A founder’s note about the history of Sidewalk Talk and the 2024 Giving Tuesday campaign.

The power of conversation as an art form, free from the need to influence or persuade.

The unique philosophy behind Sidewalk Talk and why its value lies not in building big programs but in embracing small, meaningful moments of human connection.

We are impacted by goodbyes at work and if we aren’t, what does that say about our shared humanity in that job in the first place?

What I know is creating hope requires our own devotion, a brave and courageous devotion, to our consciousness, self-responsibility, and growth. This is not a call for growth rooted in righteous shaming or moral superiority.

This is a call for growth rooted in a deep love for our shared humanity.

There is a space we rarely enter because it terrifies us. The space of surrendered ‘not knowing’ and meeting what arises in the present moment with a playful curiosity. Welcoming the “not knowing” is a welcoming of all of our humanity that can solve big problems and end loneliness.

Our loneliness is a beautiful invitation. We have work to do to create a just, thriving, loving society and we will be better equipped to create that world if we can root ourselves in our bodies, in the earth, and connected to our ancestors and LISTEN TO EACH OTHER FROM THERE.

Adam Kol and his anti-racism educator, Ask Alexis, are inviting folks to talk openly about race-based mistakes they have made to embolden others to do the same.

Listening at Sidewalk Talk is an important practice in developing as a person who strives for equity in a way that is not trying to “be a good white person” or “act out trauma vis a vis” injustice. 

Read Traci's personal share of race-based mistakes she has made and what she has learned.

Goodness, or virtue signaling is a thing now that many Americans are facing our history of racism for the first time.  We want to be “seen” as good and good has different definitions cross-culturally.  Here is the challenge, if we need to be “good” the parts of us that are “not good” go underground - we hide them from others and ourselves.  Sadly, we are prone to finding a group of people to hold our “not good” parts for us.

The death and ongoing fight for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the countless lives not covered in the media is why Sidewalk Talk listens. We will always will be 100% behind, Black Lives Matter now, then, and in the future in this work. We say often listening is a practice. So is anti-racism.

Mental illness is often spoken about like a personal failing. A better way to think about mental health is to look for what are the “mental illness viruses” we need to treat right now, and prevent going forward. We all play a part in taking care of one another’s mental health just like we all play a part in taking care of one another’s physical health. Sidewalk Talk is both treatment and prevention. We are here to build a society that creates mental health.

Becoming showed Michelle Obama enduring the campaign trail, when every off the cuff comment she made, the innocent vulnerability she displayed, or the strength of her character and intellect rubbed the media the wrong way.  After all, she was a woman, and she was black. “Who did she think she was?”  It must have been lonely.  And what I have learned is loneliness is unjust. And listening is activism.

What we know is listening positively impacts mental health. What most people don’t know is that “active listening” is often not the kind of listening that creates those impacts. To listen in a way that improves mental health we cannot just change our behavior, we have to have a change of heart. That is what Sidewalk Talk does. Oh, and yes, that is NY chapter leader Kerrie Mohr presenting Sidewalk Talk on stage with Esther Perel in 2018.

We want your help in creating a mental health promoting culture. Join us for May Mental Health Awareness Month activities. We are also celebrating Sidewalk Talk’s 5th Birthday. SimplePractice is helping us celebrate by matching $2400 for the month of May.

One of the downsides of loneliness getting a lot of press with Dr. Vivek Murthy’s book, Together, and others, like Johan Hari’s, Lost Connections, is it can lead folks to shame their lonely feelings. 

Something I notice is in my life is I make up stories about my own belonging. Because I have a wound around not being wanted as a tiny baby, I can get hooked from time to time. What I now know is there are two sides to this belonging coin. In order to create more belonging in the world we have to create it not only outside, on the sidewalks, but inside of us.

​The last seven days, anxiety crept up on me, by surprise. I was quite haughty, feeling pretty grounded and grateful for the first two weeks of this quarantine. I have space to move and our family life has settled into a collaborative routine/ non routine that seems to be working. And I was working from home long before this thing started.

Over the years, I have witnessed ways in which empathy and active listening can harm rather than serve. Weird thing to say, right? Stay with me. We all need to digest this fully for empathy to help rather than harm.

Yesterday I was watching Kevin Bacon talk about his hashtag #IStayHomeFor and today, my German Sister-In-Law sent me an article by Matthias Horx. My life, since moving to Germany, involves a lot of staying home. I work from home. I eat at home for all my meals. I do not have a car so leaving home must be a deliberate and intentional act. Most mornings now, I wake up, coffee in bed, and several hours of reading and pondering. Long before #IStayHomeFor was a thing in response to Covid19, it was my reality. And I am thriving in this reality.

Head and heart are often in a tug of war inside of me. Especially right now. You too? So is fear and love. So is knowledge and wisdom. And so is aloneness and togetherness.