By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Many of us, especially women, are in a state of ambiguity and depletion from COVID. We have spent years caretaking others, supporting family, friends, co-workers, … [Read More...] about Women Empowerment through Pilgrimage
Women Empowerment through Pilgrimage
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Many of us, especially women, are in a state of ambiguity and depletion from COVID. We have spent years caretaking others, supporting family, friends, […]
From Exhaustion to Self-Empathy & Self-Compassion: What You Need to Know About ‘Black Fatigue’
Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC The emotional, physical, and psychological toll of racism, whether in the form of implicit bias, microaggressions, racialized trauma, structural and systemic racism, is the unrelenting […]
‘The Journey Itself is My Home.’
Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC ‘The journey itself is my home.’ Basho About this time of year for the last several years, I lace up my walking shoes, pack my […]
The Two Percent
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments known colloquially as “the doll tests” to study the […]
How to Fight Without Hating: Lessons in Power and Love
“Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love.” Rev. […]
A River’s Response to the Global Pandemic
The good news of a river’s comeback amidst a global pandemic.
Mindfulness: as ‘Good Medicine’ in the Age of Global Pandemic
The alarming spread of COVID-19 in the world and in local communities has up-ended daily routines, with mind-racing fear and anxiety. Social distancing, while a critical response to slow or halt […]
Shifting Seasons: Imbolc, a Celebration of Coming Spring
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC “Still, the profound change has come upon them; rooted they grip down and begin to awaken. . . .” —-William Carlos Williams Imbolc or […]
‘Drishti’: A Yogic Approach to Strengthening Focus
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”– Rumi Do you find yourself “going through the motions” in your daily life, on auto-pilot? In this new year, new decade, […]
Rituals: Four Practices for an ‘Honorable Closure’ to the Year
By Valerie Brown “There comes a time in the spiritual journey when you start making choices from a very different place. And if a choice lines up so that it […]
Pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago, Spain: Leading from the Heart
By Valerie Brown “…even before you sat down with them, broke bread and drank wine, wiped the wind-tears form your eyes: pilgrim they called you again. Pilgrim.” —David Whyte, from Camino […]
Pilgrimage: The Art of Building Community
By Valerie Brown “….Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world. Rely on human goodness. Stay together.” —Margaret Wheatley, from Turning to One Another As I return next month with […]
‘Thin Places’: Encountering the Power of Pilgrimage
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Have you heard the term a ‘thin place’? A thin place describes the distance between heaven and earth, a place where the space between the […]
Pilgrimage: Awakening the ‘Inner Life’ of Leadership
“When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it.” […]
Leadership & Ritual
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Recently, I was part of a webinar in a year-long online learning course on transformational leadership. We opened the session with a ritual practice For a […]
Look up!
Cultivating a kinder world by reorienting your vision.
Ghost Ranch: A “Thin Place”
Ghost Ranch is a place that gives voice to ‘your whole self’, to ponder the big questions of life purpose, meaning, and direction.
Coming to Light: Cultivating Clarity for Leaders through the Quaker Clearness Committee
The clearness committee, developed by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), is an individual and communal process of spiritual discernment, an instrument to understand the movement of God […]
Pilgrimage: A Path of Practice for the New Activism
It was a long day on El Camino, The Way of Saint James, the famed thousand-year old pilgrimage route across the north of Spain. I set out at daybreak and […]
Fly Fishing & Leadership Lessons
Fly-fishing looks effortless but that’s deceiving. It’s an intensely complex process. The angler needs to know exactly the right ‘fly’ to cast to lure fish. She needs to know how to cast, […]
Welcoming the Strong Black Woman among Us
Tamika, an assistant principal in a large urban school, is strong; she’s been told this for as long as she can remember. For Tamika, being strong is a heavy load, […]
8 Ways School Leaders Can Practice Empathy in Listening
“…when we learn how to listen more deeply to others, we can listen more deeply to ourselves.” ~ Parker J. Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness Research on listening indicates that the we […]
Courageous Authenticity: Post-Election Reflections from the Academy for Leaders at Pendle Hill
By Valerie Brown and Gayle Williams “Is it possible to become more intentional about creating spaces – in relationship, community – where our fearful shadows can emerge into the light […]
What Empathetic School Leaders Do
“…every trouble wants to draw the very best of you into the world.” —Mark Nepo, from Seven Thousand Ways to Listen When trouble happens sometimes we want to avoid conflict, […]
Leaders: 8 Steps to Be a Mindful Listener
Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are […]