Sharing knowledge with fellow travelers on the journey

Last month I had a chat with D., who contacted me after reading an article on personal finance that I wrote. Like me, she is interested in making the transition from the corporate world to more values-based work and/or a saner pace of life. I tried to give her as candid a summary as possible of my transition process thus far, and I also recommended some resources that I thought she might find helpful.

I really welcome phone calls and emails and face-to-face chats with people who contact me to learn more about my experiences and to have a sounding board for their own experiences and plans.

I also seek out people who are living and working in a way that I admire and to which I aspire. I try to find mentors and cultivate relationships with them, or at least chat with them and glean what I can from their own experiences.

I feel strongly no matter where we are along our journey, we need to share our own stories and support with those who are following in our footsteps. And we need to seek out the knowledge and support of those in whose footsteps we follow. It's especially important if we choose a life path in which we are swimming against the tide.

Recent reading: Simple Days

I just finished reading the book Simple Days: A Journal on What Really Matters by Marlene A. Schiwy. As I read Schiwy's journal, I felt several touchpoints of kinship with her: her love of long walks, good food, Baroque music, and singing in a choir; her yearning for simplicity; her frustration when trying to cultivate intimate friendships as an adult, and her different, more relaxed rhythm of life as a non-9-to-5er. And her occasional massive decluttering sessions! From her book:

"Last night I browsed in The Artist's Way and came across the idea that when we find ourselves sorting through things, cleaning out and uncluttering, we are making room for something new in our life. Julia Cameron writes, 'One of the clearest signals that something is afoot is the impulse to weed out, sort through, and discard old clothes, papers, and belongings....By tossing out the old and unworkable, we make way for the new and suitable.' I am in such a phase now, wanting to get rid of things and clear some space, in more than one way. I would love to see my study bare and orderly, not piled high with books and papers, as it currently is. But what is the 'new and suitable' that I am apparently preparing for?"

I found this passage in the book to be one of the most profound and moving:

"Yesterday I read Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying. Her final words of advice are profound: 'It is very important that you do only what you love to do. You may be poor, you may go hungry, you may live in a shabby place, but you will totally live. And at the end of your days, you will bless your life because you have done what you came here to do.'"

Best of all, there were tasty recipes! I love it when a non-cookbook includes recipes! I've copied some of my favorites here:

Pumpkin Walnut Bread (two loaves)

2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. oats, or wheat germ, or wheat bran, or oat bran
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg (optional)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. canola oil or melted butter
1 1/3 c. sugar (adjust amount as desired)
1 t. vanilla
4 eggs
2 c. cooked pumpkin or any winter squash (e.g., acorn or butternut)
2/3 c. water (or milk or soymilk)
3/4 c. raisins
3/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Sift together all dry ingredients except sugar in a bowl. Beat together oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add eggs, one by one, beating well after each. STir in pumpkin and water. Add flour mixture, stirring just until smooth. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Bake in two loaf pans, at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes. Let loaves cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then put on rack or plate. This is a tasty, low-fat, and nutritious autumn breakfast loaf. I make it often, sometimes doubling this recipe. It freezes well.

Pfefferkuchen

3 1/2 c. unbleached flour (I use up to half whole wheat)
2 T. cocoa
2-5 t. baking powder
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. lemon extract or 1 t. lemon rind
1 c. honey or syrup
2 eggs
5 T. milk
1/2 c. softened butter (1 stick)
1 c. hazelnuts, lightly toasted and ground

Sift together flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Mix together sugar, spices, lemon, honey, eggs, and milk. Pour liquid mixture into middle of dry ingredients and knead until thoroughly blended. Add butter and nuts quickly so the dough does not become sticky. Put in refrigerator for an hour (or for up to 3 days). Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters, OR pat with your hands into a low cake pan so dough is 3/4" thick. Bake cookies 10-15 minutes; cake 15-20 minutes, at 375 degrees. When cool, you can decorate them with your favorite icing, or simply melt chocolate chips and coat cake or cookies with chocolate. Cut cake into 2" squares.

Hazelnut Fig Bread (two loaves)

1 c. hazelnuts, roasted and ground*
3 c. unbleached flour (can substitute up to half whole wheat flour)
1 c. oat bran
2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
8 oz. dried figs (remove stems and soak figs in enough water to cover them for several hours or overnight, then drain)
2 c. milk or soymilk
4 eggs
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. melted butter or canola oil

*Put hazelnuts in a baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Rub off skins, and when cool, grind in blender.

Mix flour, oat bran, baking powder, salt, and ground hazelnuts in a large bowl. In blender, puree figs with milk, eggs, brown sugar, and butter or oil. Pour liquid mixture over dry ingredients and mix just until they are combined. Pour batter into two loaf pans that have been greased or sprayed with Pam. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350-375 degrees. Leave loaves in pans for an hour to cool off. This is very good with butter, or cream cheese or other mild cheeses.

Blueberry Corn Muffins (one dozen)

1/2 c. softened butter or vegetable oil
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
dash of salt
1 1/3 c. unbleached flour (you can substitute whole wheat for some or all of it)
2/3 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. milk
2 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
1-2 t. sugar mixed with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with foil or paper cups. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy, then beat in eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Measure flour and cornmeal together and add to the butter mixture. Fold in milk and blueberries just until mixed. Put batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top, and let cool for 15 minutes before taking out of pan. These freeze well and I always double the recipe.

Enjoy the moment, slow down

Spotted in my neighborhood. Thought I'd post it as the thought for the day. Here's another view of the sign, below. I cropped it philosophically. (The full text of the sign is actually, "Traffic calming measures ahead - Enjoy the moment, slow down")

Inspiring anecdotes: faith in humanity, fast-thinking bridge-building

Just read the fall issue of New American Dream's newsletter, In Balance, and found these two gems of inspiration in Sean Sheehan's "New Dream Community News" article:

Almost all people are genuinely good and want to leave the world a better place.

Sure I've heard celebrities say "my goal in life is to leave the world a little better than I found it," and I've seen polling data that the vast majority of the American public is on the same page, but the reason I believe it is because of a random conversation I had on a D.C. street corner five or six years ago. It was during a globalization conference and I had made small talk with a man standing near me--John. Triggered by a placard calling somebody "evil," John said: "I really don't know if there are any bad people in the world, but I do know this: I've never met a single one in my life."

Never met a single bad person? Sounded like John was either born yesterday, living in a plastic bubble, or completely disengaged from social issues of consequence. Well, he wasn't born yesterday--John was easily in his fifties--and as we talked, I realized he hadn't lived in a bubble either. He had grown up black in 1950s America, experienced the horrors of war in Vietnam, and spent several harrowing years homeless on the streets of Philadelphia. An organizer with ACT UP, John was leading a large contingent to demonstrate against our government's inaction in the face of a global AIDS epidemic. John was definitely, passionately engaged.

But there was one line that John wouldn't cross--to call any politician or CEO "evil." He was eager to share his experiences and concerns, but he was also ready for a true dialogue, not a simple dismissal.

I figured if John could have such faith in humanity, then I should too.

Prioritize a positive, bridge-building approach.

I first saw the power of our cross-partisan appeal when former New Dream President Betsy Taylor appeared on Crossfire in 1997 to promote our Simplify the Holidays campaign. The other three participants, Geraldine Ferraro, Tucker Carlson, and Pat Buchannan, initially came out with guns blazing against the campaign, insisting it was bad for the economy. They also expressed particular furor over Buy Nothing Day, a complementary campaign run by the group AdBusters. Then Betsy noted: "We used to have a Buy Nothing Day" every week. It was called the Sabbath." Something clicked and Buchannan went from attacking to solidly defending the campaign. Weird, but cool!

Conference: How to Make the World a Better Place

Last Saturday, I went to the How to Make the World a Better Place conference for people (beginners or experienced) who want to work towards positive social/environmental change. I was floored by how awesome and chock-full of goodness this event was. Can you believe, a completely volunteer-run all-day conference with more than 30 sessions to choose from, a bound notebook of all the session handouts, and it took place like two blocks down the street from where I live, and cost all of $20 and included lunch and a snack? Also, most of the presenters and conference-goers were local, so it was inspiring to see how much social change expertise is in my neighborhood, and also the large number of local people interested in social change, even if they are new to it.

The documentary film they screened was awesome; it highlighted several successful grassroots social change projects done by people in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale.

I attended the sessions on successful local community changemakers and fundraising. Met some interesting possible contacts and had good conversations.

Advice for women techies entering the nonprofit sector: Beth Kanter's blog readers weigh in

This entry on Beth Kanter's blog has exactly the kind of advice I am desperately seeking:

I need your help for She's Geeky Session: What's It Really Like To Work As A Techie for Good?

Inspiration from Van Jones podcast

Recently, I've listened to almost all of the podcasts from the 2006 Nonprofit Boot Camp. The latest one I played was the keynote address by Van Jones, the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. I generally don't care much for motivational speeches (like keynotes often are, at this type of event). But this one was an exception. My favorite quote from the podcast:

You have a dream inside yourself, and it's an impossible dream. That's why the Creator gave it to your crazy ass. If it was easy, she would have given it to someone else!

Sharing tomatoes with strangers

I was walking home today from the Cupertino farmer's market today when I spotted a sign in someone's front yard that said: "Pick some tomatoes for yourself." Next to it was a sprawling cherry tomato plant. So I picked a handful and ate them, standing on the sidewalk. Delicious! How good of these people to be so generous with strangers.


Speaking of neighborhood sharing, I signed up for a website called Neighborrow that makes it easier to borrow and lend books, videos, music, games, tools, and everything else with your neighbors, friends, and colleagues. Check it out - they have many local sharing groups, and even if there's not one in your area yet, it's very easy to create one and invite your friends to join!

Discussing non-profit career moves and green lifestyles over lunch

Yesterday I had lunch with P., a fellow conspirator in making the switch to non-profit careers that embody our values. Some topics we covered:

P. wants to bring the Green Team Project to the environmental interest group at her workplace, but has had difficult reaching the staff at the Green Team Project. I suggested the Northwest Earth Institute course materials as a possible alternative: their discussion courses include Global Warming, Choices for Sustainable Living, and Exploring Deep Ecology. Jane Rothstein runs the NWEI global warming class at Stanford; maybe she could be a resource.

P. also wants to reduce the waste stream at her workplace cafeteria by getting them to replace their disposable food service containers and utensils with biocompostables. The folks at World Centric in Palo Alto know a thing or two about compostables; I'll get in touch with them to ask about local commercial composting facilities and institutional efforts to switch to compostables. P. currently takes her personal compostables to Campbell and will take them to Whole Foods in the future if they introduce their composting program at their new Cupertino location.

We discussed these two events again: CompassPoint Nonprofit Day on Thursday, July 12 in San Francisco, and the Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp on Saturday, August 18 in Berkeley. Registration has closed for the CompassPoint event, but P. is going to see if she can get in as a event volunteer. This seems like a generally sound strategy for attending a conference for free. If it works, she'll save $150. The Craigslist Foundation event looks like it's still open for signups, and the registration fee is $50 which is more accessible. Now, we need to figure out how to get to Berkeley in the most carbon-efficient but practical manner. Anybody out there in cyber-land want to come with us? We could all carpool to BART and ride BART over.

Kepler's Books in Menlo Park is launching GO-GREEN, a summer series of presentations on environmental topics. One of the presentations on Sunday, August 19 is "Don't Stop at Changing Your Light Bulbs, Green Your Career", which intrigued both of us. P. will attend, and I'm considering attending.

I mentioned Acterra's Be the Change environmental leadership training program. They are extending their application deadline until they fill all 30 slots. My friend A. completed this program; I'll contact her and see if she can talk with P. about Be the Change as well as the environmental initiatives she worked on at Stanford and elsewhere.

Note to self: I'd like to get in touch with my friend V. and see whether he would be willing to talk to P. and me about his switch from high-tech to an activist career.

The book How To Live Well Without Owning A Car came up in conversation. P. read it and gave it a thumbs-up. The table of contents and the first two chapters are available online as a free PDF download; I'd like to take a peek at these.

Speaking of cars and of commutes, my spouse and I would like to find an apartment closer to Palo Alto so he can commute by bike instead, but it's pricey up there. P. suggested looking at Menlo Park; rents may be more reasonable, and we might still be able to find a location with a good bike route to his office.

P. mentioned several things she is doing to reduce her energy usage and waste stream, like line-drying her laundry, bringing her own reusable take-out container to restaurants for leftovers, reusing bags/containers for buying bulk bin items at the grocery store, and keeping reusable bags handy for shopping trips (and forgoing such trips if she doesn't have a shopping bag with her). I was inspired by her actions and by her discipline. Regarding energy conservation, I thought I was hot stuff with my monthly electricity bill of $10-$15, but P.'s latest bill was $5!!! I bow to the PG&E energy conservation goddess!!!

Comparing notes with others on The Great Escape

A couple weeks back I had lunch with P. She is currently working, but is also devising an exit strategy for leaving corporate life behind and finding work that is more in tune with her environmental values.

Among other things, we discussed possible points of conflict between idealism and reality. Two potential areas that I see are personal finance/income (unsurprisingly) and internal politics/bureaucracy within a non-profit.

We also talked about a couple of annual events that might educate us further about the non-profit sector: CompassPoint Nonprofit Day on July 12 in San Francisco, and the Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp on August 18 in Berkeley.

We also threw around the idea of making a field trip to the Ecology Center in Berkeley.

P. has already done some research into the non-profit sector as well as some informational interviews. I'd like to pick her brain in the future about what she learned and what kind of questions she asked.

One big benefit of broadcasting my plans to everyone I know is that I find other birds-of-a-feather who have similar plans, like P. Often, these people might be at a slightly different stage of the journey, and it's fun and informative to compare notes and give and receive advice about the lessons learned on the way. It's also reassuring to know that I'm not the only one travelling this road. It would be neat to start a Silicon Valley Escapees Directory for networking with people who have made or want to make the transition from corporate high-tech into whatever life/career path they find more meaningful and balanced. But I guess I'll put that project somewhere on my list of 10,000 Projects That Would Be Neat To Do :)

Happy, healthy attitudes about prioritizing your time and life

For people who share my weakness of overcommitting and cluttering up my schedule (even if it's with activities I love) - here are some brief bits of inspiration to help stay focused on the important stuff, without becoming too rigid/narrow/single-minded:

Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News: Doing What I Should Be Doing

More words of wisdom from others

Here are various thoughts and tidbits of advice that people have shared with me recently:

"I'd say to give it time, lots of time. Slow down. Relax. There's time... What I discovered was that it took a solid month before I stopped busily filling each day, making plans and to-do lists and schedules, and simply woke up in the morning, and was present, centered, and relaxed."

"Do you know that Hayward State has a masters in non-profit management? Might be good to have some of those classes on your resume - I think it would demonstrate how serious you are."

"From all I can see, have read, heard etc. it seems one needs, whenever possible, to be self-employed, for at least some of their work."

The measure of a man

Well, the Messiah Sing at West Valley Presbyterian didn't happen for me, because I suddenly had more urgent business to attend to. A week and a half ago, I got on a last-minute flight to Canada to see my ailing uncle. Only four weeks ago, he seemed in good health, joking, laughing, and playing tennis and golf with his buddies. Then he unexpectedly suffered a series of heart attacks and strokes. Sadly, by the time I arrived, he had already been unconscious for several days, and he died the following day.

I have fond memories of my uncle and much affection for him, but it was only when his family and friends converged to pay him tribute one last time that I finally got a glimpse of his true measure. I was particularly moved by the following two stories that were told at the funeral service, and I wish to remember them as examples by which to lead my own life.

In one story, an elderly woman described how last year she had been waiting at a bus stop on a cold and windy winter day. The bus was more than 45 minutes late. The woman's hands and face were freezing, she felt miserable, and she was too tired to walk home. She saw a car pass by, and a few minutes later, the same car came around again and pulled up next to her. It turned out to be my uncle and aunt, who offered her a ride home, though they were strangers at the time. When she arrived home, she thanked them and invited them into her home, but they had another engagement and could not come in. The woman expressed deep regret that she did not give them a proper thank-you while my uncle was still living, but she told us that she would never forget that one small act of kindness.

The second story was related by a woman who had lived in the same apartment building as my aunt and uncle years ago years ago in Montreal. At the time, they were all relatively recent immigrants from the Philippines. She laughingly told us that when she met my uncle, her first impression of him was that he looked like a shady character, with his big mustache and belt. That winter, there was a blizzard severe enough that people were sent home from schools and offices. The woman and her husband did not have a car, but she managed to get a ride from her office to the day care center where her young son was. She then called my uncle to ask if he could drive to the day care center to pick them up, and although they didn't know each other well at the time, he agreed to come get them. It took him much longer than expected to pick them up, and when he arrived, she found out why. My uncle's car wouldn't start, so he had walked a mile and a half through the blizzard to the day care center to come get them. He then walked them home, against the wind, while carrying her son. Later on, my uncle and aunt, having two daughters but no sons of their own, took the woman's son under their wing. They became like second parents to him, and with the attention and love they gave him, this timid boy blossomed into a self-confident young person.

Having heard these stories, I wish I had known my uncle better. He was a founder and officer of various civic organizations in his community, and led or participated in a number of charitable initiatives, both in Canada and the Philippines. He also recently fulfilled his dream of building a house on the island where he grew up, although he did not get to invite his entire extended family to vacation there, as he had wanted. Before last week, I did not know any of these things about my uncle. Perhaps he would have had some wisdom to share with me about where to go next on my life path.

On a side note, while I was in Canada, I myself was the beneficiary of an act of kindness from a stranger. I met a man who introduced himself as a childhood friend not only of my uncle, but also of my late father. He said he had some old photos of my dad from their scouting days. The next time I saw this man, he showed me the photos of my dad and his scout troop in 1959, when he was 15 years old. Then he gave them to me, saying that the photos had meant a lot to him, but he knew that they would mean even more to me. It was a gift that moved me almost to tears.

Words of encouragement and advice

When I told my family, friends, and colleagues that I was taking a year off and explained why, I was surprised and warmed by the number of people who responded positively and even offered their congratulations. I actually expected more people to think it was weird, since it is a somewhat unconventional thing for people in my social circle/peer group to do. I'm glad I was wrong.

Supportive words from a very close friend:

"Wow! That's a big career move, but you know, do it now and it is very good to have a very supportive spouse! ...

I can see you in the non-profit sector, though that's not necessarily less work or less stressful. When you get in the funding side of it, there's a whole political aspect that you might not otherwise expect, this goes for all non-profits...

It comes down to finding the right employer, I think...

Now is the time for you to try different things, mistake or not. You won't know till you try it. Heck, we did, failed, but are slowly bouncing back. Yes, now's the time to try, while there aren't any kids to worry about and deal with. Remember, kudos for trying!"