on.

I think we can all relate to Janice in the sense that we’ve all had wake up calls, we’ve all felt lonely and deficient in some way. I know there have certainly been times when I’ve felt that I didn’t quite measure up.

Our stories and your stories and their stories form a beautiful tapestry of our collective human experience.

And that’s why we want to share our stories with you. And we really, really want you to share your passions and stories with us.

So what do you say?

Will you connect with us on Facebook and Twitter?

I hope you say yes by clicking the links above!

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

Building Bridges

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200 words, Alberta, bridges, building community, Calgary, community, connecting, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, memories, Purpose, Southern Alberta Floods 2013

I like to see myself as a bridge builder, that is me building bridges between people, between races, between cultures, between politics, trying to find common ground. ~ T.D. Jakes

New bridge connects Elbow Park to Rideau community. Calgary AB 2015

In June 2013, Calgary was devastated by the worst flood in a hundred years. You can read my personal account of events here, here and here if you wish.

A lot of work has gone into repairs since.

I was thrilled, on Wednesday, to discover that a new bridge was built, to replace the one that had been destroyed during the flood, linking Elbow Park to the Rideau community.

This bridge opens up my favourite long walk to Rideau and beyond to Sandy Beach. I feel so connected again!

The same is also true of metaphorical bridges, isn’t it?

Life’s disasters come along and due to our own, or the actions of others, bridges are destroyed.

Meaningful connections are ripped away

and it’s devastating.

The good news is that we can choose to make amends.

We can choose to repair the damage.

We can choose to build new bridges.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

Selling Myself Blah Blah Blah

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business, Calgary, community, connecting, Diana Schwenk, ethics, generosity, Hump Day Chronicles, integrity, marketing, mission, passion, Purpose, Self-Promotion, Selling yourself, The Other Bottom Line, vision

As most of you know, I’ve hung out my own shingle, so to speak, with the intention of offering counsel to small non-profit organizations who may, or may not have staff who look after fund development and communications.

Now I find myself in a place where I need to develop some kind of brochure that I can use to market my little company. It’s easy to talk about the services and packages I offer. But to be honest, when it comes to selling myself, I have written and scrapped countless attempts! It all sounds like blah blah blah with a touch of I’m-so-special-and-here-are-my-outstanding-credentials-aren’t-you-impressed-with-me-ness. Yuck! I choke on the words. My inner Bull Shit meter registers off the scale! It doesn’t feel like me.

I know who I am. I know what I believe. I know who my target audience is. I understand ethical fundraising. I know the rights of donors. I know that engaging the community in dialogue instead of monologue is important and more effective. I know stories connect us. I know what works. I know what doesn’t work. I’ve been doing this in one way or another for 20+ years. I know my stuff – bottom line!

As luck would have it, someone recently gave me a copy of The Generosity Network – new transformational tools for successful fund-raising. Inspired by its approach to story-telling (which resonates so well with me), I think I’ve found a way to impart who I am and what I do by painting a picture with words in a way that feels sincere.

We’ll see how it goes. I’ve written a first draft and given some thought to how it will look. I’ll come back to it in a few days.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

How do you sell yourself?