momentum coaching

two weekends ago i participated in an amazing training called the Momentum Coaching program. this workshop gave me the opportunity to build a foundation of coaching skills that have already greatly impacted the way i interact with my collagues and with my community groups (throughout our playground planning process).

the program successfully taught me a wide range of powerful coaching skills, some of which include:

-focused and intuitive listening;
-powerful, open-ended inquiry to foster reflective learning;
-fueling learning and imagination through curiosity;
-blending "challenge" and "support" to stretch thoughtful risk-taking and innovation;
-illuminating underlying perspectives, assumptions and beliefs; and
-catalyzing shifts toward those that inspire productive action... (the metaphor that i chose to describe the person "i am becoming" was an impressionist painting -- full of color and intricate detail that impresses, inspires and requires a step back to see the big picture.)

not only was this an incredible learning experience, but it was so refreshing to be instantly open and authentic with 20 other complete strangers. in just two days, we laughed, we listened, we learned, we shared our troubles, we coached, and we received coaching.

the bottom line is: it was great to (re)discover a better way to treat everyone, including myself, like the beautiful star they are. literally. there are five points to this coaching model: to assess what's Actual (vs what's assumed), to set Aspirations, to seek Alternatives, to take Action, and to be Accountable for those action steps. they are all very important, concrete steps to take toward believing in, empowering and guiding my own life and the lives of all my community partners. i am so glad to have participated in this training, because now i feel like a new, more compassionate, more attentive and more effective leader.

my build in Modesto

what my supervisor wrote:

Hope and her Superstar Second, Suzie Lovercheck led an AWESOME build March 10 in Modesto, CA. KaBOOM! partnered with The Home Depot and Summit Academy to build a playground. The weather was beautiful and despite two man auger issues on site prep day 1 the build day was a huge success. The volunteers were led by awesome, responsible and responsive Build Captains: 5 from THD, 8 parents/family. The community partner was incredible, organized, helpful, very appreciative of THD, understood the partnership and empowering of the students. The volunteers were great and not only built the playground, completed side projects, but moved 270 CY of engineered wood fiber. The BOOMbox had a great point person assigned to it and was very effective and organized. The Modesto Home Depot donated items to enhance the raffle (microwave, toaster oven, electric grill/hotplate, blender, coffee maker, skil saw, drill, and a gas-powered outdoor grill)

Side Projects:
2 planter benches
2 picnic tables
75+ beautiful ceramic tiles (from fundraiser) mounted,
6’ x 40’ kids mural
16 stepping stones
250 THD Kids’ workshop kits

Media:
No media was present on build day (Aspire CEO, Don Shalvey is writing a letter to the editor)

VIPs:
Don Shalvey (CEO Aspire Schools)
Dave Waters (THD District Manager)
Sherry Caraway (Community Affairs Supervisor, HD Western Division)
Tom Hal (Modesto Store Manager)
Leslie Longeria (Modesto HRM)
3 other Store Managers

Highlights: students participation throughout Build Day – entire student body (350+) present at Kick-off and at Board-cutting, Middle School Dance group led morning stretch, School Choir sang “Rainbow Connection” at closing ceremony, a few students did documentary project throughout the day, K-5 worked on mural and/or Kids’ Workshops (in class shifts), 6-7 made stepping stones around the flag pole (one for each teacher’s name)

the Board-cutting ceremony yesterday

My 5th Build

picture this: 300+ elementary and middle school students line up by class for their morning announcements, and 120 volunteers from the community and The Home Depot surround them for our opening ceremony. the energy was incredible... the middle school dance group led us all in a morning stretch/warm-up. then, throughout the day, all the students participated in "play enhancement projects" (or side projects), like a beautiful mural, a stepping stones project, kids' workshop projects from The Home Depot (i.e. bird houses, etc.), and a photodocumentary project of the day's events... our (adult) volunteers helped with the kids, mounted tiles from a fundraiser, did landscaping, built 2 picnic tables and 2 planter benches, moved 290 cubic yards of engineered wood fiber into a 100 x 50 area, and built an INCREDIBLE playground in just 6 hours!!... at the end of the day, all those same 300+ students came out for our closing Board-cutting ceremony, and they were just bursting with excitement. it was so powerful to have them come out at the end, especially for volunteers to see what and who they'd been working so hard for all day... lastly, the school's choir sang "Rainbow Connection," and the school's principal cut the board amid Silly String, noise makers, kazoos, streamers, clapping, and The Home Depot cheer.

it was such an awesome build that it will be next to impossible to match/beat. i loved the school, the planning committee chairs, my Build Captains (volunteer team leaders), my installer, my Second, and most everyone else. everything ran very smoothly, and if it didn't, my volunteers made up for it... not to mention it was such a beautiful day with perfect weather... it sure will be tough not to compare all other builds to this one.

well, i am beyond tired right now, and i must go to bed... good night.

dinner and a movie

ate some tasty lettuce wraps, pan fried noddles w/ prawn and curried chicken at Le Cheval (an awesome French-Vietnamese restaurant in Downtown Oakland) last night with Noah. the food was delish, the company tambien... then we met up with two friends to see Million Dollar Baby... i have to say, i enjoyed the film but i expected a little more for some reason. i guess that's hollywood for ya.

frantic to focused

all week i haven't felt myself... but then again i have also felt some old habits come to the surface. so, really, is this just another part of myself.

from the very first moment of my work week until now, i was swamped with phone calls, paperwork, admin stuff, financial b.s. for work, emails, organization for upcoming builds and God knows what else. there's been little time for me, so i'm finally taking the time this evening to unwind, have a glass of wine and spill my thoughts on to this virtual scroll for all (or none) to read.

early in the week, i was on the verge of tears with the amount of work that piled up. then, despite my exhausted state of mind and body, i made myself go to yoga. again, just like on valentines, it was exactly what i needed to regain a clear, mindful focus on work, life and my "innate goodness."

it's amazing how just 2.5 hours of breathing, stretching, holding poses and being still, yet engaged, can transform your state of mind and your capabilities... i still struggled to get everything done that i needed to get done before the end of the week, but i felt more productive and clear-headed at the same time... the body and mind can do wonders if they work together fully.

speaking of which, thanks to this new clarity and self-healing, love is in the air... nothing to write about yet, but definitely there.

santa cruz

i finally got out of town for a trip (other than for work). i went with my new friend, Noah, to visit his friends in Santa Cruz. we drove down Highway 1 and visited his old stomping grounds (undergrad). we also visited Cafe Brasil, the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse (an old little surfer's museum), the cliffs and park nearby, UC-Santa Cruz, and a fun climbing tree on campus there... i had a great time. i only wish i could hold onto that good feeling forever.

challenging week

it's funny. when you're feeling really good about life, you'll be thrown some crazy curve balls. i had an incredible week last week, but this week was really difficult. i had major car problems with Tony's car and had to deal with that (on top of a very busy week at work). then i was asked to fly to Fresno, CA, on thursday for a playground build on friday. this news wasn't easy to take, especially because it was unexpected and so last minute, but for some reason i was completely okay with it... first, i was still feeling so great from the week before -- from all the yoga i'd been doing and all the love that i'd been feeling in my life right now... second, i had to fill in for another Project Manager because her grandfather had died the night before, so i felt obligated to be selfless about the whole situation... third, everything worked out in my favor -- from finding plane ticket to Fresno to catching a ride to the airport from an awesome friend. everything went smoothly until... mid afternoon on friday. we had major structural issues at the build and ended up not leaving the site until 7:30! (only to drive back to SF that night.) it was a very long day, but somehow i survived.

Love and live music

this week was incredible. it started off with a surprisingly wonderful valentine's gift to myself -- a 2.5-hour hatha flow yoga session with Dina Amsterdam. i go to her class when i can, but on monday, she had an extra special line-up for us. it was the best thing i could have done for myself, especially on a day like valentine's. she read poems, prayers, quotes and unique definitions of love. her session focused on opening the chest, restoring the heart and calling upon the love within ourselves... the bottom line is that we must fully love ourselves before we can love others. imagine, if everyone really practiced this kind of true love, then the world would virtually heal itself. i guess it's good that we have a holiday devoted to love; it's just too bad that the commercialism gets in the way of that sometimes. here is her sweet valentine email that she sent out to us:

"To all my Yogi and Yogini Valentines ~

For me today is a very special day... releasing all the commercialized mumbo jumbo and underneath all the hooha. Today is a beautiful day. It is a day to honor the spirit. And to celebrate love. To bring love to the forefront of our minds and hearts... and to trust in the truth that the deepest love we will ever know is the love that is our essence. In addition to how we love and honor and acknowledge others in our life, may this be a day that we love and celebrate and cultivate our own light ~ the wellspring from which all our love flows.

As the Buddha offers ~ May you rest in the innate goodness of your heart.

Thank you for being a part of my world and my heart... for bringing such sweetness and meaning to my life.

All love,
Dina"
______________________________

so, then, on wednesday night, i went to go see blackalicious and mos def at the berkeley community theatre. the show was incredible. the venue was a little big for blackalicious, but mos def took the stage by storm. his rhymes, his song, his moves and his talent were to die for. it was so good i was trippin'.

lastly, i went to the thievery corporation show last night. i had a good time and sweated my tail off dancing. it was fun and their music was fly, but i wasn't all that impressed with their stage performance. other than their light show, there was very little "show" to be seen... nevertheless, i was very glad to have gone... it's too bad the social life is so expensive here.

Installation by day, City Walk by night

as it turns out, the Playground Contractor's Association training was mostly boring and only partially interesting. nevertheless, i have to admit that i learned a thing or two about how to hold our installers accountable and how to work better with them. (note: we always have a qualified playground installer out at all of our builds in order to make sure that everything goes up right... as project managers, we need an installer to concentrate on the structure while we run the day, overall.)

also, yesterday, after we all went out to build a small playground together, i realized how good we are (as a non-profit) at organizing and conducting community-built playgrounds! not to put anyone else down, but i recognized how good we are at having fun, at organizing volunteers and at enhancing the overall playspace during our builds. with all of that in mind, i learned to greater appreciate how we do what we do.

then, last night, Tabitha, Jenna (2 fellow project managers) and I went out with 5 others from the training. (by the way, out of 40 participants in the training, only 4 of us were female... go figure. women rock.) we all went out to the City Walk at Universial Studios... mostly b/c there wasn't anything else to do, but also b/c it was right across the street from out hotel. the venue was bright and a little too "for show"... kind of like Las Vegas... i guess that's Orlando for ya. we ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, drank loads of margaritas, went to a few clubs (incl. the Groove, the Latin Quarter, Pat O'Brian's and Decades), and got back to the hotel by 1:30. it was fun to be out with the guys that lead the playground build that day, but i think i pushed myself a little too much... i only had 2.5 hours of sleep before having to head to the airport for a 6:15 flight! yikes! i slept as much as i could along the way, but i'm still very exhausted. thank god i'm finally home.

trainings and retreats

A few weeks ago, I participated in the National Playground Safety Institute in Columbia, MD. After this 2-day course, I took a 2-hour test to become a Certified Playground Safety Inspector... The bottom line is that I'll be a better playground project manager with this certification, but the curse is that I will never be able to look at a playground the same way again. :)

The week following this training, I joined my entire staff (38 people from D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Redwood City, CA) for an all-staff retreat (and then a project management retreat for 14 of us afterward) at the Hershey Hotel in PA. It was really exciting to re-discover the incredible matrix of this non-profit and to learn all about how it will expand. I feel so honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this organization, but sometimes I ask myself, why me? How do I have this chance?... Enough with the doubt. I'm just excited about advocating for play, about empowering community groups to organize and create social change, and about building 188 playspaces (total) across North America over the next year! Yay for kids!

This week I'm in Orlando, FL, for the National Playground Contractor's Association. Project Management sent three of us to learn all the tricks of the trade in laying out and constructing playgrounds so we can train the other project managers... You may be asking yourself, How come she's doing this training? I thought she'd already been building playgrounds... Well, we've never learned the specifics about reading playground blueprints, laying out holes from a footing datum, using a laser level to transit holes, etc... Sound interesting?... Yeah, it will probably be loads of fun... Okay, maybe not fun, but probably educational and beneficial for work.

work... work... work... I've got to get my head out of work. Write and take me away if you please.

Spirit Rock

today was beautiful. my-soon-to-be sister-in-law, Mardie, and i spent the entire day at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County (N of SF) at a daylong meditation retreat called the Foundations of Vipassana Practice with Mark Coleman. basically it was all about being mindful. here's the class's description:

"The Buddha stated that the practice of mindfulness is a vehicle for liberation and freedom. In this day of silence of sitting and walking meditation we will explore the fundamental aspects of Vipassana (Insight) Meditation. There will be thorough meditation instructions, Dharma teachings and discussion that will help bring to light the practice of mindfulness - the most essential Buddhist meditation practice."

we did 20 and 30-minute meditations -- sitting, walking, standing, eating and sitting some more. it felt so good to be still, breathe and enjoy the present with a new developed appreciation for being human... so calm, refreshed and clear-headed -- it's amazing.

the Strip

out on the town. cruzin the Strip in Vegas last night after my design day meeting in Pahrump. i stayed at the Monte Carlo and visited the Bellagio and NYNY.

playgroung PR

I just found this article about my build in Tulsa (11 Nov 05). Check me out... Also, check out this awesome little promo video about a recent KaBOOM! build in Boston.

back to the grind

okay. (if anybody's out there) i may be little late on the uptake, but nearly 2 weeks into the new year, and i'm starting out just great. no really. things are going relatively well for me. (relatively as in relative to what life has offered me thus far... not relative to the rest of the world b/c i can't even imagine going there... it's unfathomable.)

i returned home to SF on the 3rd from my home in the mountains of north carolina. being with the fam was great, but a little hectic and a little stressful. with that many loved ones around, everyone wants to know everyone else's business, so there's very little privacy most of the time. regardless, it was nice to rest and be thankful for family, food and... new life. yes! there will soon be a new Deifell among us -- the first of the next generation! child of my brother David and his wife Elizabeth! it's so exciting!... and yet i'm so far away. :(

nevertheless, it was nice to return west and to call this place home too. i'm settling in again... but not for long b/c soon the travel for work will pick up again. i leave for a day trip to Pahrump, NV, (65 miles west of Las Vegas) tomorrow to begin another playground project there with the Salvation Army. next week i go to Columbia, MD, to take a course and a test in playground safety in order to become a certified playground installer. the following week we have our staff retreat in Hershey, PA... to know more about where i am and when, see my itinerary list to the right.

other trivia about the life of hope-alicious:
-"hope-alicious" replaced "hoperino" at Burning Man 2004
-bought my tix to BM 2005 (and i can't wait!)
-got a new jacket & pants for biking to work during the cold, rainy season here
-eating healthier: little to no sugar, more greens, more balance, etc.
-tried out an indoor rock-climbing gym near my house (as a guest of my roommate)
-skipped my yoga class tonight b/c i'm poor now (after the holidays and BM tix)
-attending Spirit Rock mediation center this saturday for an all day meditation retreat... more on that to come.