Amplify, Elevate, Celebrate; Generous and Generative

Over the past year, I’ve been meeting with folks in Caribbean Studies, and Caribbean libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage and information institutions. The goal of the meetings is to learn what folks are doing in regards to digital scholarship (also digital humanities, data science, and research/teaching/service as enabled by opportunities in the digital age), what folks want to do, and how to connect and share work for the community, as part of how to grow the community for Caribbean Studies and Caribbean collections. I’m working on a report from this to the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC, www.dLOC.com). Several key phrases came up again and again, including the need for our shared work and our approaches to be generous and generative. For that, other consistent words captured needs and goals: amplify, elevate, celebrate. With so much great work and so many great people and communities, the digital age for Caribbean Studies and Caribbean collections is incredibly vibrant, and our goals are to help this by amplifying, elevating, and celebrating.
I’ll have more to share on this soon, with the report due to dLOC before June 4. In reflecting on the report and the entire process, I’ve also become more aware of how often I succeed, and how often I fail, in amplifying, elevating, and celebrating others. I will work to do more, including posting more often on more of my passions, friends, and beloved communities. For today, I write to celebrate three:
Dancing Crane Zen Center
Sitting Zen makes me happier, keeps me sane, and grows the depths and strengths of my abilities. I sit Zen daily at home, and then Friday nights from 7-8:45pm, and it’s always joyous to see more people. See more:

Alachua County Labor Coalition (ACLC)
The Alachua County Labor Coalition is an amazing community. I am so happy to be part of this group, doing important work and being part of this work. From the ACLC Mission & Goals:

We are the people who build and sustain the nation, but rarely enjoy our fair share of the wealth we create.
We are the employed, the unemployed, and the retired.
We are the people who make the country run, but have little say in running the country.
We remain dedicated to building a more just society, where we all have the right: …

The group is amazing, and is the right group for me, and I hope others find their way to ACLC and home here as well. See more:

Pete Taylor
Pete is my partner in all of this, including Dancing Crane Zen and ACLC. He’s now an acupuncturist, and his office is Deep Root Medicine. I could write about Pete endlessly. For now, I’ll just say that he has taught me so much about how to be generous and generative, with skillful means, and how proud and impressed I am of him for his choosing to live a life fully. He left a successful IT career to earn an MA in Latin American Studies where he found his calling in traditional medicine. He then earned another Master’s, and is now in his sixth week as a Licensed Acupuncturist. As a family member jokes, Pete and I keep making choices that are outside of what many people consider plausible or possible, and we do it for our own joy and to generously and generatively share with others. I am so proud and inspired by Pete. I know he amplifies, elevates, and celebrates me and all that I do, and I do the same for him.
See more: