FootprintsintheWind.com

Open beyond words.

:- Doug.

The adversarial legal profession is primarily backwards-looking: inflicting punishment, getting reparations. The caring legal profession is primarily forward-looking: promoting community, relationship, collaboration.

:- Doug.

Everyone is vulnerable
showing it takes courage
just a little

:- Doug.

We are elders-in-the-growing.

:- Doug.

Where have our elder powers gone?

:- Doug.

Nor is the world too big
Nor we too small

:- Doug.

Until now
elders got little respect
until you
until now
grandchildren fended
in a world too big
until now
we thought
ourselves
ineffectual
Until now

:- Doug.

Grandchildren are just people
wherever there are just people
love is possible

:- Doug.

What are the hidden things—say rank, privilege, pain, injustice—which may touch the grandchildren? Do we have a story we could tell to help?

:- Doug.

Spirit
you troublemaker
how you free us
how you bring our hearts
together!

:- Doug.

There is a path
leading to us
let us find it

:- Doug.

What will the grandchildren face—in 300 years?

:- Doug.

Look not: see. Listen not: hear. Read people not: guess, ask. People guessing is more fun than people watching.

:- Doug.

More times than we know it is good to keep an empty perspective.

:- Doug.

You’re going to be frustrated, and so am I. Frustrated is the mid-stage. If we can then admit our frustration and our hurt and our not knowing—in other words our humanity—we can make it to the other side. Humanity will see us through. Humanity is what we need.

:- Doug.

Studying eldering orients us. All.

:- Doug.

While it is true we as elders are developing, the question is what are we developing? How is it for the grandchildren if we are not developing something beyond ourselves? So again: What are we developing? Whom?

:- Doug.

To go to higher levels, look at each thing as It Thou Us Poetry Doing.

:- Doug.

Let’s get started with meeting with people, gathering a group of elders for the grandchildren. Now.

:- Doug.

Anecdotal evidence may actually be qualitative. We may have simply lacked the imagination we needed to measure it. If measuring is a high enough level of dignity.

:- Doug.

My premise: There is a process above these three (or more) facets, these four (or more) ways. We can only get there together.

:- Doug.

Help the group get frustrated enough with itself to want to change.

:- Doug.

We need conflict not so one side can “win” but so that we all.

:- Doug.