Writer/Researcher Requests your Help

[Steve Lawler <practices@lawler.org>]

Dear Colleague,

Please excuse the impersonal quality of this e-mail.

I am writing to ask your help for a book I am writing about Life Practices.

I have very little contact with people outside of my various circles of association
and I would like to share the following request with as many people as possible as I believe
now is a time for better understanding to be built among the peoples of
our world. I am grateful for your attention and hope your will respond and
that you will send this along to others in your country.

I am looking for examples of those simple things that we all do that are
essential to expressing and maintaining our values as we face life's ups and
downs - our Life Practices. I am especially interested in practices that sustain one during difficult times. As we are on the edge of a potential war, practices that may help those who are involved or affected by the war are especially helpful.

What I am seeking is a bit like folklore. Something with a story and an easy
to remember slogan or catchphrase.  I am asking you to contribute out of
your own personal experience not as an official representative of an
organization. I am especially interested in those practices, which help you
deal with others - in your family, at work, in your immediate community, in
the larger global community, etc.

This is the only e-mail you will receive from me unless you choose to
participate in this project.

So far I have gathered over 150 practices from people all over the world:
These are

examples of contributions I have received so far that may help clarify what
I am looking for:

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" 'Water what you want to grow' is my motto. Whenever I see something being
done well I acknowledge it as soon as possible and in some tangible way. The
least that I do is to complement the person doing the thing well. What I try
to do more often is write a note to the person or give them a small gift."

"My life changed when I went from seeing mistakes as awful to seeing them
as the first chapter of a textbook on a new subject. I even had this made
into a sign that hangs on the wall in my office. 'Mistakes are just chapter
one in a textbook on a new subject' Now I get bothered if I don't have some
sort of royal screw-up every few days. It's like I am not trying."

"I learned from my grandfather to 'use the best materials you can afford.'
This has provided a model for my life's work. Even in my late 70's I am
still actively building things and more to the point of your book, I am
still building my life out of "the best materials I can afford."



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These practices come from people from many places and with a wide variety of 
backgrounds. I am grateful for that. I want to show the broadest
possible view of Life Practices from around the globe.  And, at a time when there is
so much mistrust in the world, I hope my book does some small part in reminding us
that we even though we have differences, we still have much to learn from
one another.

The book will feature some of the material I gather with some commentary.

I will be grateful if you would send me a practice that you use as a
foundation in your life.

Please include some brief biographical information as well. Also, if you
would like to share in what I am learning, please let me know as well.

And please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you for your consideration.

Steve Lawler
swl@lawler.org



About me:

Steve Lawler an ethics consultant and writer based in St Louis, Missouri
USA. He regularly gives workshops on issues of ethics, values and culture. He has
been quoted in a number of related pieces in publications including the Wall
Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor and Cape Talk Radio - Cape Town.  Lawler has
worked with companies in the US and Europe - including Monsanto, Pulitzer Publishing,
and the Danforth Foundation. He has been a lecturer at Washington University and at Webster
University. He has written for numerous publications.

Steve Lawler
47 Aberdeen Place, St. Louis, MO 63105 USA
Voice:        +1 (314) 753 7911
Fax:           +1 (314) 727 9792
E-mail:      swl@lawler.org
Web Site: www.lawler.org