Workshops

Three new salons: Portland, Boston, and Vancouver, BC!

Leave a Comment / Life coaching for a better world, Sustainable Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, Veganism, Workshops / By / April 26, 2017

I love my Dream Into Change salons, and I’m taking them international this summer!  I will be visiting the lovely Vancouver, BC, by train (of course!) at the end of June and beginning of July, and I will be and hosting a vegan-themed salon while I’m there.  I can’t wait to hear what all those cool Vancouverites are dreaming up!

A month before that, I will also be hosting a vegan-themed salon in Boston (Cambridge, to be more precise) over the Memorial Day weekend,when I visit that fair city to connect with a dear friend.  I’m finding that the vegan social and activist scenes in Boston are different from those in the Western cities I’m more familiar with, so I’m interested to see what sorts of things the movers and shakers (and aspiring movers & shakers!) in that region are dreaming up as well.  The number of all-vegan restaurants in the Boston area seems to have just about tripled since the last time I was there, in 2013, for my East Coast Empathy Tour… so I know there must be cool things percolating!

And finally, right here in my own Portland backyard, on May 9th I will be hosting my first ever sustainable-transportation themed salon. Portland is well known for being a great bike and transit city; I myself have lived here happily since 1990 without ever owning a car.  There is constant innovation in those arenas, and much of it comes from the grassroots.  I want to learn what people are working on and envisioning right here where I live.

More details about all the events can be found on my Events page, and as always, I would love your help in spreading the word about these events.  So, if you know people in these cities who might be interested, please share the event links with them!

Video of my Nonviolent Communication (NVC) webinar with Kathy Peterman

Leave a Comment / Interviews, Nonviolent Communication, Uncategorized, Workshops / By / November 21, 2016 /

In the wake of the recent election, and with the holiday season approaching quickly, effective communication tools are more crucial than ever. Around holiday dinner tables, many families will be discussing emotionally charged issues such as racism, sexism, homo- and transphobia, indigenous people’s rights, the role of the United States in world affairs, climate change and other environmental concerns, and other related issues.

I have posted about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) on several occasions here on this blog. For those of you who may be curious, or for those who have some NVC knowledge but would like a refresher, I would like to share this recent video of a webinar during which my friend Kathy Peterman interviewed me about the communication tools of NVC. I hope that you will find some useful ideas and approaches to any challenging conversations you may be anticipating in the coming months.

(If you’re interested in learning more about Kathy’s My Best Year offerings, take a look at http://simpleup.me/portfolio/my-best-year/)

Dream Into Change salons coming up + a new Meetup group!

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized, Workshops / By / May 1, 2016

Hello, fellow culture shifters!

After a bit of a hiatus during the winter months, the Dream Into Change salons are back! I wanted to let you know about three upcoming ones in the Portland area, but I’m also looking to host them in some other cities in the coming months, including Washington, DC, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

The salon is a free, informal event where people with culture-shifting ideas and projects come together to talk about them, and support and inspire each other. These ideas and projects can include business ideas, political campaigns, creative endeavors, and the like. Each person introduces themselves and talks briefly about their ideas and/or projects, and then there is an opportunity for mingling, networking, brainstorming, and discussion.

In Portland, I have two themed Salons coming up, as well as an un-themed, open one. (Three different venues.)

Tuesday, May 10: Nonviolent Communication/Restorative Justice theme
5:30-7:00 pm, Know Thy Food Collective, 3434 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland

Tuesday, May 24: Vegan theme
6:00-8:00 pm, Papa G’s Organic Deli, 2314 SE Division St., Portland

Tuesday, June 7: No theme; all ideas welcome
6:00-8:00 pm, Liz’s Creative Café, 9401 SE 32nd Ave, Portland/Milwaukie

You can RSVP to any of these on Facebook; they are all listed at www.facebook.com/dreamintochange (Or, you can send me a message via the “contact” button here.)

I also invite you to join my brand-new Meetup group, Portland Culture Shifters. For now, the Meetup is a way to invite people who are not on Facebook to the salons, but there may be other gatherings posted there in the future.

Finally, if you live in one of the above-mentioned cities, please feel free to contact me if you or anyone you know might be interested in attending such an event in your city, and/or if you know of a good venue where I could hold a salon. I will be in DC in late June, and I’m tentatively planning on the other three cities next March.

~Maren

Portland workshop: Effective communication skills for vegans & vegetarians

2 Comments / Animal rights, Life coaching for a better world, Nonviolent Communication, Uncategorized, Veganism, Workshops / By / November 17, 2014 / , , , , ,

Vegetarian-Thanxgiving-dinnerThe fall and winter holiday season is upon us.

Vegan/vegetarian advocacy (or even simple social “defense”) can be challenging throughout the year. But when turkey and ham dinners with family, friends, or coworkers start happening, it can be especially stressful and frustrating.

Whether you expect to be dodging snide remarks or jokes from relatives around the turkey, or you’d like to talk persuasively about veg*anism to your co-celebrants to encourage others to give it a try, this workshop can help. We’ll be talking about using NonViolent Communication (NVC)* tools to build connection, rather than divisiveness, when talking about these charged topics.

We won’t be talking about fact-based, point-by-point rebuttals to anti-veg*n statements, since there are plenty of online resources for that. We’ll be talking instead about how to get in touch with our own feelings and needs around animal rights, environmental concerns, and/or health, and conveying them–if and when we choose to–in a way that is more likely to encourage openness in our listeners, rather than argument or defensiveness. The goal of the workshop is to increase the potential effectiveness of our persuasive conversations, while also decreasing our risk for the anger, bitterness, depression, and burnout that sometimes go along with living by a certain set of beliefs that many of our loved ones may not share.

The venue is small, so attendance will be capped at six participants.  There are two events: November 22 and December 13.

*Disclaimer: I am not a certified NVC instructor. However, I have been involved in studying, using, and facilitating the learning of NVC for the past twelve years, in a variety of online and in-person capacities.

“So you grew up … what do you want to be NOW?”

Leave a Comment / Life coaching for a better world, Workshops / By / February 18, 2013

We had a great time at the Portland workshop in December, so now it’s time to do it again! See details below, and please feel free to publicize the event to friends or email lists.

It happens, right? We find ourselves grownups. (How did that happen?) We may find ourselves in middle age. (Seriously, how did that happen?) Or even retirement age. (I’m not there yet, but I’m guessing I’ll have a similar question when that time of life arrives for me.)

And we think, “Am I doing what I want to be doing with my life?”

If you’re asking that question, and pondering your options and next steps, I invite you to join me for this fun and interactive workshop, exploring your passions and values, and how you can integrate them into the next phase of your life.

Maybe you’ve been working at a “safe” job that pays the bills but does nothing to feed your spirit. Or maybe you’ve been working in a field that once was meaningful or exciting to you, but you sense that you are ready to move on and do something different. Maybe your circumstances have recently changed – loss of a job, or moving to a new city, perhaps – and you want, or need, to start from scratch.

Whatever your situation, this four-hour workshop can help you to reconnect (or maybe connect for the first time) with those things that really bring you alive, and those ways you’d like to spend your time and energy contributing something meaningful to the world. We will be doing individual and group exercises – the synergy of the group adds magic to the process!

Specifics:

Saturday, February 16th, 2:00-6:00 pm. Light snacks will be provided.

The cost at the door is $40; if you register ahead and prepay, it is $33. I am quite sure you will find it to be worth that investment.

Address given upon RSVP. Do so by emailing me at maren@dreamintochange.com. Then if you wish to prepay, you can do so by sending your registration fee via PayPal to the same address.

California, here I come!

2 Comments / Eco-volunteerism, Life coaching for a better world, Nonviolent Communication, Sustainable Transportation, Touch-positive Culture, Veganism, Workshops / By / December 26, 2012

trainMy southbound train trip is fast approaching, and my excitement about it is building daily. I’m definitely looking forward to taking a break from Portland’s wintertime rain and cold … and I’m also really looking forward to expanding my Dream Into Change reach to more people and more cities! I am in the final stages of securing transportation and lodging, and now it’s time to turn my attention more fully to the connections I’m seeking to foster during my travels. Along those lines, I would love your help!

My itinerary is as follows:

  • Santa Cruz Sunday, Jan 6 – Monday, Jan 7
  • Los Angeles Wednesday, Jan 9 – Thursday, Jan 10
  • San Diego Friday, Jan 11 – Monday, Jan 14
  • Santa Barbara evening/night of Tuesday, Jan 15
  • Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco Thursday, Jan 17 – Friday, Jan 18

Then back to Portland!

My intention is to offer my four-hour workshop (“So you grew up … What do you want to be NOW?”) in each location except for Santa Barbara. If you are interested in signing up for the workshop, and/or helping to promote it and/or willing to offer your home as a venue (in exchange for free admission to the $40 workshop) please let me know as soon as possible, by emailing me at maren@dreamintochange.com.

My other intention is to meet with as many people as possible in each city who are doing innovative work in one of my four main areas of focus: 1) veganism, especially in an educational, advocacy, or entrepreneurial role; 2) sustainable energy and transportation, such as bicycle advocacy or innovation or solar advocacy or innovation/entrepreneurship; 3) touch-positive and/or sex-positive culture, and/or ecstatic dance; and 4) Nonviolent communication (NVC) and/or restorative justice, including prison reform or innovative projects relating to incarceration and/or transition into society for inmates upon release.

I would love to talk with any of these folks to hear about their projects, and possibly also to interview them for this blog and help to spread the word about their work. So, if you know anyone who is involved in any of the above, again, please contact me at maren@dreamintochange.com to let me know about them (and/or please forward my contact info to them).

This trip represents a very exciting beginning for me. I want to expand my reach beyond Portland. I want to work with people from all over the country – and indeed around the globe – to move our culture forward in all of the above ways. In the future, I plan to take more train trips, to other regions. Possibly my next trip could take me to Seattle, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, and/or Montreal! The next one might include Boston, New York, Washington, and Raleigh, NC. Other future destinations include Victoria, BC; Austin, TX; Melbourne, Australia; and London, England. Yeah, I’m feeling pretty adventurous!

But first things first. In about a week and a half, my first great rail adventure will begin! I can’t wait to experience California, and I can’t wait to see some of you there!

All aboard!

2 Comments / Nonviolent Communication, Sustainable Transportation, Touch-positive Culture, Veganism, Workshops / By / November 26, 2012

Well, things are humming right along! I have been heartened by the feedback I’ve already received on this blog, even though it is still under construction and hasn’t been officially launched yet. I love hearing from people whose paths are in some way aligned with mine, or with whom my writings resonate.

I’m excited about the steps I’ve been taking in my own journey, as well as the steps I’m taking to help others via this practice. Most notably, I have just announced my first Dream Into Change workshop, and people are signing up for it! It feels very exciting to me … I can’t wait to see the kinds of life changes and dream-fulfillment progress all these folks will be helping each other to make! And, I’m excited to plan another offering of this workshop, probably in February, for those who couldn’t make it to this one. Eventually, I plan to find a way to offer these workshops online, so that people can participate from multiple geographic areas; I think that would bring an extra layer of richness.

First things first, though: I’m looking forward to this coming Saturday!

Meanwhile, I’m ecstatic to have purchased my 15-day Amtrak rail pass, and set my itinerary for my January California trip. I love train travel, and I have never taken a rail journey of more than three days (when I traveled across the country twelve years ago to attend my high school reunion in Virginia). This time around, I will be spending time in Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the Bay area, before returning home to Portland. My hope is to offer the workshop in each of these cities as I pass through. I also want to do a lot of networking, meeting people in each city who are actively involved – especially in leadership roles – in any of my four main areas of interest: 1) NVC and restorative justice; 2) veganism; 3) touch- and/or sex-positive culture; and 4) sustainable energy and transportation. I’d love to have coffee or a meal with such people, and talk about the things they are working on. Perhaps do some interviews for this blog, as well. So, if you happen to know anyone in those cities involved in any of those topics, please feel free to share my contact info with them; I’d love to meet them! I’m especially interested in any San Diego connections, since I plan to live in San Diego from December through March, beginning in 2013. Also, if you know of anyone in any of these places who might be interested in the workshop, please feel free to forward the link to them. And, if you have ideas for how I could spread the word about it any of these cities, I would love to know!

I’ll sign off here. I hope you are all thinking about your dreams every day, and taking steps toward making them come true!