Writing
I like to work out of the office often when I have something to write. While I love the atmosphere we have at the International Headquarters, I need to really focus and immerse myself fully with no distractions when I write. For that reason, I find it helpful to venture to coffeshops or where have you to finish written pieces. Blogging, though, is a different story.
Logan
Dodgeball
I'm in a dodgeball league with a few friends and we have some big games tonight. I only say they're big because we lost all of our games last week so the team's looking for a little redemption. What does dodgeball have to do with the Forest Foundation? you're probably asking. Well, apart from the fact that both Dave and Jordan are also on the team, I think dodgeball is helping the full timers produce on Tuesdays. Seriously, we all anxiously look forward to our games, and with a healthy amount of anticipation and competitive fire building up throughout the day, we burn a lot of it off through our work. Thank goodness for dodgeball.
Logan
Last Night's Training
Some things tend to stick with you longer than others. I'm sure this is no great insight, it's just the way of life. I note this because last night, at our foundation training, I took away some advice on leadership from Jim Peal that will no doubt stay with me for many, many years. It was simply a very powerful and compelling training for me, one of those rare occasions where not one word slips by, and I was enthralled by the facts I was learning. I hope the students took at least a fraction of what I took from the training, because if they did, they have the tools to set themselves for great success. I know I do.
Logan
New Office
We have a new satellite branch for the International Headquarters located in the foothills of Santa Barbara. We were there this morning decorating it with several pieces from Morris Squire's art collection. It'll serve as a nice location for us to have meetings and get work done when we need some peace and quiet. I'm personally excited about this new office because it'll help me get some writing done when I need to.
Logan
Newsletter
I met with Jessica McNamara today to discuss her vision for our first newsletter of the year. It was a great meeting, she had everything laid out that she wanted to write and told me everything she needed to fulfill her vision. Her preparedness and obvious pride she takes in her work is something to be admired and what every person would want in an employee. I look forward to seeing the new newsletter.
Logan
Erev Yom Kippur
It's the eve of yom kippur, the day of cleansing, and I'm looking forward to a full 24 hour time period of shock and self reflection to evaluate my life, make personal amends and set goals for the future.
The Foundation also stresses the need to set goals and achieve them, not unlike the idea of a day of cleansing, hebrew for Yom Kippur. Only by eradicating the negative and accepting the positive can we truly grow as better people.
Have an easy fast, everyone.
-Aaron
Speaker
I'm going to see a speaker tonight at UCSB who will be lecturing on the importance on maintaining a professional image. I'm greatly looking forward to his presentation as I believe that this is something necessary for us all to portray. If his presentation is particularly good, we might look for him to do a training for the foundation at some point. Should be interesting.
Logan
JCN
Right after the success of Apples n Honey, Joanna is fast on her toes, planning the first stages of the second Jewish College Night.
Plans this year include a bigger venue, which bring more people, which brings more fun, which brings community. Last year's event was an intense operation, and I'm sure that the experience has made joanna and her team resolute and prepared to make this JCN even better.
Social Change
I found a great organization today called Echoing Green that focuses on Social Change. Since this is something we're heading up with a new project from the Forest Foundation, I thought it would be really beneficial to speak with someone at the organization. However, I forgot to alot for the time difference between here and the East Coast, so that's going to have to wait until Monday it looks like. But I've been reading they're website and it's quite interesting what they do. It feels as if our organizations have a lot of similarities, and I look forward to talking with someone over there.
Logan
Web Design
We met with someone today who we think is a good fit to be our new web designer. He's very knowledgeable and has designed many websites in the past, and during the meeting he expressed to us that web design is his intended profession. I liked the ideas he offered and options he gave us, which I don't want to be too specific about at this time. Richard's been a great web designer for us over the past year, but he expressed to us recently that he wished to move on to other projects. Working with Richard on the website has been great, and I'll surely miss working with him on it. But I'm excited to see now what new perspectives and features we can bring to the site. It should be fun.
Logan
Shana Tovah
You got it right the first time, Logan. :)
I received a blue string from temple yesterday. It serves as my reminder to repair one undesired behavior that I have, towards the goal of near perfection. It's important to set goals for ourselves, but it's equally important to know why we're setting them. The concept of Buddhadharma constitutes the need to identify problems or unwanted characterisics, finding the solution and the steps we need to get there. Only by stepping backwards and outlining the problem can we move forward.
Happy New Year,
Aaron
Happy Jewish New Year
Happy Rosh Hashana to everyone, and please forgive me if I blatantly misspelled that. It's the Jewish new year, and tomorrow we'll be doing some programming at B'nai B'rith. This programming is one of the first activities I participated in with the foundation, ao I'm very excited to do it again tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how turns out. Happy New Year!
Logan
