2014: A Magical Year

As part of the transition to the New Year, I review my calendar and write a letter of memorable moments from the past year.  I crafted this year's review from my 2014 benediction. If you received an email from me last year, you may have noticed the 2014 benediction in my signature.  What better way to review the year than through the lens of that wish.

A year to touch the truths found in life,

There are blue skies above the clouds

Magical Mozfest London

The sun will rise tomorrow

Step with peace in our hearts,

"Peace- it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all that and still be calm in your heart." - unknown

with Dagmar Quentin, my sister of the heart in Berlin

by brilliantly talented artist and educator Brett Cook

From middle east crises to grave injustices in the US, peace in oneself was more needed than ever

Show up with the courage to expand our limits,

Utopias: Lost and Found from Kate Ettinger on Vimeo.

Creative collaboratorKyle Stewart and I cocreated a participatory art installation: Utopias: Lost and Found (see time lapse on the left) and a storytelling booth: Make Your Mark, Share a Vision, Start a Revolution at the Visionaries & Revolutionaries Day organized by the brilliant Bobby Fishkin alongside the Dissident Futures Exhibit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

From improv classes at The Groundlings and Upright Citizen's Brigade (UCB) to performing on the UCB stage in LA for graduation... creativity was stretched!

Play in nature

Muir Woods, Photo by Steph Denamps

Chrissy Field stroll when he caught the moon for me - photo by Kevin Kelly

Nick's Fire

Greet strangers with the warmth of old friends

Take digital sabbaticals

3 days off the grid in Craobh Haven on the west coast of Scotland

View Horse Riding at Lunga Estates, Craobh Haven, Scotland

Hiking on the West Coast of Scotland in Argyll & Bute (lost around Lochgilphead)

Building a do-it-yourself (DIY) single lens reflex (SLR) camera (ace gift for all ages!)

Share vulnerability to deepen trust

Storytelling for Change Team: Make Change Make Sense

Show grace in moments of life as it is

Last Spring, I took on an interim position as full time co-parent, Tante Kate, for these two little loves... children are life's greatest teachers.  Twas a humbling and love-filled 3 month stint!

An inconsolable 2 1/2 year old

A DIY Solar Plane/Boat Kit (for 10 yr olds) - Made by a determined 7 yr old & me

who would not move til mom came home

Sometimes thinking in the box can be fun!

After 3 months, we were OK without Mom.

Crisis over, time to leave

Discover magic in the ordinary folds of daily living

Explore the backstory of every day objects

Read about our adventure with this camera's film!

Bird's Eye View & Accidental Intimacies- travel meditation

Make a toast with every sip!

Celebrating with my 99 year old grandmother, I noticed she made a toast with each sip of wine, why not?!

I had a puzzling moment while traveling until I realized that   automatic technology had outdone itself!

First Selfie with Aunt Ess (96 yr young)

Getting the hang, 2nd Selfie August

She's a pro now! December

Invite surprises

Master craftsman of picture framing, Harry Kurata of Yoshida Framing (San Francisco) with whom I apprenticed several years ago delighted me with this frame for my calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh!

live in truth, live in love, live in joy, smile

This winter, I brought a whisky, "Santa's Christmas Stocking" from Scotland to taste with friends. When I visited Harry, he brought out a Japanese whisky. It was the perfect heritage whisky tasting for this Hafu (half Japanese, half Scottish)

The ultimate surprise of the year came from creative genius and dear friend, Leigh McCarthy who lent me her Brooklyn flat for 3 weeks over my birthday.  A gift that reignited my love affair with NYC, reconnected me with treasured old friends and brought me back to my first love- the theater... thank you Leigh- you are a creative inspiration & beautiful human!

2014 was an unexpectedly peripatetic year that lead me to the homes of family, friends & a few strangers-- thanks to all the people who hosted me this year-- Thank you! Merci! Danke! Gracias!

Make time for people not phones, Spend time with old friends

Embrace differences to claim the strengths of wholeness

Lead with love

One of the challenges of leaving the hospital setting to do work for systems level change is feeling very removed from tangible impact. In doing this review, I am reminded that perhaps, the greatest impact we can have is how we show up in everyday moments- from taking a minute to learn about the person who makes your coffee to creating space to discover the joy in unexpected moments.  

Some of the most important and underappreciated ways of changing the world include tending to a crying child and making time to visit people who nurtured you when you were a crying child. t is our relationships that make us human.  It is our relationships that make us human. I am inspired by the passion, joy, love, humanness and grace that my colleagues and friends share with life. 

Presenting OpenQRS at UNESCO's Tech4Dev

All things "open source" panel UNESCO Tech4Dev Lausanne

UNESCO Tech4Dev Lausanne

8-i Team for 826 National: Lindsay Bourne, Kinnari Desai, Chris Geraghty, Mansi Kakkar, Erin Beitel, Jay Standish, Gerald Richards, Kate

Flourish in all that is yet to be.

A collage of moments from the year's unfolding. Missing many delight-filled memories for which I have heart pictures: Momofuku with LD, Frozen Lady with Tony & Shannon, Mike & Nat in London, seeing Liz in lalaland, late nights with Belle & G, vicarious visit to Botswana with Bette & Chris, the @CDEgger nudge, an unprecedented pastry party thanks to Megan, and more from a camera glitch... you know who you are!

Thanks to all for weaving into the tapestry of my memories this year!