Conferre

Eugene has been working on starting something amazing, and he's letting me come along for the ride! Conferre Designs is looking for contributions for its first publication, set to post in March.

For the first issue:
Do you know people doing great things "Working Locally, Thinking Globally", in Boston? We'd love to interview them! You can nominate yourself to be interviewed, also!

Creativity

I'm just back from South Africa where I was impressed by all the creative ways that my family was making things beautiful- from my sister's family's nightly fireside "fun times", to incredible collections of succulents and orchids in my brother's home, to photography, to knowing how much meat to bring to the braai and creating wedding centrepieces. Particularly as I prepare for our first baby, I felt a little nostalgic for all the homey things that, being here in Boston, I don't seem to have learned just yet.

I was recently encouraged on this front, and I wanted to share for those of you who are coming at creativity and beauty from a faith perspective:
1. Sometimes you can just do something beautiful for God. Leading in culture doesn't mean focusing on art as a means to an end.
2. Practice is better than perfection. If I keep practicing, I'll inevitably improve.
3. Inspiration and creative growth can be supernatural.

Eug has a special calling to creativity as a designer and problem solver, and I felt inspired to keep on at this blog as an exercise. What about you?

Theories of Behavior Change

I'm able to write posts on the train to work now, which means you can expect a post twice a week: on Tuesdays and on Fridays.

This past year has included a lot of changes. One of these was giving up our car after it broke in august.
One of the reasons we were able to make this change was Eugene was just starting out as a freelancer and so no longer needed to commute to work. We live within walking distance of Eugene's family and can borrow their car, or a Zipcar, in a crunch.

In public health one of the most powerful theories around behavior change regards self-efficacy: we follow through with what we think we think we can handle. Albeit somewhat cynical, it's hugely effective in gauging what change can work and when.

We certainly won't be without a car forever, but it's one change of 2009 that I'm really excited about.

To come: Some developments after our trip to South Africa!