Brad Blackett's Page

How did you learn about Art of Hosting (please add the date and place) and what attracted you to it?

I learned of AoH by accident, while participating in a 8 month course in Community Leadership called Evolve: re-igniting self and community.

My class project was to involve young and elderly in career life transition to form a support network, to simply connect by stories to begin a peer mentoring networking to address their shared feelings of isolation and rejection.

Looking for a model to build from I discovered that Jan Hively ( http://vimeo.com/8014827 ) also assisted in founding SHiFT ( http://shiftonline.org/content.php?content=Mg==&type=s )

The Evolve class didn't go far enough with working with groups, SHiFT lacked discussions on conversations which led me to the internet. Eventually in September of 2013, I took the 3day AoH training in Minneapolis Minnesota, USA; (after I quit my job July 2013 to seek fulfillment within my doings in life).

Tell us about your experience with Art of Hosting as part of your life and work. What would you say your competence in it is? (new, starting practitioner, experienced practitioner, steward)

This may well be a fifth or six leg of my life’s Journey. I have started to float upon a 'Beginner's Mind' in self-discovery of being. The doing of being,

Gaining knowledge of my true design (DNA) I have new found freedom of not needing to live up to others' design expectations of me as a caterpillar. I am still shuttering and shedding those conventions of the “ought to be’s”, or in other words the cocoon that covered and restricted my ability to reach my potential and soar like the butterfly.

What is the primary field/topic/focus in your hosting work?

Hosting with Nature

Where do you live/work?

Home in Twin Cities Metropolitan 3rd ring suburb 30 minutes south of downtown Minneapolis

Are there interests/passions that you'd like to share?

Connecting people and place through environmental education, outdoor recreation and service to conservation projects. Also advocate for Caregiver Respite support especially for families dealing with a love one's dementia and Alzheimer's disease.