Tag archives: connection

AHA!
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 20, 2024

Roxana Petty is understandably proud that AHA! is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024, marking a quarter-century since the nonprofit’s founding as a small summer program just a few months after the infamous Columbine High School massacre. In an effort to reduce the possibility of such a tragedy happening in Santa Barbara, AHA! (which stands […]

AHA!
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 17, 2023

AHA!’s (Attitude. Harmony. Achievement.) multi-faceted programs have been rapidly expanding nearly a quarter-century after the organization’s founding in response to the shooting at Columbine High School back in 1999. The proof is in the post-pandemic pudding, which emerged late last month when some of AHA!’s after-school programs got underway.  “The demand for what we’re doing […]

Creating Understanding in Today’s World
By Jude Bijou   |   June 28, 2022

According to Attitude Reconstruction there are only four rules of good communication and four opposing violations. Being aware of both gives us a choice about whether we want to create distance or connection with our words, whether we’re dealing with friend, foe, neighbor, or family member. Here are some examples of two ways of communicating […]

Walk Montecito
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 12, 2022

The Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade is launching a new campaign this week, aimed at raising funds for Walk Montecito, a project that will ultimately create eight miles of roadside walking trails throughout Montecito. “The project reflects our commitment to long-term recovery from the Thomas Fire and Debris Flow, and our mission to build both community […]

The Medicine of Love
By Gretchen Lieff   |   January 14, 2021

Darkness Deepens, and Then Light It was the first Sunday evening of a gloomy 2021. We tried our best at making it seem like a “Happy” New Year, full of new hope and promise. But it was not.  We had just returned from a dog walk through our Montecito neighborhood and it was usually lovely […]

Senior Moments
By Gwyn Lurie   |   January 14, 2021

Happy New Year! 2021 is finally here and while I’ve never been more ecstatic to watch the ball drop in Times Square, I know a number does not a miracle make. As much as we crave instant relief from the dumpster fire that was 2020 and the pandemic that defined it, unfortunately none of the […]

The AHA! Moment: Coping with the Coronavirus’ Psychological Fallout
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 7, 2020

AHA! has long received kudos in town for its success in equipping teenagers, parents, and educators with social and emotional intelligence and strategies to serve as an antidote to everything from apathy to despair. In addition, AHA! has had great success interrupting hate-based behaviors such as bullying. The organization’s programs have become touchpoints for transforming […]

Pacifica Moves Platforms During Pandemic
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 9, 2020

Pacifica Graduate Institute has amped up its availability of offering immersion in depth psychology to prospective students over the last several years, marketing its programs, information sessions, and campus visits all around town and beyond. Now as the coronavirus turns its Carpinteria campuses into deserted spaces, Pacifica has created a series of virtual events designed […]

Loco For Local and a Happy New Year
By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 26, 2019

As 2019 comes to an end, I’m choosing to focus on what’s right in front of my nose and how grateful I am that Montecito is my home. Today, seated at Merci near Vons in my favorite corner booth (for which I really should be paying rent – thank you Elizabeth and Stephane), before I […]

Pollan on Psychedelics: a Spiritual Skeptic Meets Psilocybin
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 18, 2019

Michael Pollan’s blockbuster books The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Botany of Desire, Food Rules, and Cooked have had major impact on the how people view food, gardening, and cooking. But his latest bestseller, How to Change Your Mind, which documents his investigation into the medical and scientific research in the world of psychedelic drugs as beneficial, […]

Kirtan with a Master
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 8, 2018

Laguna Beach native Baba Bhagavan Das – the master kirtan wallah and orator, bhakti yogi and shakta tantra adept – first traveled to India back in 1963 to find his gur, and became the first American to live in the jungle of the Himalayas as a hermit-sadhu. Bhagavan Das was given the Holy Name of […]

Healing with the Hendricks
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 27, 2018

Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks ran their publishing and self-help operation out of Montecito for years before relocating to the mountains of Ojai more than a decade ago. Since then, their empire has only expanded, with regular workshops both locally and around the globe, a bunch more books, and an expansion into online offerings. All three […]