Mary Beth Beaulieu Coach

10/22/2022

Every now and then, a book completely changes my perspective and/or gives me a new lens to understand what’s happening in the world. Anand Giridharadas’ new book, “The Persuaders,” has done both!

He writes, “The tendency to write off is rooted in the assumption that differences of identity are unbridgeable, that people are too invested in their privileges and interests to change, that the failure to achieve change in the past predicts failure in the future, that people and their opinions are monolithic and strong rather than complicated and fragile, and therefore the purpose of politics is to protect yourself from Others and galvanize your own instead of trying to reach across.”

In my experience, this is painfully true. Specific things I learned:

What does it mean to forgive WITH accountability?
Why is language so important when we’re bridge-building, and what skills are needed to communicate across barriers?
How is write-off culture one of the greatest threats to democracy?

What a book! What a conversation!

https://bit.ly/3CLGa47

07/31/2022

In an argument, do you become a Preacher? A Politician? A Prosecutor? It’s an important question for us all to consider. There are better ways.

For the past year and a half, I’ve been arguing with a friend about vaccines. Surprisingly, along with sharpening our thinking, it’s strengthened our friendship.

Here’s what I’ve learned about having better disagreements: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/30/you-cant-say-that-how-to-argue-better

07/24/2022

12/06/2021

09/24/2021

Truth.

Your comfort zone is not a good benchmark. (by )

09/15/2021

Here's something Fia wrote a couple of days ago:

We have three post offices within a three mile radius. All are smaller than we’re used to. But it means in another month, or two, we’ll all know one another by name & have worked out a rhythm just in time for the holidays...

But it will take a bit of dedicated time. Healthy relationships always do.

We've noticed the carrier that comes to the house tends to leave boxes precariously perched on top of the mailbox. One box we found after it had rained, was slightly soggy, containing paper from one of our vendors. Clearly, this is a relationship we’ll need to pour some time and love into…

Another carrier at a different location was initially filled with ’no’s’ to all our questions…which was a little alarming. I was ready to just go to one of the other two, but then today, when Kai went to drop off packages, she surprised him by immediately telling him she’d gone to our website to take a look at the work...

She spoke of our ‘daughter’ series… and how she’s already found one for her daughter and another for her mother… Something softened in her. In Kai. In me, when he shared this...

Not because she liked our work, but because we became ‘real’ to one another. More than just customers, or clients, or strangers that needed something from one another. I was amazed she had taken the time to look us up. When I heard she had an Aries daughter, it made me smile. I'm a fire sign daughter too & I know how difficult we can be for our moms!

This reminded me how quickly I will make up a story when I’m missing information. Especially when I'm tired. I want the world to be different than it is. But it's not. I want to be better than I am. But I'm not always. Some days I can lean into the gentle wonders that without fail happen regularly throughout the day, the smiles that are authentically exchanged between strangers (even behind masks)... & other days...well, I get distracted by noise & I miss that we're all this awkward dance together...

Love is a practice. Grateful today for all the opportunities to understand that...

‘how you live’ is available as a print at Flying Edna. Here's the link: https://flyingedna.com/products/how-you-live-print?variant=31839770869859

always in motion, fia

09/02/2021

xo bk ❤️

Join me live this coming week, M, T, W from 9-10 am PT: http://athomewithbk.com