I spent last week with my extended family in a marvelous place called the Ausable Club in upstate New York, One of the original Adirondack "camps" founded at the turn of the 20th century, the Ausable Club remains one of the most beautiful places on earth. It's the natural beauty of the place that makes it so special--with easy access to the 40 tallest peaks of the Adirondack mountain range. The cottages are not winterized and are rustic, a little fancier construction than the cabins you remember from camp as a kid. But there is no "crafts" class and you never have to take a nap.
Our four sons came from their respective corners of the world. One from Hong Kong, where he lives and works, another from New Guineau where he had been working for two months on a paleoclimatology project, another from Milwaukee, and the fourth from Washington, D.C.
They haven't all been together for a couple of years. And the conversation was wonderful. We noted at the end of the week that there were no cross words, no frustrations or ridicule or embarrassment. These four men are the basis of our blended family, two sons of my husband, two of mine. And they have bonded in rare fashion for any four siblings. Each has his own interests and life style and geographical preferences, all distinct from the other three. So they have lots to talk about in an air of mutual respect and curiosity. It's special and my husband and I are grateful for it.
Over dinner one night, one of them reminded us of the practice I initiated when they were still grade school age, conducting what we called a "Noodle Talk" session at the dinner table. I had a plastic box in which were a hundred or so long slips of paper, about a quarter inch wide...like so many flat noodles. On each one was written a provocative question and each son pulled a slip from the pack and then posed the question and conducted a conversation about the answers. They claim to have hated it. But they admitted the other night that it made for fascinating exchanges at the table. So maybe it contributed in some small way toward their being good conversationalists now. Each of them has a lot to say and enjoys the kind of give-and-take that characterizes good discussions.
I couldn't be more pleased. Even if they tell me Noodle Talk was a bad idea.
Author of I is for Intercourse: The ABC's of Conversation, Susan Bird is the visionary behind Wf360, and a sought-after speaker around the world for her views on leadership, the strategic importance of conversation, entrepreneurship, and the role of women business leaders.
Originally the US went into Afghanistan to "get" Osama bin Laden whose name has hardly been mentioned by the current administration or anybody else for years. Now the war has morphed into a counterinsurgency which means that we need to build waste water plants and power stations in addition to winning the hearts and minds of the people and defeating the Taliban. This always happens in unwinnable wars: we decide to do nation building instead of winning the unwinnable. It puts a nice patina on a ridiculous situation and covers up a lack of knowing what the hell we're there for. And it saves face. The world's greatest superpower can't be seen as losing a war to the world's most retarded country, now can it?
Posted by: true religion outlet | May 31, 2011 at 02:50 AM