Aloha dear readers,
It is with a tinge of sadness, but also the greater joy of certainty and clarity, that I am declaring “game over” for Joyful Jubilant Learning. I fully intend to leave the site up as the fabulous resource it has become, for there is true learning wealth contained within this site’s pages, but there will be no fresh content added here.
There are those times you know, “It’s time.”
That “greater joy of certainty and clarity” I mention has been surprising in a way, for I never imagined this would be one of the changes on our horizon as 2010 began. Yet as I sit here writing to you, I am sure this change was meant to be, as sure as I can be: It is the “healthy” part I refer to in my post title. There are those times you know, “it’s time.” You may not completely understand why, or be able to explain it well, but you know.
This is one of those times for me, especially because ironically, the feeling trumping my underlying sadness has been our constant value here: Joy in Learning. Even when that learning has led you to an ending you did not anticipate, for one ending usually opens spaces for new beginnings!
So there is joy in ending a game which has run its course within a magnificent season, with some truly brilliant plays and starring moments for all who were involved. I feel our ending is victorious. It feels glorious, and worth celebration.
Our Value: Joy in Learning. Our Result: Jubilation!
I am deeply appreciative to you for being such an important part of JJL: If you are reading these words, you have given so much to make the site the jewel it is, one which sought to do some game-changing with the learning that we adults do online, in the embrace of a collaborative, virtual, and global community. You may never have contributed a post, or penned a comment, but those who did, knew how many of you were there reading, listening, and learning. In my heart I do believe we have made a difference —several times over, and to individuals too numerous to count.
Did we learn everything we set out to learn? Maybe not. However I do feel we learned what we needed to learn during those times we committed to our learning, and made that genuine effort.
Indeed, there is jubilation knowing that there will always be another game, and another, and we get to choose which we’ll each gain most energy from, keeping our JJL discernment as part of the learning strength which propels us forward. I suspect we have each learned more than we may even realize.
Game-changing invigorates. It IS healthy
I hesitate a bit, using this metaphor of “a game” for in no way do I wish to minimize the immensity of what I do feel has happened here over the past three years: People have cried, laughed and played. Relationships have been explored within all depths of emotion. Strengths have found their beauty. Character has grown within Aloha, and some have discovered their Ho‘ohana.
My Ho‘ohana, (my personal work’s intention), is to recommit to my mission with Managing with Aloha, with Talking Story as my mothership online. My current travel, and my speaking engagements have helped me see a need that I feel I should fulfill better, given my experience and what I know and can offer, particularly with “sense of workplace” in a time entrepreneurs must be pulled back into the job creation of civic responsibility and community-mindedness, and Aloha-woven business models.
There may be another tribal team effort similar to what we initiated at JJL in the future, for I do adore Ho‘ohana projects and how we learn within them. I LOVE collaborating with you, defying global challenges and communicating within our universal language of shared values. For now, I want to concentrate on being a better participant in the online time I have available to me within my current business schedule, supporting you as you lead in that sweet spot within your own community and mothership, and taking a bit of a break from my online leadership efforts until I regroup within the arms of a true Managing with Aloha movement that is newly focused for 2010 and beyond.
Keep the Joy forever close to you
I invite you to return in about a week’s time, deciding then how you wish to bookmark the site in your Learner’s Toolbox. I will have a new home page up, which will help you consider Joyful Jubilant Learning in a fresh new way, as a resource you can come home to forevermore, getting that joyful spark you might need to refresh the learning energies you find you are dwelling in.
If you have depended on JJL in the past as a one-stop-shop for updates from favored contributors, visit their home sites now, and add them to your feedreader and social media friending: Consider this your opportunity to step up and reach out your hand, saying, “Aloha, I’m a friend from Joyful Jubilant Learning!” I know they will thrill to hearing from you. They will feel honored to know they can continue to learn with you.
As am I. Mahalo nui, ke ha‘aha‘a. Honored and profoundly thankful. Learning, and that joyful learning which gives you the jubilation of well-being in your self-attuned capacities, is something which will never, ever end. It is palena ‘ole, without limits. Of that, I am joyfully certain.
Ho‘ohana na ‘ike loa, e kukupa‘u kākou, e aloha nui.
We continue to work at our purposeful learning,
together and with enthusiasm, bound in the Aloha we share.
I hope to see you at Talking Story!
With much love and respect, and immense gratitude,
Rosa Say
Blessed to have been your managing editor,
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Rosa Say
I ask a favor
If you decide to bless these pages with one last comment, I ask a favor of you: Point to a post you fondly remember in our archives, and share what the reading of that post may have contributed to your learning. My sincere wish for JJL has always been that it was about the value of learning, and not about me or any single individual, but how we learn best with, and from other people.
Seize this moment to let our authors know how much their teaching and co-learning has meant to you. Inspire them to continue practices like Rapid Fire Learning in their own extended forums, for Joyful Jubilant Learning is but one place within the many that joyful learning, shared within Aloha, continues to mean so much.
Photo Credits:
Game Over by Thomas Hawk, and Day 232 Participant by lintmachine, both on Flickr. Our site art will remain timeless, thanks to the generous artistry of Tim Milburn and Jesse Petersen.
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Oh Rosa,
It is with sadness that I leave a comment here. I have so loved being a part of the Joyful Jubilant Learning community – with an emphasis on the Joyful. This ‘game over’ will leave a void. An aching space yearning to be filled.
We all know nature abhors a vacuum, so I am sure things will come rushing in to fill the space formerly occupied by each fresh post here. But still, the freshness will be missed. I will, I am sure, come back and delve back in time, searching the archives for those words of wisdom I need to hear at that very moment. And I know they will be there, for JJL has always been like that. Not only a beacon in times of darkness, but also a pointer to wonderful learnings right when I needed to hear them…
You’ve asked for us to point to a post that we fondly remember. One that has contributed to our learning. And I can point to no other than THIS post, for in it you have shown me the courage to say ‘enough’ when it’s time to call it; you’ve shown me the beauty of a decision made; and you’ve shown me that my choice of mentor all these years has been very well placed.
Thank you. For your heart. For your inspiration. For your learnings. I am a different person because of Joyful Jubilant Learning.
Aloha. xxx
´s last blog ..Better Relationships – A Treasure Trove of Possibility
I must confess the thought, the fact that JJL is ending is not doing down too well. As I just tweeted
When those of us together on the Team Synergy blog recognized the end, we had achieved synergy and it was enough for that time.
I have always felt this place was different. The archives of posts and comments show proof of that. We have learned so much here, and yet we have so much more to learn. That JJL is ending, for the moment, is the lesson I will be struggling to understand.
I found that my good friend William Shakespeare did once compose a sherku:
Parting is
Such sweet sorrow
That I shall say
Good night till it be
Tomorrow
I’ll see you all around. Good night, good night, good night….
´s last blog ..Papyrus framed
Rosa, I know the sadness you mention, and yet there is such a wonderful opening to possibility which you are embracing, as well. There are times when letting one thing go frees your hand to reach for something new.
For me, participating here has been enlightening and invigorating, and, more than anything, it has been fun. I was not along for the full ride, but I will always remember the open arms with which you welcomed me when I hopped on midway through JJL’s run.
Your consistent guidance and persistent shepherding of all of us who contributed to this adventure is an example I believe all of us have learned from. When you love something, don’t be afraid to fully commit. In fact, it is the only way to express love authentically: you leap in, tossing caution aside and trusting the urge to give all you have to give.
When I think back to particular posts which are illustrative of this concept, two come immediately to mind.
Emma Newman’s first post tells her story of stepping out and letting her light shine, of the encouragement she felt in overcoming her fear of showing a part of herself which was still tender to the touch.
Joanna Young wrote of her mother’s illness in a way which was so vulnerable and touching that I still read it with my hand on my heart as I feel what she says to my very core.
JJL has been a delightfully gentle and affirming framework within which we could come play and learn, and there will be future such places where our paths will cross again. I look forward to seeing you there, my friends!
Rosa, thank you a thousand times for all you have done here, both the devotion I know of and all the behind-the-scenes effort you poured into JJL. Your example of what it means to give all you have to give is one I will cherish.
Rosa:
Kudos to you on such a fine site you build and the courage to know when you needed to say, “game over.” Everything about this community was classy and I was proud to be a contributor, reader, and joyful learner. I was so happy when we start and I am joyful that it is over. It was the right time for me to focus on other elements. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the heart of my neurons.
David
´s last blog ..Student Engagment, Media Engagement, and Learning in this Decade
Rosa I’m afraid I can’t pick one post, because when I think of JJL I think of a league of friends, of enquirers, of adventurers, I think of us learning and exploring together. I think of moments when what one person has written has triggered a flood of emotions, or actions, or new pieces of writing perhaps not here at all, but elsewhere. Perhaps not ever published or shared, but learned and absorbed inside. I think of lots of times when we have learned and played and grown together in the comment boxes… that place where, you know, the magic for me has always been the strongest.
I am taking courage from your decision to say ‘it’s time’ as I am on the brink of taking some time to figure out the bit that brings it all together for me. Will keep you and others posted on what I learn…
Rick thank you so much for mentioning the prose poem I wrote to my mother. It was written just two months before she died and I am so glad now that I had the courage to write it and share it. And glad that I knew this group of people who gave me the courage and the heart to do so.
Hi Rosa,
I am one of those learners who never posted a comment or contributed an article but benefitted from the JJL site often. I found it by accident and visited it often just to see what you were all learning. I too found many posts moved me to laughter, to more questions and occasionally to unexpected tears.
I especially was moved by Joanna Youngs “What If” poem. She captured such a beautiful aspect of dealing with /experiencing life with a loved one with dementia. I sat in front of my computer and cried. I shared it with 2 other people who also appreciated her words. Thank you. I’ll miss JJL. Marie Davis
While Rosa has been JJL’s master architect, inspirational leader and has invested more sweat equity than anyone else, JJL has been about community. And while Rosa has every right to claim this as her site, it isn’t (and she’ll be the first to tell you that too).
Rosa weaves much appreciation and gratitude into her well thought out and spoken words here. We see the inevitable ramped up devotion to her business and think to ourselves, “oh well it is for the better.” It isn’t.
In the spirit of what brought us all together here, I ask you to look inside and ask yourself why you think Rosa is shutting down JJL. There are (a) few here who are really in sync with Rosa and JJL’s purpose. And even though I have been online with Rosa since before JJL and even though there are not more than six other people in the world who I am in more sync with than Rosa, I wasn’t syncing with JJL. I should have had the courage to tell Rosa this and back off. Others did. I didn’t.
So for me, I’ll not use this space as a flowery send off to my dear, dear sister and friend. Instead, I’ll look at it as an opportunity to learn. And the next time I have a chance to be involved with a community, I’ll be either involved or I won’t.
I must admit I have my difficulties accepting that JJL is closing down. On the one hand, Rosa, it is your thing, your baby, and nobody and nothing can prevent you from changing your focus. You have put a lot of energy and work into this project, and I understand that you need that energy and work for other things.
On the other hand I always looked upon JJL as a kind of community project, and now, at this very moment, I have the feeling that somebody has taken something away from me, and I feel very sad. JJL has always been a place where communication was much appreciated. I remember the discussion about “tribes” and that JJL was kind of a “tribe” – . I don’t want to use harsh words – but where’s communication now? One blog post that tells us that there won’t be no JJL anymore? Again: no hard feelings intended, just a bit of bitterness.
´s last blog ..Holocaust Remembrance Day
I can’t pick one post, either, and I too am sorry to see this site go (or at least, it’s forward motion cease). I’ve loved being part of JJL and only wish I had discovered the site sooner. I hate losing friends–and a site where we could all gather, like this one, definitely counts. I’m wishing you well, though!
´s last blog ..Are You a Bi-Polar Writer?
Thank you to everyone who is commenting today. You continue to prove why JJL has been important, and why forums similar to JJL will continue to be vital to the healthy well-being of a lifelong learner. We need each other, and we need to recognize that we do.
I truly believe, that of all the intelligences we can identify and draw from, (and Tim Draayer illustrated them for us here: Delving Into Nine Facets of Intelligence) our most important lessons are drawn from our emotional intelligence. I hope you give credence to however your emotions are speaking to you with my announcement, and whatever way you feel about this, I cheer that we were successful enough to have emotions tumble at all!
I encourage you to focus on your value of learning, and how it is fortified for you. Ask yourself, “How will I learn within community in the future, so I continue to learn from those I admire and respect? Who are my best mentors, and where are they? What is the future they aim at, and do I want the same things? If so, how can I connect, and continually communicate with them?” Then, as Dave has urged, commit, and go all in! If not with me at Talking Story, commit somewhere else, but do focus. You will be committing to your own learning. Your focus, and your consistent work to remain involved, will guide your value alignment, and help you best optimize the opportunity change can bring.
Know that it does take work; so Ho‘ohana that work! I have responded to some of these comments privately, as the coach in me knows how to do best: Drawing from all I know about the strengths and needs of people individually. I think that has been my greatest JJL blessing; I know each of you as a more whole person (and admittedly, based on as much as you have been willing to give), and not only as a “JJLer” as I would often refer to us within the much larger Ho‘ohana Community.
I do want to respond to Ulla’s comment here as well, by taking responsibility for this decision as one that yes, I did make alone. We have always had a JJL Advisory Board in place, but ultimately, an effort as substantial as JJL does require a leader willing to make certain decisions and that was a role I took on. Was this one of those decisions it was my right, and my responsibility to make? I believe so.
Another belief deep in my core, a belief which defines who I am, is that managing matters, and leading requires individual courage: leading and managing are verbs challenging us to be our best. They challenge us to create energy and channel that energy in the best possible way. I ask those of you who may feel any shock of betrayal to forgive me for not including you in this decision, but this was a time where it would have been far worse to ask for input with a decision already at complete clarity of rightness for me, as JJL’s leader with no heir apparent in a forum and virtual community ecosystem that has continually proved how much managing and leading matters in our world.
Wow.
It’s really hard to sum up what JJL has meant for me, except to say that it has been a wonderful example of how a group of disparate folks from all over the world can join together to talk about something they love, collectively and passionately and personally–on a daily basis…LEARNING! How we do it, what it makes us feel; how it develops and transforms us. Our experiences of learning have been at the center here, adults talking about how learning moves and shapes and forms them, and that has moved me.
I thank you Rosa for your unfailingly generous, wise-spirited and incredibly energetic leadership. I look forward to following you in other worlds and other adventures, kupuna. I find myself thinking about that Native American piece of wisdom, “Everything moves in a circle.”
As you would say, Rosa, Ua pono kaua.
Oh Ulla I can understand how you feel, and it is heartening to know how much the sharing of learning means to you and to others who are sharing their responses – including some sadness and disappointment.
I think in part the suddenness of the announcement reflects the difficulty of managing a group conversation around such a decision… a different approach might well have left people saying ‘let’s try something else’… without necessarily working out how that might happen, or who was going to do do the work.
And I think there is part of what isn’t written in this post here – about the sheer amount of effort that goes into any blog, and probably more to the management of a community blog, even if lots of people are creating the content, because you need to organise and edit it so it works for the reader and the group as a whole.
And there are times when it might seem, feel, be… right to say the effort is no longer the right use of that energy, not just Rosa’s but other people’s too.
And part of me can’t help agreeing with Shakespeare
If it were done when ’tis done then ’twere well it were done quickly…
I think this was a time when it were well done quickly.
Hope that helps…
And Deb and others… we do all know each other and connect through blogs, through Twitter, through other social networks… there’s no reason for the learning to stop, it’ll just turn into something different, no?
Hi Rosa,
You have influenced my thinking tremendously both at JJL and Talking Story.
I understand that change is inevitable but please know JJL will be missed.
I posted my recognition to JJL on Lead Quietly.
Thanks for your tremendous generosity.
Don
´s last blog ..Change is Inevitable, but it’s sad when it happens.
I can only say that I have been honored to be part of this journey, and I will miss JJL. However, I also think of one of my favorite quotes:
“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.”
– Ivy Baker Priest
There is always more to learn, and always more to come. Both are better with friends, and I consider you all to be my friends.
´s last blog ..Rewards and habits
I’d just like to say that I have appreciated the suuport and respect I have received at JJL. I have learned much, grown in confidence, and made wonderful friends.
Rosa has been leading us mightily through the thick and thin of a community and voluntary online contributorship. It’s not easy. I’ve personally always just assumed she was WonderWoman cos I couldn’t have done it! LOL
So JLL’s time has come. Like al things there is a season and we’re commonly disappointed when it’s over but we carry much in our hearts. Two special articles instantloy spring to mind for me. Joanna Young’s poem to her Mum What If and Starbucker (still LOVE that name) and his refelections on Brother George & The Mid-Term.
´s last blog ..Have the Kisses Changed in Your Relationship?
Mahalo for a wonderful year (I discovered Rosa a year ago this month) of wisdom and warmth and acceptance; JJL will be missed!
A hui hou kakou: E noho me ka hau’oli!
Aloha!
Dear Rosa,
You knew there would be loss but you also knew that more would be gained.
You took a leader’s decision but you made it in the spirit of Aloha.
I feel this because you don’t ask us for a wake, instead you ask us all to consider what and how we have learned here and carry it forward with us.
I take this opportunity gladly and am eager to see where it leads.
Thank you for everything Rosa & JJL! :)
´s last blog ..Just Words
Rosa, et al
´s last blog ..Papyrus framed
Hello Friends:
If nobody said they were going to miss it, it would be a sign that it wasn’t really accomplishing anything. I’ll wear black today to mourn the loss of a great adventure in learning (made all the sadder by removing JJL from my RSS feed). But come tomorrow, I’m putting on the colors of “aloha” and looking forward to learning in some new ways.
Thank you to everyone who contributed and celebrated learning over these last three years!
´s last blog ..Pray For Haiti
Thank you, thank you for the many wonderful days I came home from teaching rowdy, yet fun-filled 9th-graders…or grad students in the evenings (so intent upon gathering more strategies to interest children and in lifelong learning)…and breathed deep loving energy while reading the latest JJL email. So wonderful. Such gifts. It will be missed. So often, I wished to contribute more, as in days past; but the energy from days spent learning and planning for 21st c learning kept me from responding. The reading…it was enough.
Keep your energy flowing. Will meet you again in Talking Story. The game is never over completely; it merely changes its flow.
Judie Pairan,
a devoted fan
My goodness. Your comments are so very cherished!
Ka lā hiki ola Pepeluali; e komo mai. We awake to welcome February 1st and the dawning of a new day. Ma‘alahi kākou; we enjoy a lovely calm in our going forward. Kukupa‘u; we will be enthusiastic!
Ho‘ohana kākou na ‘Ike loa.
I am so proud of the messages of going forward which are being shared here. It is what we who are lifelong learners do, what we will always do; be open to change and willing to immerse ourselves within it for the learning we are certain will grace us.
Friends, your comments are gifts. Mahalo nui loa.
You are truly the leaders we need championing learning each and every day to come.
As with all endings there will be new beginnings. I do hope you find ways to let us know what you are doing. I have enjoyed learning from this community, and especially about how we can apply the rich traditions of the Hawaiin culture to our everyday lives and work.
In particular I enjoyed the posts during the holiday season this year. They helped to bring a mindfulness during that time that really made a difference for me. I liked this one in particular. http://joyfuljubilantlearning.com/2009/12/learning-christmastime/
I look forward to hearing more about what is next for you and hope that in the meantime we can stay in touch via twitter! I do hope that our paths continue to cross serendipitously.
´s last blog ..How Strong is Your Foundation for Success?
Rosa,
I have thought a lot about your decision to close JJL. The friends that have shared their wisdom and gifts can never be replaced. The learning continues, the joy continues, the friendships continue, our connection with you continues…all that is lost is the site. The best always remains.
I deeply commend you for your patience, wisdom and gentleness as you have worked with your authors and guests. I know no one who communicates the Aloha spirit through her life and work more than you. I am sure many of us can say that we have been eternally challenged and changed by your vision. All these indelibly remain as well.
With much aloha,
Dean
I read this the day that it was posted but it has taken me a week to leave a comment. I know that endings are merely new beginnings, new doorways and still I mourned the change. The JJL family, readers, commenters, contributors and board have been a bright light in the blogosphere. From the moment Joanna Young invited me over to listen to the audio thread I was embraced with the Aloha spirit and the love of learning. This shared journey has brought so much to me. While I knew some from their other homes on the web, when we came here it was different – a gathering, a collaboration, a shared excitement for exploration and discovery.
I have gained value from http://joyfuljubilantlearning.com/rapid-fire-learning/ each month and there are so many posts that shook me and made me think but I will mention two here – the raw intensity of Káren Wallace’s post – http://joyfuljubilantlearning.com/2009/11/opening-a-vein/ left me breathless and Emma Newman’s post http://joyfuljubilantlearning.com/2009/08/the-beautiful-brutal-summer/ still lingers in my mind with its vivid imagery and brilliant storytelling. So many others, for each writer, each post invited you to come along and learn. I will miss new content but am thankful that there is storehouse of content to fuel my learning for many months to come. I will not say Good-Bye but see you around dear friends in other places and other ways. Cheers, Karen
´s last blog ..Smacking Down Resistance to Embrace Opportunity
I only recently discovered this site but I instantly felt connected. Words were written that I felt in my own heart. My favorite post was Káren Wallace’s, http://joyfuljubilantlearning.com/2009/11/opening-a-vein/
Thank you.
joanna
´s last blog ..When it’s hard to be positive
Aloha everyone, thank you so much for continuing to share your comments here: Please know that they continue to encourage us as we work to convert the site from active publishing to an easily searched, smartly indexed reference site; work which will be done by a volunteer team as time allows.
Meanwhile, I have published a new letter to better serve as our JJL landing page:
Aloha, welcome to Joyful Jubilant Learning