What have you been doing these days?
A little photo essay
Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed. —William Saroyan
“How have you been? What are you doing these days?”
How many times do we hear this? Say this? How many times do we ask ourselves?
How we answer so often depends on who we are talking to and what our relationship is with them.
I have to be honest … I don’t have a coherent stream of thought or any one thing I’m particularly moved by for this week’s Substack (actually, the opposite is true; there are way too many things I’m particularly moved by). So, I decided to try a little photo essay from, let’s say, the last ten days in response to those questions.
“Living is an art. It’s not bookkeeping. It takes a lot of rehearsing for a man to get to be himself.” —William Saroyan
CREATING
It took me twenty years of writing to call myself a writer. I still have trouble saying I’m an “artist.” I am finally permitting myself to call myself a poet.
Jackson Hole Writers and the Art Association of JH collaborated on a fantastic project to unite poets and artists. This is my haiku paired with paired with Melissa Malm's artwork. I only just realized Melissa was Jackson Hole’s first woman ski patroller! We didn't meet until the night of the unveiling.
“Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal.”― Henry Miller
VICTOR CITY COUNCIL
One of the best ideas I heard this week in a Bioneer webinar focused on youth activism was: “We can’t just keep putting all our resources into trying to fix broken problems; we have to create totally new solutions.” That was one of my arguments for approving a new housing project in Victor at last week’s four-hour Victor City Council meeting.
Sue Muncaster thanked the group and the staff for their work at the end of the meeting and explained that she believes there is a need for this, and though not a perfect project, it is going to help provide housing that is needed through a public-private partnership—something they have never done before. Though the city loses part of the control by contracting with a private developer, it takes responsibility for success and the financial burden from the city as the developer takes on the load of managing and running the development. “There will be discomfort about all these variables and uncertainties; things will change and be uncertain. Everything I’ve read is a best-case scenario to give it a try,” said Muncaster.
DESTINATION STEWARDSHIP CONSULTING
As I write this, I’m in the Taos Java coffee shop in one of my favorite places in the world. I’m back in Taos, serving on a team from the George Washington Institute for Tourism Studies and Center for Responsible Travel, presenting our DRAFT Destination Stewardship Plan to the Town of Taos with the goal of ensuring that Taos's prosperity remains intricately linked with the welfare of its inhabitants, the preservation of its environment, and the safeguarding of its cultural heritage.
Yesterday, we presented in front of the City Council, followed by New Mexican enchiladas, posole, and steaming, yeasty sopapillas. This morning, I’m drinking a chocolate-piñon coffee while it dumps snow outside and preparing for a handful of workshops and public meetings to listen and learn and think and help solve what, a year ago, seemed overwhelming and unsolvable.
What’s next? With the same team, we’ve started a new project for the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma.
For both communities, I am most interested in #4 here from Taos—how do we protect and elevate the authentic character of these iconic and diverse destinations? How do we resist homogenization and commodification and celebrate diversity while avoiding cultural appropriation? And will visitors even care? (If you’re reading this, I know you do!)
TETON LEADERSHIP CENTER
Some news from my other “day job” is I recently committed to being the interim Executive Director of the Teton Leadership Center. I have a comfortable budget and great support for a fall conference to try to make this happen:
Ignite a new generation of leaders who prioritize their people's well-being, understand their organizations' impact on the natural ecosystem, and have a powerful vision for how the world can be a better place.
Do you have any ideas for inspiring local, national, or international speakers?
Click on the photo to go to our YouTube Channel to watch speakers from Fall 2023
PARENTING
“Work to turn the ghosts that haunt you into ancestors who accompany you. That takes hard work and a lot of love, but it's the way we lessen the burdens our children have to carry. … I work to be an ancestor.” – Bruce Springsteen
Ultimately, being the best ancestor drives me every day.
My about-to-graduate-from-college daughter, Mariela, was home for spring break this week. My busy days ended with her slowing down to enjoy warm salads, a bottle of wine, an episode or two of The Bear, and lots of conversation with her about everything from the rise of AOC to sea otters to our hopes for the future.
For all you parents in the maw of raising kids, all I can say is trust in the process. They will grow up and apart, but if you are the space where they can be themselves, they will come home and never cease to amaze you.
Mariela’s ephemeral sugar cookie art that happened while I was doing my taxes in the next room.
PLAY
And then the weekend came, and this happened. A house full of joy arrived late Friday night from Colorado, and suddenly, four dogs were running through the house, followed by jumping, kissing four-year-old and a sassy, sweet, smart seven-year-old trying to find the hidden candy eggs before the dogs ate them.
Sunday was a blissful, blustery day with the original four Jackson Hole besties, who have always been there for me since our early days of coaching volleyball at Jackson Hole High School. We got to take the early Tram with the ski patrol at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, hang out, and drink coffee in the waffle shack until the public showed up. Although we didn’t get the sunny day we hoped for, we surprised ourselves by skiing in frozen spring conditions and having an absolute blast.
Thinking back to 25 years in the Tetons and going through babies, divorces, surgeries, and oh, so many fun adventures, it’s these women (and a few more featured in an old poem written after a mountain bike trip in the desert called Ladies of the Sage) who have always held me in their arms and hearts.
I couldn’t do all this without you.
Ladies of the Sage An ode to the ladies of the sage of the desert of the snow of the picnic of the bottle of crisp rosé followed by a shot of tequila. You are my web of strength that catches me when I fall and throws me back in the air like a circus act. We play until the sun goes down when I can sleep deep and dark and wake up nourished, ready to stand tall in uncertainty or bend softly into the chaos and pass on your sweet gifts to others in need.
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