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Ellen Sauer

  • Blog In Summary...

    In Summary…Staying Open

    This past week in blogging and posting I highlighted what I’ve been doing this entire past month, that is, intentionally staying open – reading every thing I can get my hands on, listening and…

    December 5, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self Writings and Art From My Colleagues

    Enséñame

    I periodically pick up the very full and alive book Untie the Strong Woman by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés just to hear her deeply resonant voice relaying the ancient truths of her ancestors – the mothers, aunties, grandmothers…

    November 29, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores

    Calling All Angels

    I spent the afternoons this week in my art studio with k.d. lang. Her voice so soothing and deep and her tempo smooth - just right for my creative mood...…

    November 18, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores

    Intelligent Trees

    I rented a movie last night – a documentary called Intelligent Trees. Did you know that trees actually prefer to grow slowly in groups rather than quickly alone? And not homogeneous groups. Rather, groups…

    November 15, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self

    Believe them – then start healing them

    I used to think this quote from the beloved Dr. Angelou was about me. I guess for a long while I was in a place of feeling misunderstood most of the time and thus…

    November 8, 2016
  • Blog The Inner Self

    One Step at a Time

    “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” ~Rumi (Photo courtesy of Rudolf Rinner) Whenever I embark on something new, my very first, knee-jerk reaction is to plan the life out…

    November 7, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self Writings and Art From My Colleagues

    If You Want to Change the World, Love a Woman

    We’ve endured months of incessant denigration of women with this campaign cycle – both from a candidate who has no true regard for women and toward a candidate as she seeks a position of power. It’s been…

    November 3, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self Writings and Art From My Colleagues

    Speak Only Love

    I attended a poetry reading a couple of years ago where a local poet, Ketu Oladuwa, read some of his work. All powerfully written. Spoken from a place of undeniable truth. One snippet cut me…

    November 2, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self Writings and Art From My Colleagues

    We Were Made for These Times

    It’s one week before the election and as things build to this climax of outcome, I’m finding myself quieter, less fearful, moving deeper into a space of trust. Headlines feel empty. Others’ expressed fears…

    November 1, 2016
  • Blog Connected At Our Cores The Inner Self

    Our Deepest Wisdom

    There is wisdom in everything. Sometimes I have trouble seeing or feeling it and for me that means something is in the way. My ego. My hard-set beliefs. My fears. My reaction to chaos.…

    October 26, 2016
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ellencsauer

Shout out of gratitude to @eyeseeme_bookstore for Shout out of gratitude to @eyeseeme_bookstore for the old-fashioned phone call to do a double check on my order when something was out of stock. And also for choosing some great subs for us. My grandkids’ Easter baskets will be full of good reads. They’ll love them all! #eyeseemebookstore #saveindiebookstores
This book is billed as a 'remix of Stamped From th This book is billed as a 'remix of Stamped From the Beginning' - written for kids age 12 and up. I started with this one, i.e. I read it before I read Dr. Kendi's Stamped From the Beginning original. This one by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (@jasonreynolds83 + @ibramxk) is fast-paced and written with teenage lingo and just plain, straight talk and I wish I could have read it when I was 12+. But I didn't/couldn't. NOW is the next best time. I also wish I would have read it with my kids when they were teens. It just opens us up to talking about race in clear, honest ways (not whitewashing.) It's won all sorts of awards. And it has an educator's guide so if you're a teacher or a parent or an aunt or uncle or lead a book club, you can download the guide for free and enhance your discussion which is super helpful for us white folks who aren't used to discussing race with the kids in our lives or at all. (Also, Jason Reynolds has a slew of other books that look great, so keep digging into his website and social media, etc.)⁠
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#tellthetruth #dismantlewhitesupremacy #connectedatourcores #antiracism #letstalkaboutrace
I read this book by Dr. Kendi (@ibramxk) over seve I read this book by Dr. Kendi (@ibramxk) over several weeks as it's a long one and every page is FILLED TO THE BRIM with history - dates, people, events, stories. Now, if you like history, you'll love this book just because of that 'filled to the brim' part. And if you're already overwhelmed reading this, please know that I’m not an official history buff per se, but I am realizing that’s because the versions of history I learned were not accurate or truthful. Thus I loved the truthful connections this book made and the flow of it all. It brought our nation's history together in a unique way - featuring five Americans that we all may know, but delving into them and their influential time periods in more subtle ways, how their views and other events and people surrounding them factored into their influence. I very much appreciated the overflowing presence of Black leaders and people - their influential presence and stories told truthfully rather than as footnotes or erased altogether which is typical of the white history we all learned growing up. I learned the clear as well as nuanced distinctions between segregationist and assimilationist views as well as abolitionist and anti-racist. Valuable because those terms and those views are prevalent today and get all mixed together in confusing ways. I wrote down so many things to remember and look up. I definitely recommend this book. Take your time. Enjoy the nuances. Admire the deeply researched and assembled story (aka brilliant.)⁠
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#tellthetruth ##connectedatourcores #antiracism #dismantlewhitesupremacy #letstalkaboutrace #dismantlewhitesupremacy #breakthesilence
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons From Marine Mamm Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons From Marine Mammals by @alexispauline. This book is so beautiful. So meditative. So whole. I felt it deeply in my body as I read. Some of it was for me/us, the whole of humanity, yes, and some allowed me to feel the Black feminist vision and healing and wisdom that the author expresses with creative, flowing eloquence. It felt powerful to be allowed to witness and feel. Her wisdom and insight in linking Black feminism to marine mammals is so deeply connected and just stunning. If you pick up this book to read, remember to do so without focus on cognitive understanding and opt to FEEL your way through. And consider doing the exercises she offers in the back of the book to deepen each chapter. Just. Simply. Beautiful.  #undrowned #BlackFeminism #connectedatourcores #blackfeministlessons
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Ellen O'Connor Sauer