Building Common Ground: Engagement: Compassion & Peace Studies, and Adopt-a-Cat Friday

Friday, March 2nd, from 2-4pm, Lincoln County Humane Society will have cats available for adoption.  This event has a special adoption fee of only $10 to cover vaccinations, fixing, microchips, and other costs. 

Saturday, March 3rd, from 11 am to noon, Ruidoso Public Library begins our Building Common Ground, Civility, & Compassion program for all of March.  These programs, films, workshops, and guests are made possible through grants from the American Library Association, the Fetzer Institute, and support from Ruidoso's Friends of the Library.  Les Field, Professor of Anthropology at UNM and Director of the Peace Studies Program, will lead a discussion on social issues with a goal of identifying solutions.

Saturday, March 10th, from 11 am to noon, John Cianciosi, author of The Meditative Path, joins us from the National Headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America.  Explore mindfulness, breathing, and awareness cultivation through a guided meditation followed by discussion.

Coming up Saturday, March 17 at 11 am, join our director, Corey Bard, in a discussion of Karen Armstrong's book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.

We have eleven copies available, so drop in to read one before the discussion.  If reading (or the time for 222 pages) is not your thing, you are still welcome to participate.  Karen Armstrong has a talk at TED.com about her book, a webpage about the Charter for Compassion, and NPR interviewed her (listen to the 30 minute recording here).  The publisher offers a discussion guide with some questions to ponder before, during, after, or instead of reading, too.

Here are the Twelve Steps:

1.    1. Learn about compassion

2.     2. Look at your own world

3.     3. Compassion for yourself

4.     4. Empathy

5.     5. Mindfulness

6.     6. Action

7.    7.  How little we know

8.     8. How we should speak to one another

9.     9. Concern for everybody

10.  10. Knowledge

11.   11. Recognition

12.   12. Love your Enemies

Ruidoso Public Library also offers seven other books by Karen Armstrong (if not on the shelf, request it at the front desk):

The Spiral Staircase  200.92 ARM

Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World  909.07 ARM

A Short History of Myth 398.2 ARM

Islam: A Short History  297.09 ARM

A History of God: The 4000 year Quest of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam  291.211 ARM

The Case for God  211.22 ARM

An online educational resource: TED talks (part 2)

If you haven't tried a TEDtalk yet, here's another hearty recommendation.

This one is Jeremy Gilley's history of starting a worldwide day of peace.  It is about 15 minutes long, inspiring, and bittersweet.  His peace day is coming up (every year) on September 21.




Join Andrea (of Common Ground) for a Peace Walk on September 21.

TED stands for Teaching, Education, and Design.  The speakers share insights into artwork, science, history, technology, economics, activism, teaching/pedagogy, and many more disciplines.

If you are interested in hosting a discussion club at the library with TEDtalks to initiate discussion, we would be happy to work with you.  Or, a TED group could be virtual!  Ruidoso Public Library (and this blog) could help you create a wiki, email group, or blog of your own, where anyone interested (or by invitation only) could suggest a TEDtalk to watch and then write your comments, observations, or questions online.  Virtual groups allow for the most flexibility in scheduling, save gas for driving to a meeting, and help people who can't get out feel involved.

Please email us (under the Contact Us tab on the homepage) or post your comments below if such a group appeals to you.  Thanks!

Fire Emergencies and TED talks

Lincoln County's website includes a new link this week.

CodeRed allows the county to instantly contact (by phone, voice or text) all registered residents (part-time, too)  based on where you live.  The site's privacy policy mentions they do not sell your information.

Lincoln County is asking anyone with property in the area (especially those who live elsewhere part of the year) to sign up with your property's physical address and a phone or an email address.  You don't have to create an account, nor a password (those are optional).

This way you can receive notice when an emergency requires evacuation or other action.



On a lighter note, May will see a mini-college of events at Ruidoso Public Library.

We kick off with an introduction to TED.com.  TED talks focus on Technology, Education, and Design.

The organization seeks out the best speakers, presenters, and presentations on diverse topics.

Videos run from 15 minutes to over an hour, depending on the speaker, topic, or event.

Three of my favorites are Hans Rosling,  Jane McGonigal, and Sugata Mitra. Do you have a favorite TED talk?  Where did you hear about it?