by Daniel | Jun 27, 2025 | Civil Society, Democracy, Metacrisis, Ukraine
It was a rough night in Kyiv. I shot straight from sleep into full wakefulness. The explosions, way too near for comfort, jolted my sensory system alert. The night felt ominous, surreal; seared by the sound of drones, sirens, and explosions, the sky alight with...
by Daniel | Oct 30, 2022 | Awareness, Civil Society, Climate Crisis, Democracy, Education, Metacrisis, Perception
Something surprised me in a group discussion recently. I love surprises: They have so much to teach us! Our group was meeting on Zoom, planning a workshop on a tight timeline. We were down to our next-to-last meeting, and it was time to finalize a plan. The...
by Daniel | Jul 19, 2022 | Awareness, Civil Society, Democracy, Educational Design, Metacrisis, Nature, Perception
(this is the second part of a two-part essay; if you haven’t already done so, please read “Where Does It All Lead” to get the most out of this piece.) On a rocky hillside, trowel in hand, I went along the rough trail, eyes searching the ground. Every so often I would...
by Daniel | Jun 30, 2022 | Awareness, Civil Society, Climate Crisis, Democracy, Educational Design, Metacrisis, Nature, Storytelling
Grief – raw and fresh Over the past few weeks, I’ve been meditating on the topic of grief. My heart has been heavy with the fate of those kids in Texas… who will never again collect fireflies. Never go off jumps on their bikes. Never catch snowflakes on their...
by Daniel | Jan 26, 2022 | Civil Society, Democracy, Educational Design, Perception
We are awash in a drumbeat of constant messaging about repeated defeats of progressive legislation – and how Republicans are certain to sweep the fall elections. This narrative, this flood of messaging, is corrosive. It is hard to deny that Congress is beyond...
by Daniel | Apr 7, 2020 | Civil Society, Climate Crisis, Democracy, Pandemic, Storytelling
The world looks far different today than what most people could have imagined just two months ago. The normally crowded Red Square at the local university sits vacant. The spread of the pandemic, the extent of the lockdowns, and the enormity of the economic...
