Author: Zack Newsome
My New Year’s Resolution: To be more conscious of the legacy I’m leaving behind
I am not a huge fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Behind the optimism of a resolution is the reality that it will most likely be kept. The cynic in me believes that the very act of defining a commitment as a “New Year’s Resolution” deem it to be a failure.
Nevertheless, I do love the freshness a new year brings and find myself naturally looking into the new year with a certain hopefulness that this time around I will be or do something I’ve been longing to, but as of yet haven’t. The list of things I want to do, be, or accomplish in 2010 are numerous and while i won’t list them here, I do want to define a singular New Year’s Resolution for 2010.
I want to be more conscious of the legacy I’m leaving behind.
I am much less concerned about what I accomplish in this life than how I will be known once it’s over. Every day I spend looking into the eyes of my children make me painfully aware that they are destined to take on the various traits, perspectives, and characteristics I model for them. Besides my kids, I realize that with my existence, I am able to make a mark on this planet and I desperately hope that my mark is a positive one.
With “legacy” on my mind, I realize that technology has made available an infinite amount of ways in which to document our thoughts, memories, experiences, opinions, and even our personality. I want to recognize the value of these resources to leave behind a legacy for my kids.
So in 2010, I want to make an effort to document the projects I am a part of, the ideas, thoughts , & conversations that someone might find value in, and leave a trail that will allow my great-great grandaughter to know what life was like in my shoes in this time and in this place.
*On a side note: of all the reasons to use twitter regularly, the most convincing reason (in my opinion) is the logging of thought and activity that will be able to be accessed by my family for generations to come.
New Year, New Opportunities
I love the turning of the year. The passing of a year allows us to put the past 12 months behind us and look forward to what’s ahead. The freshness of a new year begs us to shake the excuses and the fears that have kept us from doing the things we should be doing. The new year is a blank slate full of the unknown. What will we look like in the fresh space of a new year? Will we push forward, becoming more of what we were intended to be and better play the role we were intended to play? I love the new-year-hope that leads us to answer these questions positively and confidently.
For communitasPHX, we too feel the excitement of new possibilities. The end of 2009 was a busy one for us, starting with the success of the PHX BrewParty and ending with the opening of fractal (a collaborative artspace we’ve opened). In 2010, we’ll continue this momentum with the launch of the Open Abbey (an initiative exploring contemplative spirituality in the city) and the kickoff a monthly art installation merging art & spirituality. In the Fall, we hope to invite a new class of folks into our Symbol Collective, offering recent college graduates the chance to flesh out their faith through community, social action, and creativity before entering the “rat race”.
And all these events and initiatives overshadow the real life of communitasPHX, the people and relationships that make the movement what it is. Both those who help and those being helped together will in 2010 better understand who they are and the role their meant to play. Through the touch of relationship, they will get a glimpse of the heart and compassion of God. Through the extension of grace and the sharing of laughter, they will experience the radical beauty that is the Kingdom of God. Above all else, we do what we do because of the people we share this movement with.
So, as we move into this fresh decade, we hope that you too find yourself staring into the future with excitement. We pray for you what we pray for ourselves, for an awareness and presence to see what God is up to, in our lives, in the lives around us, and in the city we live.
This article was originally posted on the communitasPHX blog
The Remba Project
The Remba Project is a social enterprise connecting people who want make a difference with products that do. Everything they sell is hand-made, organic, and fair-trade from artisans in developing countries around the world. As Remba sells these products, they are able to provide new resources to the underdeveloped and under-resourced communities in which these products are made.
We had the opportunity to create Remba’s visual identity – their “face” to the world along with a promotional print piece in which they’ll use to share their products with the world.
Services:
Branding, Print Design
This article was originally posted at www.methodlabmedia.com
PHX Brew Party
The PHX BrewParty is an annual party we throw in connection with communitasPHX. Billed as a celebration of creativity & community, the PHX Brew Party is part homebrewing competition, part benefit, & part community event. Hosted in the front yard of a 1920’s bungalow in Downtown Phoenix, the party will showcase 14 locally brewed beers and 4 local DJ’s. Proceeds from the PHX BrewParty will benefit the work of communitasPHX. Apart from the branding and web site for the party, we also screenprinted a limited amount of t-shirts and posters for the party.
Services:
Branding, Web Design, Screen-printing
This article was originally posted at www.methodlabmedia.com
CRM 2010 World Wide Conference
After an initial successful project in Uncovered, CRM asked us to develop a new site that would be the main hub of information for their upcoming World Conference in Malaysia. Less than a year away, the conference serves as an “every-four-years” gathering of their entire staff across the planet. As the WWC is a major event that shapes the future direction of the organization, it was important to CRM to create a well-designed, intuitive site that their global staff could access for conference details. Use of Twitter, a blog for news updates, an RSS feed, and a custom html-email template were all a part of the package we produced for the event.
As with all of our projects, we designed this solution with their administrative team in mind. The content is easily accessible via an administrative section and the entire site can be edited in-house without a need for knowledge of html.
Services:
Web Design, WordPress development, html-email design
This article was originally posted at www.methodlabmedia.com
The 2nd Annual PHX BrewParty
CommunitasPHX throws two big annual parties to promote community in downtown Phoenix. The biggest and longest-running is Taco Day. Right behind it (and quickly growing in local popularity) is the PHX BrewParty.
We are happy to announce that the 2nd Annual BrewParty is on the calendar for the fall. This November 14th, 10-12 brews, a handful of local DJ’s, friends, strangers, and neighbors will converge on the front yard of a historic bungalow in Downtown Phoenix. The PHX BrewParty is part homebrew competition, part community party, part benefit, and all good times. You can find all the details on the BrewParty website.
This article was originally posted on the communitasPHX blog
