Peering over, cutting through the fog. That’s what I’m #thankfulfor today.

Peering over, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, Virginia

A couple things I’ve enjoyed lately:

• CrisisCongress in Washington, DC, July 16th. Loved. And this is why: How CrisisCommons Is Helping the Tech Community Help Others. A unexpected but great experience.
• #kaizenblog last Friday, July 23 about “Ignore Failure at Your Own Peril”. Elli St. George Godfrey recapped the chat, Ignore Failure At Your Own Peril-#kaizenblog recap. If you’re wondering, hosting a blog chat is hard. New-found respect.
• Continued growth of NOLAlicious, Citizen Gulf, adventures, and well, everything else that’s great in the world.

“Ignore Failure at Your Own Peril” is the topic of this week’s #kaizenblog chat, hosted by Valeria Maltoni (@conversationage) and Elli St. George – Godfrey (@3keyscoach), which I’ll be joining as a guest host. Friday July 23, 12 PM Eastern, follow the hashtag #kaizenblog, and join the conversation.

We form ourselves more by the routes we take than the destinations we reach.

Failure.

Failure is a rich word, a simple word with a rich vein of thought, opinions, lessons and advice behind it. Every single day, we hear stories about failure, advice about how to deal with it and lessons of how people and organizations have recovered from it. And sometimes, we experience it ourselves.

When you experience failure, what do you do with it? Ignore it? Own up to it privately? Acknowledge it publicly? Attempt to hide it? Show it off?

Although we might be tempted to ignore failure, the fact is that the seeds of success are often in the ashes of failure.

Contained deep within each way to fail are practical, valuable, tangible lessons that can help us all move on, evolve, grow, adapt, and succeed. Less important than failure itself is the direction we take from it.

Or at least that’s what I think. But I’m interested in your thoughts, opinions, lessons, stories and links. Valeria and Elli have prepared some key questions, links and ideas to guide us along this week’s #kaizenblog; follow along and join in.

Join us for this conversation on Friday, April 23rd at 12pm ET/5 pm GMT on Twitter by using the hashtag kaizenblog. It might be easier to sign into the conversation by using Tweetchat or Tweetgrid. Add your thoughts to the conversation!

Announcing CitizenGulf’s National Day of Action on August 25th, promoted by Gulf Coast Benefit, celebrating the 5th anniversary of Katrina with benefits nationwide to help provide educational resources for the children of fishing families impacted by the Gulf Oil Spill.

In today’s NOLAlicious newsletter:

It seemed like the cap would never happen. 87 days into the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, it seems BP has finally stopped oil from spewing into the Gulf. But we know the end is nowhere close. So we encourage everyone to push forward and find ways to help this region that we all hold so close to our hearts.

It seems like a long time ago I first thought about how we’ll respond to the Gulf Oil Spill. And as saddened as I’ve been by the realities of the long-term impact of the disaster, the uncertain economic impact, and the sad stories of the individuals and families impacted by the spill, I’ve been lifted by the continued response by organizations and individuals nationwide.

The latest: Geoff Livingston, August 25 – CitizenGulf’s National Day of Action:

Citizen Effect’s CitizenGulf project will become a National Day of Action on August 25th, in alignment with the week of the fifth anniversary of Katrina. The benefit — to be promoted by Gulf Coast Benefit — seeks to help fishing families find a new, more sustainable future by providing education resources for their children.

Three ways you can help:

• Attend or host your local event. Email gulf@citizeneffect.org to host.
• Donate Now.
• Support Gulf Coast Benefit’s Pepsi Refresh project (more on August 2nd).



Read Geoff’s announcement to learn more about how to get involved, host an event, donate, and vote for Gulf Coast Benefit’s Pepsi Refresh Project (more on that August 2nd).

I’m stoked to be joining Andy Sternberg, el-studio.com, Live Your Talk, Sloane Berrent and Zoetica as promotional partners for the events, but the real “thank you” will go to each one of you, giving back in your own way, the best you can.

Thank you.

The right time and place for a photo shoot? Any time. Any place. Any adventure.

The right time and place, Washington, DC

Taken from an adventure at The Newseum.

#Thankfulfor the Mimslyn Inn, sun and a rocking Monday full of opportunities. More later.

Inside and Outside, Luray, Virginia

Aligning the outside and the inside. Loving the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, Virginia. Reflecting from CrisisCommon’s International CrisisCongress last Friday at the World Bank. Reading Skip to Market Manifesto. Announcing CitizenGulf’s National Day of Action. Living.

Do something to help people give back. Submit an idea to Pepsi’s Do Good for the Gulf project as part of their Refresh Project. Oil spill opportunism? Hardly. Just smart business, and a great way to give back at the same time. Create an idea, and submit your good idea for the Gulf by Friday. If I did (and I did), you certainly can too.

Open, New Orleans, Louisiana

The doors are open. Go for it.