I value citizenship—the ability we each have to make a difference through our actions around something we care about, in the company of others. Yet, from over at least a decade of witnessing people trying to make the world a better place in one form or another, I find the thing that seems to plague most “do-ers” is that ugly phenomenon called “burnout”: A person who’s passionate about something takes on more and more responsibility, becoming isolated in and consumed by that responsibility. Eventually, they give up, heartbroken and alone in [...]

Who lives around me? What makes them amazing? How could knowing that be useful? This is what I’ll be exploring in a new series of blogs called “Amazing Neighbors.” My first interview is with someone I’ve admired since we first talked years ago: Don Hall, founder and Executive Director of Transition Sarasota, who lives about five blocks from my house off the edge of beautiful Gillespie Park. Don is a friendly guy about my age with bright blue eyes, sandy hair, and a wide smile. We met several years ago [...]

We hear week-in and week-out about all the stuff wrong with the world. Most of it gives you the sense that we’re pretty much screwed as a species: economic collapse, “choose the lesser evil” political campaigns, pollution, poverty … cannibalism!? Seriously depressing, right? (I often wonder why no one seems to consider this as one of the potential symptoms “causing” depression for so many folks. But I digress.) On the flip-side, there are  great innovations going on: local movements for sustainability, national shifts toward better rights for the GLBTQ community and [...]

Months ago, I jumped at the proposal that each of us TWISlers take on a story in the form of a love letter to one of their favorite places or people in Sarasota. As my “love interest,” I chose my neighborhood, Gillespie Park. Well, little did I know that this would be the spark to fan a flame that has been sleeping down deep in me, and that this flame would flare up mightily in the coming months, consume all of my previous plans and priorities and leave me here: [...]