I do not have a lot to write today. I just want to invite us all to stand in what Parker Palmer calls righteous speech. There were primary elections in the US and many people are feeling disillusioned by the results.

We are all susceptible to blind spots. Happily, I am the kind of person who likes to share mine, so you can have a good laugh, feel like you aren’t alone, and be more willing to look at your own human foibles.  I am told this is my secret sauce. Yay for imperfection.  We are rockin’ it out together!

Sidewalk Talk has grown in leaps and bounds over the last year and a half. We’ve more than doubled our number of listeners and Chapter Leaders as well. We have 89 Chapters in 15 countries, with more than 7000 listeners holding events every day.

Most of us are on the hunt to feel better, feel more excited, and feel inspired in some small way every day. We pay big bucks or go to great lengths to find more excitement and good feeling. I am with you. Life can hem us into boring routines or busyness that make us feel like we are robots on auto-pilot.

Even Brené Brown says listening and connecting with strangers will help heal the wounds of disconnection, loneliness, and not belonging our society is rife with. She says, lean in and hold the hand of a stranger in her most recent OnBeing interview with Krista Tippett.

I am a couples therapist, as you know by now. I spend a LOT of time encouraging active listening and empathy between spouses. Important work, slowing the pace down of a heated fight using reflection and mirroring. That slowing down, can, but not always, open heated arguers up to a larger perspective and even empathy for the person they are arguing with. It is beautiful, when it works.

Judging someone is a real bugger.

Judgment prevents us from connecting as people. And it kinda makes us sick.
Not proudly, I judge people all the time. And I am not always aware when I am doing it. Sidewalk Talk and being married have both been my biggest teachers for being a better human.

I am someone who likes dancing with shadow stuff. I don’t just walk around with toothy smiles and like talking about love, positivity, and growth. I also like knowing what makes us ache as humans. The positive and negative aspects feel authentic and more genuine to me.

Healthline Media has a new series called "How Are You?" and Sidewalk Talk was lucky enough to be covered. Check out the beautiful documentary short and the wonderful host of "How Are You?", Omar Davis.

Last month, I was sitting on a sidewalk in Heidelberg, Germany. A man had been watching us for thirty minutes so a volunteer walked over and invited him to sit and talk. I was privileged with getting to listen to him. Neither German, nor English, were his first language. And yet, we found our way together, cobbling together a mix of German and English.

Today is International Volunteers Day and we have 7000 of those here at Sidewalk Talk. Volunteers are a lively bunch because they are CHOOSING to turn up rather than beholden to turn up because of a wage. The volunteers here at Sidewalk Talk are some of my favorite people, and many have become my closest friends. It is not uncommon for me to tear up talking to other volunteers about their experiences at Sidewalk Talk.

​I sat curled up in bed this morning. I had a post on loneliness I was going to share on the blog but reading Spring Washam’s book, A Fierce Heart, in preparation for our podcast interview later today, I was moved by her storytelling and how important it is to listen to stories of calling. I welcome you to these intimate stories of others here at Sidewalk Talk and hope you feel their calling and let their stories inspire us all over the holidays. These leaders are all over the globe bringing love and connection to the street. Let their love shine bright in you and perhaps share the story of Sidewalk Talk listening with your family to ignite a new kind of conversation.

I volunteer for a global movement called Sidewalk Talk. We set up chairs in the streets and offer to listen to passers by. We don’t solve problems. We don’t give advice. We simply offer non-judgemental, empathic listening; the opportunity to sit with a stranger and be heard.

Are you responsible for Sidewalk Talk’s movement to create culture change one heart-centered conversation at a time? You probably are and don’t even know it.

A friend was telling me she was a big fan of a teacher who taught anger management. Then she began to volunteer for the organization and was surprised at how angry folks were inside the very organization hoping to dispel anger.

Do you know you are a good person? Do you know you are valuable because of who you are, not what you do? Do you have a regular practice of self-compassion when you forget? What does any of this have to do with Sidewalk Talk?

I am beaming right now. I am like a neon balloon, bouncing around after my first meeting with Sidewalk Talk volunteers tonight in Heidelberg Germany. At 6pm, I took my lonely self to the University Cafeteria not knowing quite what to expect. I moved to Germany six weeks ago, leaving behind my loves and “framily” in San Francisco. I was aching for some connection.

40 seconds…every forty seconds someone dies by suicide around the world. They did not commit a crime. They were escaping what felt like inescapable pain. They were desperate for relief.