AuthRev Articles

Exploring the Curiosities of Connection

The spiritual and scientific loss of a generation There’s a lot we don’t know. In science; in the world; in our lives. A lot we try to manage through action, when the iceberg of its totality is something we can barely touch. A lot we distract from. The main practice of our generation, it seems, i...

by Sara Ness — Apr 15, 2025 anxiety connection culture emotional wellbeing generational change grief loss mindfulness modern spirituality personal narrative post-religious identity presence reflection ritual uncertainty

How to Survive in Uncertainty

The science of why we struggle + my best strategies I didn’t know what to write on this morning. Most of my current research is on things like “how to do drywall” and “how to take care of chickens”, which…doesn’t seem like something y’all can learn more about from me than Youtube. (Welcome to far...

by Sara Ness — Apr 09, 2025 anxiety relief brain states coping strategies critical brain theory depression emotional intelligence existential tools mental health modern spirituality neuroscience personal growth philosophy resilience tools uncertainty

How To Create Meaningful Connections By Asking Great Questions

There was a time, not so long ago, when curiosity felt like an impossible skill for me. I would sit in a conversation, racking my brain for anything I could say. The only options were to talk about myself - which felt awkward unless they’d asked - say a non sequitur, or come up with a question...

by Sara Ness — Mar 26, 2025 authenticity awareness communication connection conversation curiosity dialogue empathy engagement interaction introspection listening presence questions relationships socializing transformation trust

What is Authenticity?

How to express ourselves and help others understand “It isn’t normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement.” — Abraham Harold Maslow What does it mean to be authentic? Is authenticity total honesty in all your words and actions? Is it following your imp...

Mar 18, 2025 acceptance authenticity connection expression identity mindfulness personalgrowth selfawareness transformation values

Lead Into Your Edge

Feedback Loops Feedback is invaluable You are allergic to it, and you can treat the allergy The person you identify as and the person that the world experiences are not the same person. For every person in your life—every person you’ve interacted with—there is an alternate version of yo...

Mar 11, 2025 community building constructive criticism emotional intelligence facilitation feedback leadership development performance evaluation personal growth self-awareness self-improvement social psychology workplace culture

Why People Don't Show Up To Your Stuff

and how to make it more likely that they will Anytime I create an event and people don’t show up, I have a little voice in my brain that says: “It was me, wasn’t it? I didn’t create a good enough event. I don’t have enough social cred. I have, in some way, secretly offended all of these people an...

Mar 04, 2025 audience engagement community building connection design effective communication engagement event design event planning experiental design experiential learning facilitation group dynamics hosting events human motivation invitation strategy leadership leadership development professional facilitation social psychology team building workshop design

Navigating Collective Trauma

Trauma ripples into communities like a wave, touching not individuals alone but entire networks of people. As I sat with Dr. Sarilee Kahn today, I was drawn into the layered complexity of shared grief. Her stories -most particularly her work in Afghanistan in the wake of a terrorist attack- offer...

Feb 27, 2025 collective community connection culture grief healing leadership loss practices resilience rutuals truama

How to Share a Withhold

Clear conflicts before they explode. Sometimes, I get angry with people and think they’re wrong. I know, shocking. As a communications teacher I should be immune to such emotions. But we tend to teach the things we’re bad at. And I am a sensitive, cranky human. For a long time I swung between t...

by Sara Ness — Feb 18, 2025 arguments clearing conflict difficult conversations fighting resolution shared reality subtext understanding withholds

Theater of the Absurd

or, How a Dysfunctional Design Team Became a Case Study in Chaos Chaos, Curiosity, and Hard Won Clarity: During this past week, I was situated at a veritable nexus of human creativity and dysfunction that is, in the midst of a design team that felt less like a collaboration of concerned profes...

by Geof Krum — Feb 04, 2025 facilitation ifs ritual theater trauma trauma-informed

The Seven Deadly Sins of Facilitation: A Guide for the Damned

(Or, Why Thou Shalt Not Be an Inept Space Holder) It happens in an instant. The well-intentioned facilitator, drunk on his own perceived presence, opens the space to sharing and transparency, only to be deafened by the cricket symphony. Worse, an explosive chaos erupts: some raw, emotionally lo...

by Geof Krum — Jan 30, 2025

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