Rain has been around a lot longer than humans. Sun, too. As long as our species has existed there has been weather, and people have found lots of different ways to handle it.
It’s rough out there. Wars, atrocities, mass shootings, global warming, toxic polarization, free-floating anger and anxiety. As I talk to people around me, I find many are distracted and off-center.
The misunderstandings, assumptions and judgments between generations cause some real conflicts. It is natural for people to believe the way they were raised, the time they grew up and the standards they considered as the norm are superior to other generations’ ways of being. Just like my grandmother and her hand-cranked dryer, it is hard to adopt to new ways.
When my grandmother handed me the wet clothes and told me to “put them through the wringer,” I had no idea what to do. “Go ahead, don’t dawdle. Get those clothes done.”
In the last six months and through the magic of teleconferencing, I've spent about 100 hours engaged in workshops, support networks, advanced practice seminars, and professional discussions with representatives from six continents. Here's a little travelogue; I hope you will indulge me as I present a virtual slide show.
This month we joined seven other island organizations at the Teen Health Fair organized by the Island Wide Youth Collaborative. We were grateful to have conflict resolution skills included in the greater context of what it means to be healthy. We also recruited a few teens for our next Peer Mediation training!
We are actively providing free mediation for housing cases in Dukes County, Barnstable County and Bristol County as part of the Eviction Diversion Initiative. If you are facing housing instability and can’t make your rent payments, contact us for information about the RAFT program. For more information email admin@mvmediation.org or call 508 693-2199
