learning

Back from a week working and playing in Dublin. Gotta say, I love being there and I really love coming home to Ballinamore.

While I was in Dublin I dropped in to Cultivate in Temple Bar. It's been a few years since I had popped in and I think it's really improved. The library of books alone are worth the visit. It's a kind of one stop shop for anything on sustainable living. The shop has lots of interesting products including wooden computer keyboards. The free info pamphlets were also very useful - everything from suppliers of eco paints to bamboo flooring. Decided to join them as a member (4 euro a month) and offered them some free consulting time. They also run some fine looking courses.

I'm new here and not quite sure what to say.I'll give it a go.

I've moved around a lot in my life and my work has taken me into hundreds of different communities - In Australia and Ireland. Some of the communities have been geographic and others have been communities of interest.

When you live and work in as many communities as I have there emerge a number of common threads in the big pattern:

* I am the stranger in town
* It's up to me to make the effort of connection
* I take my time to get to know people
* Trust is built over time and not because you have an important sounding job title