Category: River Roots Redevelopment Column
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Resolution-Adjacent
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Well, here we are – a whole week into a whole new year. This time of year always comes with a strange kind of energy, doesn’t it? A mix of gratitude, fatigue, cautious optimism, and pressure. Because as soon as we re-emerge into the post-holiday world, we’re expected to have… Read more
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Truth, Turkey, and Grandma’s Knitting
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I have a question for you. How do we tell people the things they might not want to hear, but kind of need to hear. And even more importantly, how do we learn to graciously accept that kind of feedback ourselves? It’s been on my mind lately, probably from watching… Read more
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Red Light, Green Light, Gratitude
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Last week, I talked about noticing. How travel, or even someone else’s travel story, can jolt us out of autopilot. And it is amazing when noticing leads to a spark which leads to movement which leads to impact. Of course, seeing clearly – sharing your spark, even – doesn’t guarantee… Read more
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Seeing What’s There
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I’ve been sitting with Rachel’s travel reflections for these last couple weeks. If you haven’t read them yet, go back when you have a minute; they’re beautiful, heartfelt, and thought-provoking. There’s just something about stories of somewhere new, somewhere unexpected, that makes your own world feel a little wider too.… Read more
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Where Burden and Beauty Coexist
By Rachel Brosnahan This is a bit of a part two to the story I shared last week about my time in Europe. After the Intensive, I spent the second week of my trip traveling through parts of Serbia, Hungary, and Croatia. Some of it was to reconnect with family roots. Some of it was… Read more
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Rest, Reconnection, and Renewal
By Rachel Brosnahan You’ve likely gotten used to hearing Selina’s voice in these behind-the-scenes stories, but this week I’m stepping in to share a story of my own—a recent trip that left me full, grateful, and ready to keep going. I’ve just returned from a two-week journey, the first half of which I spent at… Read more
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Down for the Count, Digging for Dreams
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I’ve been down for the count this week – the second casualty in our house to whatever bug’s been making the rounds. I was luckier than Kai, who had the full fever-and-cough package, but still found myself knocked flat for a couple of days. Short of breath. Lightheaded. Even the… Read more
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From Soggy Bottom to Something Better
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation If you know me, you know I have a hard time sitting still. So, of course, as soon as I felt like I had the hang of the skid loader, my fingers started itching for the next piece of equipment I’d like to learn: the digger. Or, in official terms,… Read more
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Small Miracles and Happy Accidents
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation This summer hasn’t just been about things breaking down (belts, bolts, my patience…), but even more it’s been about what got built in between all the repairs. And while I’m immensely proud of my awe-inspiring dragging skills, it’s the little, surprising discoveries that make me smile the most. Take that… Read more
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What Breaks First?
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation Last week I told you how I finally got the skid loader humming again. But, honestly, the story of just how it broke down is too good to not share. First, there was that mud. Now, I wasn’t the one who was driving it when it got stuck, and I… Read more
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Everything Hurts and Nothing Works (Except Maybe My Skid Loader)
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation I said we’d be back in August. And here we are! Just… maybe not quite the way I imagined. Why does this ever surprise me anymore?? Anyway, back in July, I signed off with good intentions: to rest a little, focus on creative projects, maybe actually get a few videos… Read more
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It’s What Comes Next
By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation The demolition work inside Seneca Plaza’s smaller building is almost complete – and the transformation is already spectacular! The previously claustrophobic hodge-podge of internal dividing walls is gone, and what’s left is one bright, open, and airy blank slate. For the first time in a long time, you can actually… Read more