This week Awesome Stories brings you The Great Listen, better conversation, nature vitamins and belonging.

Better Conversation

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know communication is very important to me. I see a growing need for better communication based on the divisiveness in our country. Mostly we talk over each other rather than truly listen with the intent to understand and build connections. Reporter and radio host Celeste Headlee offers a light-hearted talk with 10 tips for improving our conversations. The tips that most resonate for me are being present, putting aside your opinions, asking open-ended questions and listening deeply!

The Great Thanksgiving Listen Project 

Asking questions and listening intently to the stories that emerge is one of the most powerful forces in the world. If we all take one hour this year to do it, we’ll strengthen our national fabric at a time when it desperately needed. “ –Dave Isay

StoryCorps and Barnes and Noble College have teamed up to collect stories from students around the country. The Great Thanksgiving Listen empowers students to connect with someone they admire and collect their story over Thanksgiving using StoryCorps free mobile app. The StoryCorps app helps people collect and preserve their stories as a national treasure by archiving them in the US Library of Congress. The free app and project are available to anyone, not just students. Record your stories for posterity! #TheGreatListen 2016

Nature Vitamins

Richard Louv offers us some fun and interesting ideas on how to make sure kids get enough time in nature, which he is calling Vitamin N! Richard is a tireless advocate for making sure children build relationships with nature through books, advocacy and teaching. His latest book, Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community, explores the many benefits of time in nature. There is enormous research demonstrating that time in nature brings both psychological and physical benefits. I can attest to how much spending time in nature has changed my life, giving me a practical way to ground, slow and return to states of well-being. As kids spend quality time in nature, they also begin to build caring and relationship with nature, critical to our future. By having kids who love and respect nature, we might inspire a sea change in how we live and work in the world.

Supporting Gifted Children

Here, in a place where their parents have sent them to improve their minds, they find instead a fellowship of the heart.

This is a touching article reminding us that children need to be acknowledged not just for their talents, beauty, and brains. We need to be deeply seen and acknowledged as well as find community. Besty speaks to the joys of teaching very gifted children who are often pushed to do and achieve even more by parents and teachers. She offers them an oasis of acceptance that teaches different skills and tools like being ordinary, slowing down, belonging and space to blossom. Too many children feel isolation and need to find a sense of belonging. I still wrestle with some of those feelings, though WordPress and blogging satisfy some of those needs for me.

Have you found your tribe? May we all find a place to belong with people that value and nurture us.