I choose Love Tag

05 Apr

Posted at 12:51h in Glimpse into Me, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

  I wrote this in 2008. I lifted it from my MAPP capstone project, the final requirement for my advanced degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Social-emotional (SOMO) Leadership was just an idea in 2008 and I was ready to take some social-emotional leadership at that year's family Easter!   I realized the need for social-emotional leadership within my own network a few years ago when I saw one of the youngest members of our clan exhibiting some troubling behaviors on Easter. This young boy joined the men in the family room in a friendly betting pool that my Uncle Charlie,...

18 Dec

Posted at 20:22h in Glimpse into Me by

[caption id="attachment_1479" align="alignleft" width="277"] Look at that dog's smile![/caption] Going to the dog park as a daily routine has been really helpful in getting me on the streets of Philadelphia. I remembered from my time with Rocco in New York that people with dogs are more inclined to say hello to you on the street. Or, as is often the case, say hello to your dog, from their dog and in their dog voice. It’s the strangest thing. You’ll hear, “This is Sammy, what’s your dog’s name?” Then I’ll say with my SOMO style, “Oh, I’m Louis and he’s Ryder, what’s your name?” Often...

14 Nov

Posted at 20:23h in family, Glimpse into Me, Love, trust by

[caption id="attachment_1426" align="alignleft" width="230"] Ryder in his first month with me. That bottom right pic is us in our Halloween costumes the day we met. Me as a Smurf and he as an octopus.[/caption] They say that if you’re thirty-five, which I am, and you have no kids, which I don’t, then you should get a dog, which I did -- this past weekend, seriously. Not just a dog but a 3-month-old cockapoo (that’s cocker spaniel + poodle) puppy (that’s a baby dog). He goes by “Ryder” and he’s super cute. I adopted Ryder from his first family in New York who...

11 Apr

Posted at 06:06h in change-agent, Glimpse into Me, Opportunity/Threat, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

This is a keynote presentation I gave last week in Oaxaca, Mexico at a conference that brings together social entrepreneurs from around the world working on cool ideas to solve the worlds' problems. Here's what I said (and my slides follow): This is my brother Todd (put up image of his picture and the year of his life 1971)—born 1971, probably a little taller than me – I wish you could hear his laugh --- a guy who knows pure joy and would get that ear to ear grin; lots of fun, handsome, confident, wise.…sooooo creative, a brilliant piano player, visual artist, a...

24 Mar

Posted at 13:21h in Glimpse into Me, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

I’m scared shitless, that’s the truth --that I will fail, miserably. Shame . . . I’ve moved my life to the mid-ish west Cleveland, Ohio: I feel called here. I think we can show the world something BIG About how consciousness leads to transformation But WHO AM I? Sometimes I know who I think I am And that ego fails quickly. Train derailed. That’s not how I want to show up In my life, in the world I’m working on it. It’s dynamic, I’m dynamic – Why do we forget? SOMO is larger than me. It’s a we: we need each other An opportunity, not a threat Which starts with me shifting my own perception From FEAR to...

05 May

Posted at 06:59h in family, Meaning, Moments that matter, My life, Positive Psychology, Uncategorized by

[caption id="attachment_2060" align="alignright" width="224"] RIP Todd Louis Alloro (1971-1991)[/caption] --twenty years ago today. I was weeks shy of my 13th birthday and Todd had just turned 20. I remember waking up that morning to voices in the kitchen below. "Too early to be nana's pinochle game," I thought (She was watching us because as my parents were away for the weekend). Half asleep, I walked downstairs to hear the tragic news that changed our lives forever . . . I remember parts of that day -- awful and heart wrenching -- especially seeing my parents return home & get out of their car,...

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