Margaret Mead sums it up perfectly...

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Welcome to a Most Exciting Dinner Party

Now what?  For the first time in 15 years, I will not have students in the fall.  For the first time since I was six years old, I will not be in the halls of academia, giving or receiving the gift of knowledge.  The teacher in me can't let go, and the student in me is thirsty.  

I have been blessed to have in my life some amazing, frequently revolutionary teachers, and I classify my students among those.  The sharing of conversation, books, articles, movies and videos, links- all of it has contributed to who I am as a person, activist, and educator.  When I think of the cocktail party question, "If you could invite any famous person to dinner, who would it be?" I think to myself, Can't I just have a party and invite all of my "revolutionaries" to break bread together?  If I had a month, a deserted island compound, and some good seed money, these people could upend the world!

I'm still waiting on that Powerball win to fund this amazing meeting of the minds. However, in the interim, I would like to host a virtual dinner party for all of the thinkers, dreamers, revolutionaries, and activists. Consider this space the table around which you sit, sharing your stories like wine, dishing links, videos, and articles around family style, and for dessert, your musings on your favorite novels. Share with us what changed your mind and changed your world. What were the most influential tidbits, the ones that everyone should experience? My hope is that you will create a menu as rich as your minds, something we can all share from and be nourished by.

Many Stones, Countless Ripples

A little over a month ago, my teary face was broadcast around the world because my students saw fit to honor me with an enormous act of kindness. They say they wanted to give back to me because of what I have given to them and taught them over their six years at Profile.  What they did was not only life changing for me, but world changing.  They showed how selflessness doesn't hurt.  They opened the door for countless other acts of kindness, large and small, from perfect strangers, from their neighbors, to people who have never met them or heard their story, but were impacted by them just the same.  We will never be able to trace how many people heard our story or somehow benefited from the love they shared, but I fathom to guess the impact was and continues to be enormous. 

Mother Teresa (apparently) said, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." There were 42 stones in the class of 2015, and our story was shared hundreds of thousands of times.  How many ripples does that make?