The flashes of brilliance?

...They seldom come from my @ life in Qatar. But they come - almost always at exactly the right time - from my LC, the group that has facilitated revolutionary thinking and has taught me some of the most important lessons I have ever encountered.

Many of the alums have said their piece. Now it is up to those that are in the thick of things to make those important decisions. Only a conversation with exceptional people - hundreds of miles away but connected through ideas, experiences and the internet - can be diplomatic, reasoned, passionate to the point of tears. Often other groups I have been part of have had discussions of much less importance and relevance that result in pettiness, hurt and no solutions. I'm pleasantly surprised by the productivity and clarity of the discussion (even though it is in three or four or five different places at once) and the sensitivity to everyone else that is participating. We're all committed to the flow of ideas for the betterment of our group. There's a higher point to these discussions, and that's why it works.

To have a discussion across the internet that promotes leaders to reexamine their perspectives, that displays the lack of factioning (new vs. old, for example) in the group, that reinforces the principle that we are all committed to supporting each other, even when we vehemently disagree... I could not be more passionately proud of the direction our LC is heading, whatever it is. With dialogues like these, the outcome can only be good.

Together, we have written a book. I have read every word and I have been reminded that to find those flashes of brilliance that I so desperately need here, I should look to my roots - to the people that have shared the greatness of a combined effort and intelligent discussion, to the people that inspired and taught me from day one - and to the future, the people who will create legacies of their own.