Different Friends

Posted on May 31, 2026 by B

“Have friends very different from yourself” – This is #22 on Spirit Moxie’s original list of 100 Ways to Make the World Work. (They’re in alphabetical order. There’s no order of importance!)

Why and how might this help make your world work and the world work? If you have been following and reading these Conversations, you know I already think you are fabulous and perfect and open to positive change for yourself and the world. Hopefully, you also have a glimmer that change is most effectively possible when explored and practiced in community. A major way to strengthen community is through our differences. None of your friends is as fabulous (and perfect) in the same ways you are. Having very different friends expands your world so it can be the best it can be. (Remember pet rocks? For those of you who delighted in that trend, a friend probably doesn’t get more different than that. So include your dog, cat, or bird. Houseplants. That tree in the back yard. But back to humans….)

two hands with linked pinky fingers Note that having friends is not the same as just being around people who are different. For example, travel “broadens” us, but that exposure probably doesn’t include a one-on-one conversation about food, clothes, and insecurities. One can go to an ethnic festival, read about job loss, and admire different music and art, but do you know the cook and their dreams, have ideas for the new job that actually reflects someone’s ideals and abilities, and attend all that artist’s concerts and art exhibits? I am guessing that you try to do that for your friends. Plus remember conversations work both ways. You learn about each other. How do they support you? How do they expand and support what is possible for you?

A classic example of differences in supporting someone is the slightly unorganized CEO who has a detail driven assistant, who may or may not be a friend. For me it is a friend who thinks in straight lines, is challenged in a good way by the things I share which despite my best intentions are never quite linear, and always asks when coffee is not part of one of my food pictures. Since we’re friends, I depend on her to know my ideas are at least comprehensible. Through me she is challenged to look at things in new ways. It is the variety around us that completes us.

Another community I have suddenly found myself immersed in is that of drag queens in Portland, OR, where I now live. (I’d say at least four consider me a friend. Really.) One considered her 35th birthday weekend a super major happening. I wanted to change schedules to actually attend one of her events, but my previous commitments made this impossible. Except, finally, a late Friday night event showed up. She had to share two links with me so I could actually buy a ticket! So, that Friday I picked up a stem of yellow roses (yellow for friendship – who knew?) from a real florist, headed to my usual Friday night commitment, and arrived at her later one just as the show began — which meant I was greeted by name as I walked in and handed her the flowers in front of everyone (which is also a story about how time works). Ah, but how does she support me? Hugs. Making sure I have a seat at events where she isn’t performing. Answering messages. Differences? For the record I’m not male, gay, or 6’10”, and I was 35 a long time ago….

Ethnicity, economic status, and country of origin are a few other ways you might be different from a friend. But to really practice and understand diversity, you must know who you are — and be comfortable with that. I always go through the basics. For me these are age: over 21, gender: female, race: Caucasian, and sexuality: heterosexual. I was born and raised in the United States and would probably be called “middle class.” Since some people include other data such as education and marital status in this mix, I’ll include that too, although I don’t think about it much (college, divorce, etc.). From there we could go to traits, like allergies or even preferences, but the statistical box, so to speak, is what you need to claim about yourself in your bones.

And I do claim it. Knowing who I am and being comfortable with that allows me to easily interact with a huge variety of people and “things.” This place of self knowledge is where trees talk; travel becomes not only “enriching,” but easy and full of real connection; and dogs that usually ignore everyone except their owners pull towards you on the street. It means you’re not threatened by different skin colors, speech patterns, or sexual orientations (yes, “heterosexual” is an orientation) .

Central to this is an affirmation and appreciation of the world as it is. But it means that we need to see it as a whole. It means things can and should change. But it also means that change as far as someone’s basic characteristics isn’t the goal. If someone is young, black, and homosexual and maybe from a different country, we can still be friends. Friends that hang out together. It means sharing food, noticing if they’re the only black person in the room, and listening when things aren’t going well. And as with any other friend, you know what they like and don’t like whether it’s food, a sports team, or cats. You encourage their dreams and laugh at (or tease them about) their awful jokes.

So, change the world and expand yours. Have friends very different from you. How does this show up for you?

__________________________

Photos from the top:

two hands with linked pinky fingers (8ob43mw658c.jpg) – Womanizer Toys
Inanna Miss– Spirit Moxie

Go Slow

Posted on April 27, 2026 by B

Ibis grazing Maybe “slowly” is better — but “slow” feels right. But why is this something to make a difference or change the world?

Let’s start with an example. This morning I planned an early breakfast at a place I’ve been wanting to revisit to be followed by a couple of errands and some library time before I headed off for some fairly close together scheduled appointments. But this morning was slow. A bit more time in bed. A leisurely shower. Packing my computer and a couple of other things I needed for the first appointment. Deciding what to wear wasn’t simple today so I kept changing my mind. Plus, the library didn’t open until noon, and I planned on walking to breakfast. So, by being slow – and leisurely – I thoroughly enjoyed breakfast. I did a banking errand that wouldn’t have worked a couple of hours earlier. And I got to the library at 12:10. Was any of this world changing? One never knows what changes the world because usually that’s a cumulative and subtle thing (unless of course it isn’t, but that’s another conversation). But this pattern I fell into certainly made the beginning of my day easier, more enjoyable, and a bit curiosity provoking as I wander to what’s next.

Being slow actually allows you to see and delight in things. The world can certainly use more delight!

Ah, but in today’s fast paced world, is this even feasible? On a practical level, how does “going slow” affect things? The anomaly is that often it seems to make things happen faster. The slow consideration of a problem usually results in a simple and quick solution or the realization that there isn’t really a problem at all. It’s forgetting a meeting that was cancelled without your being told. Coming late to a party that is just starting. (You’ve done that, right?) Handing in a report no one had time to read before. Sometimes we don’t know exactly why it worked. Sometimes the few more minutes caught the mistake that would have otherwise ruined the outcome.

Outdoor labyrinth If you still feel you must hurry, go ahead. Recently, I was helping host a public labyrinth walk happening in a private space. One woman sat very still, took a long moment to begin her walk, and then moved so quickly through the labyrinth it was hard to see if she actually followed the design. In the middle she sat quietly for a long time. And them moved so quickly out that my companion asked me if she’d just headed for the exit. (No, she again “walked.”) Certainly I don’t know her story. But the slow, even motionless, part of her “walk” was clearly central. The hurry just allowed her to get to the places where, for her, “slow” was essential.

What’s your pattern? When you have too much to do or, perhaps, don’t know what to do, go slow. Stop for a moment to notice your breathe. Sit. Then move at whatever pace feels right. There will be enough time.

_______________________
All photos by Spirit Moxie

From the top:
White Ibis grazing on a slow walk in Florida
The labyrinth at the Cincinnati, OH, waterfront

Like Difference

Posted on October 21, 2025 by B

Cheese display On the original list of “100 Ways to Make the World Work,” there are at least four suggestions that embrace either difference or diversity. And at some point you may very well see a Conversation on every one of them. It’s a simple acknowledgement that variety enriches us.

“Of course!” you say. But do people really think so? There are tourists abroad who always seek out McDonald’s. There are people I know who won’t go “downtown” because of their visions of panhandlers, crazy people collecting soda cans, and others who don’t look or act like they do. There’s the food you don’t like because of texture, taste, or just, well, because.

So, if difference and diversity (if one dare use that word), enrich us, how and why can’t we embrace this? But why should we? We still don’t like those foods and are uncomfortable when that person on the corner gets a little loud and moves oddly. Most of our friends look like us, talk like us, and are on the same social level. We watch the same shows on television every week, repeat our usual social patterns, and have preferences on clothing, pets, and sexual partners. In the process we reflect, positively or negatively, values passed down from our parents and the opinions of our friends.

Difference? Where, when, why, and, in today’s world, how?

First of all, I’m guessing that when I said, “variety enriches us,” you agreed or you would have stopped reading. There’s an agreement that variety stretches us in good ways, perhaps helps us at least seem smarter, more productive, or increasingly creative.
So? Where does this variety show up for you? Perhaps you love traveling. Whether a new town down the road or a new country across the ocean, when you travel there are different foods, faces, and festivals. Do you find all this interesting, fun, challenging? Sit with it. How do these differences impact you? Do they change you? Expand how you think or look at your daily life?

For one scientific example, in horticulture, variety has been proven to help plants develop resistance to disease. Developing a single strain of something eliminates responding to disease and unexpected pests or can challenge users of that particular plant. Less artificial manipulation of crops, e.g., “non-GMO,” has produced crops that cause fewer allergic reactions (at least for some of my friends).

That said, where else can you see differences? In people? Maybe your Uncle Frank gets angry easily and you’re more mellow. Perhaps most of the people, or even one or two, at that event or in that store have a different skin color or talk with an unfamiliar accent or are in a different age range. How might that enlarge your understanding and experience of the world? Could there be another way to look at something you assumed?

When was the last time you tried, if you dared, an unfamiliar food or drink? Did you like it? Did it put you off trying something else? (For whatever reason, food is one of the things that brings communities together, which is something to remember when traveling or exploring other cultures.) When did you last retry something you were sure you don’t like, but weren’t allergic to? Any change?  One of the best ways to embrace the idea of difference being positive — maybe the only way — is to take a moment to really know yourself and liking what you are. Race. Sexuality. Nationality. Age. And, yes, also the things that seem to be given about you that in theory could change, such as religion, language, food preferences, skill base, interests. Where have you changed things in those categories? While I don’t easily learn other languages, I can be polite in several. From my teen years through now, I went from always using cream and sugar in my coffee to adding just milk to drinking it black, with a several year preference somewhere in there for drinking tea in the morning. At least one unexpected interest change, that came through a brief relationship, is that I am now a Formula1 fan and can, in a pinch, watch or listen to conversations about auto racing.

Superficial? Maybe. But change can be subtle. In fact. it’s seldom abrupt.

How does this serve you or change the world? When you know who you are, diversity and difference don’t threaten you. And most of the world isn’t like you. In fact, none of it is because there is only one you. Seeing difference becomes interesting and exciting rather than threatening and creates peace, calm, and lovely options when we step outside our own doors. It might make it possible to listen to someone you don’t agree with but would love to understand. It might be fun! It certainly changes the world.

___________________________

Photo by Spirit Moxie:
Part of the cheese display at Gibb’s Cheese,
Findlay Market, Cincinnati, Ohio

Use Your Turn Signals

Posted on April 10, 2025 by B

“It costs money to add those!” I can hear my mother’s voice muttering at a driver turning without signaling.

turn signal controls for an FUV “Why should I use them? There’s no one around,” retorted the voices of random friends.

“What a metaphor for all that is going on!” said the Spirit Moxie Advisory Board members as they suggested new Conversation (what we call these posts) topics.

As someone who is more pedestrian than passenger or driver these days, and who therefore needs to predict the actions of vehicles that happen to be nearby and heck, who tries to predict the actions of people as well, turn signals are golden. Yes, they can save lives, although thinking someone is turning when they’re just changing lanes can be unsettling or dangerous, too. Remember that when you think there are no other vehicles, or no pedestrians around, you could be wrong. Yes, even in rural areas or on a seemingly deserted residential street. Just yesterday, a car making a familiar turn clearly hadn’t seen me at all. I know it was a familiar turn because it then whipped into a driveway.

The question here is, what turn signals do you use? Let’s begin with that car or truck you drive, assuming you drive. When I learned to drive, the rule was to use turn signals every time, whether someone was around or not. Doing this gives you the advantage of habit and a bit of insulation in case there really is a pedestrian on that dark corner or a traffic cop behind that pole. I’m curious if you have any stories.

Finger pointing right As a frequent pedestrian, I often signal to cars as to whether I really will cross the street or if I am letting the car go first. Sometimes the car won’t go first because they’ve learned to not trust walkers or other drivers. (Is that car really letting me in?)

In the larger scheme of things, similar signals are needed in simple day to day life. Little things like keeping your word (OK, so that isn’t so little). Bring home the milk you promised to get or show up at least close to 5 p.m. as scheduled. Sometimes little things backfire and are misinterpreted as signals. The person listening decides your voice tone is off, and you are really criticizing and not just commenting. They were expecting a turn signal although the driver hadn’t engaged one since they were actually driving straight ahead.

Sometimes a major change in direction is anticipated by the driver, but the simple turn signal isn’t enough of a clue. So the divorce or job change surprises other participants and leads to accidents, or at least stalls (if we keep the car metaphor going). How do you interpret turn signals from colleagues, family, and friends?

Do you ignore them? Experience might lead us to not pay attention to family or friends, colleagues or politicians. They didn’t mean what they said. They never do whatever. It couldn’t possibly affect me. While there are no words of wisdom on this, I suggest taking people immediately around you at their word, however mistrustful part of you remains. Listen*. If nothing else, it confuses things for them. You can call them out if they lie and are prepared if they do act on whatever they said. Also, by being clear yourself, you encourage trust and confuse people who aren’t trustworthy. The bottom line here is what you do.

So use your turn signals. Be honest. Listen. Be grateful when you’re heard. Yes, it’s part of changing the world.

__________________________________

Credits and notes from the top:

Turn signal controls on an Arcimoto FUV – Spirit Moxie
Handspiel – marfis75 on flickr
*Listen is move #6 in Moxie Moves: 10 ways to make a powerful difference

What We Can Do

Aside

What can we do?????

guys sitting on curb by grungy street If you feel uncertain about politics, violence, economics, the environment, or any other current issues, global and personal, you may also feel a tad helpless about “things.” Perhaps as a reader or follower of Spirit Moxie, you’ve forgotten that there really are little things we can do to change the world. Or maybe you’ve never really thought that little things might work to affect big issues.

But little things do make a difference. First consider energy. Yup. Consider how you’re feeling right now. Energy spreads. Think of anger and how it can morph into a riot. Well, it works the same way with peace and calm. Think of a meditative space such as a cathedral or even those quiet spaces in airports. You walk in and can feel your whole body relax because of the energy of others who are there or have been there. At a recent Corner of Calm, a half hour virtual event where we simply share calm, I talked about this. You can hear this reflection on YouTube. Perhaps monitoring or changing your emotions doesn’t come easily, but meditation, exercise, and multiple basic exercises can help. What energies do you want in your world? List them.

Moxie Moves on coffee table Then go back to those little things we talk about in Spirit Moxie. If you have a copy of Moxie Moves: 10 easy ways to make a powerful difference, go look at that list. It really is a start! Below I reiterate the 10 easy ways—but in an order different from that in the book. (The number after a Move shows its order in the book. If there is a highlighted link, it goes to a Conversation post on the same topic.)

Smiling (1.) at people and things is a way to positively change energy as we go about our day. Being grateful (2.) is another way to make it easier to have positive emotions.

“You can’t change the world unless you are willing to engage with yourself as well as whatever is around you.”* Remember this engagement is all catching and a stronger you gives you more power. So, love your body (7.), whatever it looks like or feels like. We are bodies and yours is worth love and care. With this, remember the importance of sleep (3.) which actually affects those around you as well as yourself. There are other Spirit Moxie Conversations not in the book that relate, such as brushing your teeth and washing your hands, which we are constantly reminded are things that affect more than ourselves. There are two other chapters in the book that are more cerebral. Learn (5.) and play (10.). These two activities keep our minds active and curious, informing both our being and our doing.

Hand inserting ballot in ballot box Then there are the concrete actions that make a difference as we can we clearly see. An area without litter (4.) is healthier and safer as well as more attractive (back to emotions!). Keeping your word (8.) presents a world that’s trustworthy. Plus lying has a negative effect on your body so it, too, circles back. Listening (6.) and really, really hearing what others are saying rather than plotting our witty responses, whether we agree with them or not, lays a needed foundation for a better world. Plus, it circles back to learning and, for me, being grateful. Finally, there is the one thing that I’m assuming is completely obvious. Vote (9.) In the chapter on this action there is one more suggestion. Vote for yourself. Everyday. As someone who matters. Let’s start the Make a Difference party.

What you do matters.

_________________________

* Moxie Moves: 10 easy ways to make a powerful difference, p. 56

Images from the top:
Despondency Jessica Watkins DeWinter
Moxie Moves on table Mary Barr Rhodes
Voting Spirit Moxie

You

Posted on June 27, 2024 by B

Playful giraffe statue

When I really know something is true, whether about the world or even more about myself, I both assume it’s obvious and that it’s, well, true.

But as I think about sharing with you, I realize that’s not good enough. The heck with all snowflakes being different. People are too. Even those with the same DNA such as identical twins. This brings me back to our Conversation about being willing to be wrong. Being willing to be wrong about others.

So, who are you? What do you love? What do you know is true?

The question here is “Who are you?” The challenge of being unique is to understand your bits, and to not expect them to be true of anyone else. Beyond likes and dislikes, although they certainly count, how do you process information? How do you learn? What feeds you emotionally?

Have you done any of the personality tests such as Myers Briggs or the Enneagram? Much of their usefulness is to show how naturally different and unique we are. (I’m not sharing links because I am very suspicious of the online tests.) In Myers Briggs, I’m an INFP, but so close to an E that sometimes it switches. I’m a clear 9 on the Enneagram which explains a lot. In Quantum Human Design, I’m a Time Bender which in traditional Human Design is a Manifesting Generator. Now this might all sound like gibberish to you. I know the basics about Myers Briggs and a fair amount about the Enneagram. I know almost nothing about Human Design.

Perhaps you pay attention to horoscopes which are yet another tool. I’m a Cancer which in traditional descriptions doesn’t fit me at all, although I’ve had some very insightful readings from people who truly use it. But I do know that all of these tools expound ways to show how varied, naturally varied, we all are and, for people who do know and use these tools, helps people accept and celebrate themselves and these differences. Do you use any of these? Others?

What prompted this Conversation post is my personal passion for hearing about your story, differences, and passions. These aspects of who we are are what drives us and the more we are clear, the more it is easy to interact with all the world and so “change it” and make a difference through the day to day seeds of healing we can plant.

For there’s some agreement the world needs healing. And most likely at some level you need healing too. So today’s challenge is simple. Celebrate you. Know that what is obvious and easy for you isn’t true for many others. Embrace that together we can make a difference.

Thank you!

____________________________

Notes:

Photo: Attention getting giraffe — Spirit Moxie
Related reading (includes thoughts on violence): Who are You?

Planting

Posted on May 20, 2024 by B

flowering tree by a sidewalk During COVID, I wrote a Conversation piece around the importance of growing things called “Plant.” Planting – and seeing growing things – changes us and the world. This Spring, the trees and flowers have particularly enthralled me, perhaps because I’ve been walking more, as I’ve watched the world – or so it seems – bud and bloom. Breathtaking.

Plus, during the winter someone gave me cuttings for four houseplants so I’m now, again, a proud plant owner.

But along with the natural world, I’ve recently been reminded of what we plant in each other. This can be negative and positive.

Hinted at in the Conversation “Be Litter Free*” in the book Moxie Moves, is the negative energy we sometimes inflict on those around us. False ideas. Misplaced anger. Helpful suggestions that aren’t terribly helpful. Like the piece of paper that falls out of your pocket, some of this might be inevitable and is certainly unintentional. But recognizing this as, if you will, a way we plant weeds in our world is useful. Weeds, by definition, are what is growing where we don’t want them to be.

However, focusing on the positive things we might plant can mitigate some of this. For it is our positive plantings that do change the world. Kind of like the marigolds you plant with your vegetables to attract bees and, so we’re told, deter many pests. Plus, while they won’t keep the deer away, marigolds are at least one flower the deer won’t eat, so that flower bed can indeed boast flowers! What might you do that is a positive planting?

hand dropping ballot in ballot box Many are on our basic “little things that can change the world” list. Smile.* Listen.* Vote.* Keep your word.* Or are more provocative like “be kind to animals” and “don’t kill.” For today, what are the simple seeds you can plant? A sincere compliment, maybe to the grocery store checker or the person ahead of you in line? Grinning at the little kid who is looking at you when their mom isn’t noticing? Being honest when asked a question. (Lying hurts the person to whom you’re responding, but also hurts you physically as well as mentally. Really.)

You get the idea. What have been your favorite Spirit Moxie Conversation posts? What would you add?

Besides, the little things, there are also the fairly big things we plant in the world. For some it has been a new business that has affected their community, country, and planet. Perhaps it is an idea tentatively shared or a new insight. It’s existing things like libraries. I’m working in one right now which is offering free internet access to multiple patrons or, for me, good wifi in a place free of the distractions of home where I can also find a recommended book to take home to read after dinner. Our highway network. Electricity. The Internet.

4 small pots with plants Part of your job might be the dreaming that creates these — but it is certainly gratitude for them which helps give them power.

So, plant. My new housemate moved in with an almost full bag of potting soil, so now my cuttings have graduated from glass jars to real pots. I’ve been trying to share more of my ideas, most recently around “doing without doing” (or “how to be lazy”) which might not change the world, but might change someone. Plus, I am writing to you.

Share – how and where are you planting?

________________________________

All images by Spirit Moxie. From the top

Spring trees
Voting in Oregon
New houseplants

*In Moxie Moves: 10 ways to make a powerful difference (Amazon link)

Claim

Posted on February 7, 2024 by B

Claim is a verb!

barren hills Redwood Canyon When I began writing this, I got a bit puckish and remembered the “Wild West” definition, with prospectors and land barons. In my imagination I saw dry creeks and hills. There, “claim” was a noun.

However the kind of claim that has an impact in changing the world is a verb. But apparently, it’s a verb many of us don’t trust. Last night, for example, I met a very interesting person, an executive in a wind turbine company based in Denmark that has a presence in Portland, Oregon, where I’m now living. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “So you change the world.”

Him: “Well, kinda. I’d like to think I do. But look at what our kids are inheriting.”

Me: “Claim it. You change the world. Period.”

Him: “Well, maybe, but…”

I think I finally got through. But if you “maybe’ change the world and “would maybe like to” make a difference, you probably don’t. This seems endemic to most of you that follow Spirit Moxie. Yes, you. Oh, the idea of “little things that can change the world” sounds good. You now read similar ideas elsewhere. You find that it’s fun to come up with new “little things.” You enjoy posts such as this one. But do you take any kind of stand that your actions work, that you (yes, you) matter?

Washing hands Intellectually how could your getting enough sleep* or brushing your teeth affect anyone besides yourself? Smiling* might brighten someone’s day, but would it, how could it, change the world?

There are a lot of parts embedded in this question. One analogy is, for example, that you want some exercise so you walk around the track at a local school. Or maybe even run around it. But even though you’re running, it’s not a race unless 1) you decide it is and 2) other people are involved. Note that #1 is you. Others could be racing and you’re not. But if you decide to race, if only to get a better time, others very likely will play along even if it isn’t a formal “race day.” It’s the same thing if you say that it would be great if people claimed that whatever little thing they are doing makes a difference. Smile*. Listen*. Vote*. All these are one person actions. You can’t make anyone else do them. It’s an individual decision.

What’s essential here is the “claiming.” Deciding that today is race day. Figuring that if I get enough sleep. I’ll be healthier and a lot more pleasant to be around and the health care system will have one fewer person to deal with. As a result my friends can relax and I can experience more joy which is actually contagious in a good way. There’s a deliberate action in this. It is by claiming these actions as making a difference that changing the world becomes possible. Even if only you do them. When a lot of us do them, positive, even unpredictable change becomes possible.

Taking a step We read that we’re enough, are fabulous, are good the way we are. But our mind may say, “Who, you? Don’t be silly. You’re not big or strong or important enough to matter.” Thank your mind for sharing. You are all you have to offer. And it is enough. If you claim that and I claim that, we have enough people for that race. And others will join in.

What’s your stand? Race on?

_____________________

* A chapter in Moxie Moves: 10 easy ways to make a powerful difference
1. Smile; 3. Sleep; 6. Listen; 9. Vote

All photos by Spirit Moxie
Red Rock Canyon Park (I think)
Another little thing: Wash Your Hands —David A. Lynch, model
Off to run — Noël Ponthieux, photographer

Be Curious

Posted on August 23, 2023 by B

Question mark on picture of eclipse At the beginning of each new year, I claim a word for the year. For 2023, my word is “curious.”

I chose “curious” because I really had no clue how 2023 would develop both personally and as part of Spirit Moxie. The previous year 2022 had caught me by surprise — a trip to Spain materialized, seeds for which had been planted in 2017 or so and pretty much forgotten. My new book was published that really was a book, not just an online offering, and was incredibly beautiful (Talking to Trees through poetry and pictures). As 2022 continued, the Russian attacks on Ukraine was the impetus for Spirit Moxie to expand Corner of Calm rather than cancel it. If that was 2022, what might happen in 2023? What might go as planned? What might be unexpected? I was (and am) still settling into a new place to live and there was a lot I didn’t know and certainly more people to meet! So being curious felt right and implied “open to possibilities.”

Now I’m a big believer in the concept there is a web of ideas and discoveries that flows through the world. Several ideas that are integral to Spirit Moxie that seemed innovative and even a bit weird to the world at large at one time, are now seen as commonplace. Yes, the now familiar idea that little things can change the world raised eyebrows when we began. It was a concept that sounded intriguing to some, but was discounted in presentations by others who I’m pretty sure had never heard of Spirit Moxie and probably still haven’t. Now you encounter this idea as a matter of fact part of world change. On a more recent note, at least two well known people I follow are suddenly offering courses on being calm. Spirit Moxie’s Corner of Calm started on August 3, 2021. So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that curiosity is being promoted more and more every place I’ve looked recently.

What is useful about those promotions is that they have given me some perspectives that I originally wouldn’t have considered. For me, curiosity seemed a matter of fact way to approach my life and world. But those who explore such things have discovered, for example, that when people are under stress, curiosity about how the situation will evolve calms and relaxes their minds. It takes us away from fear because we now have a problem to chew on instead. As we look farther, we can see curiosity as a driving force in multiple inventions and the pull that encourages exploration.

Building taller – or perhaps digging deeper – I suggest that you be curious about things that you find annoying or even hurtful. Is age really the reason x, y, and z are happening? Is time always linear? Is there another possible explanation for what happened? Or my favorite question that helps me dance with time, “What should I be doing right now?” (This might be the only acceptable use of the word “should”!)

So I think more than anything else this post is an invitation. Be curious! How does curiosity serve you? What have you noticed as a result?

For, as I have learned, it is through daring to be curious that adventures, insights, and possibilities appear.

__________________
Question graphic created by Spirit Moxie on Canva

Be Kind to Animals

Image

I’ve had puppies. But what I remember is huge yards or being in places where one could, with integrity, since it was the accepted norm, chain them outside. Plus our newest, as yet unhousebroken, household member is really not mine, a fact he embraces when his owner is home.

Dog on lap with copy of book When I looked at Spirit Moxie’s “How to Change the World” working list to pick our next Conversation, “Be Kind to Animals” stopped me. It seemed so obvious. Plus 2022 appeared as a year for animals latching onto me when their owners weren’t there. And sometimes when they were. It was a new super power or perhaps one I just hadn’t named or noticed. After all, during the COVID lockdown, the household I was part of joked about my career as a dog bed. And it was a dog-watching gig that kept me in Portland long enough to find my current living space.

Dachshund So how does this relate to changing the world? I’m guessing those who are cruel to animals aren’t reading this. But I think talking about being kind to animals is important because, as with most things, I’m guessing even the best of us sometimes gets it wrong. In fact, I doubt if we could even agree on what wrong is. Yes, it seems obvious when domesticated animals aren’t treated properly. We hear of animals rescued from conditions of squalor. We read about them having terrible health conditions.

And there are multiple other situations that seem clear to many. Some of you reading this are vegan or vegetarian. While health is probably one reason for eating this way, many name a concern for animals and worry about the resources that deplete the earth as we raise them. I’m deliberately not going there. While our inter-relationship with the natural world in general is inclusive, and certainly involves depleting resources, I’m focusing here on our relationship to other creatures because for many of us, these interactions feel more personal.

When is the last time you interacted with an animal that doesn’t live in your house or the neighbor’s or a friend’s? It could be domesticated, but what about a squirrel? Yesterday I watched one deliberately tease the dog to make the dog chase it! Or what about that goose that has no business in a car-centric world acting like it owns the parking lot? Do you watch it? Say, “Hi!”? Notice. Have you ever seen that particular stray cat before? Is that coyote watching you aggressive or just curious? Have you ever even seen an elk or a moose? Noticed the sun on a dragonfly’s wings? What kind of bee is that in that flower? And yes, you can talk to those too!

Small fluffy dog looking up All these matter because even if, or perhaps particularly if, you live in a city, our relationship to animals reminds us of an integral part of our own humanity. We, too, are animals. And claiming that is true can inspire us to do other accountable things that help the world. Little things like not using plastic straws, or maybe any straws, and being concerned about the rings used to connect packs of cans because both are known to kill sea life. An action such as that leads to other little things that change the world such as general recycling and basic composting — two ways to dispose of waste that both help the environment and support all the creatures with whom we share the world. It’s realizing the effects of unintentional and blatant instances of pollution, such as the oil spill that might have been prevented or simply checking the emissions on your car. The list goes on. But what that greeting to a goose or the reassurance to a certain small dog that his mistress really will come home tells us is that we’re in the world together. We aren’t human in isolation.

So be kind to animals. Recognize all these related actions as key to making a difference. And know that animals give us integral ways to getting support in your own difference making.

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