From the Editor
Richard Whittaker Having the opportunity to present a fresh issue of our newsletter always is always a lift. For me, spending time with our stories is like being fed. To start off with the newsletter’s new look, we have four special conversations. Just listening to Eduardo del Conde describing his journey into the world of Los Hombres del Arroz (the men of rice) was a rare gift... read more
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Over twenty-five years ago, at sundown not far from Mexico City, Eduardo del Conde saw something he could not forget - a group of men harvesting rice by hand. "It was like a dance," he said. "It was one of those days you feel completely overwhelmed by beauty." He stopped to watch and witnessed a way of life mostly lost, one that finally drew him back. We talked about his journey into the world of Los Hombres del Arroz.
I met Priya Shah at a ServiceSpace Healing + Transformation circle. Some twenty health care professionals shared their visions around optimal approaches to healing. Dr. Grace Dammann and Dr. Bill Stewart anchored the circle. Priya was on her way to Harvard Medical School. She talked about a course she'd created at UC Berkeley. After three semesters, over 400 hundred students had signed up. We met for the following interview.
"As a young man," he said, "I hitch-hiked across the Sahara Desert." It's just one of the things I learned talking with Andy Couturier. But I was talking with him because of his recent book, "The Abundance of Less" had fallen into my hands in which ten singular Japanese individuals come vividly to life on the page. After reading about just two of them, I was so fired up I had to pass the book to a friend. I couldn't keep something so good to myself...
No doubt it would embarrass Ann to be called a saint. But learning about what she does, it's the word that comes to mind. The odd fact is that she's a neighbor. For over ten years I knew her as someone who took care of the neighborhood email tree and as a supplier of "hens and chicks" - succulent plants overflowing from her front yard. And I began to notice that each year she made a quiet request for donations for the oncology department at Children's Hospital in Oakland. Then one day I got an idea. Why don't I talk with her and find out what she does. I did, and it's humbling...
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