Hi! I'm Tara Robertson.

Al Green, a 77 year old Democratic representative from Texas, is courageous. He stood up in Congress, during Trump's address, and protested. He was escorted out by the sergeant at arms and faces censure today. Hearing Republicans, who were chanting U-S-A, U-S-A, cite decorum as they were kicking Green out made me so angry. There are so many places at work and in society where rules get applied unevenly. The trade war that the US started with Canada and Mexico also got me angry. I know it's...

Overall the world is a hot mess right now and there's moments of beauty, tenderness and joy: Serena Williams cameo in Kendrick Lamar's concert (bookended by a football game) yesterday the days getting a little longer catching up and spending time with friends from out of town I'm levelling up about being in the present moment, which means noticing these sweet moments as well as noticing my sadness, fear and anger. I'm here for all of it. Take a moment. How are you doing, right now? Like,...

Like many people, I've had a rough start this year. There's a lot of churn and turbulence in the world right now. A lot of people (Black and brown folks, trans and non-binary people, queer people, women) and things I care about (diversity, equity and inclusion programs and uh...science) are under attack. Against this backdrop Eli, one of my best friends, died just over a week ago. I made a conscious decision to push some work projects out to have more time to hang out with her, which was the...

Happy New Year! I had a relaxing holiday where I lost track of what day of the week it was. I went multiple days without eating anything green. I got to spend quality time with friends who live here and friends who were visiting. There's also been some hard stuff: my mom had heart surgery and a couple of close friends are dealing with major health stuff. Most people I know have at least one hard thing going on. If you have hard things going on I hope you have time, space and support to be...

"What's a metaphor for how you're doing right now?" is one of my favourite ways to start any call. People generally answer "How are you?" with "I'm fine." or "Good." The metaphor question is a bit disruptive, in a good way. It makes people sit up and notice how they are actually feeling and then try and find a metaphor that fits. It invites people to be real. The world has been a lot lately. There's some chaotic change energy sloshing around the world (South Korea, France, Syria, the health...

How's your heart today? I was facilitating a national workshop last Wednesday. We knew it was going to be the morning after the US election. I made the mistake of looking at my phone at 3am (when will I learn?) and was operating on a less than ideal amount of sleep. We proposed to the CEO that we add some time to clear. Clearing is a coaching tool where you set a short amount of time for people to vent and get stuff off their chest so they can be present. In the end it wasn't needed and I'm...

It's election season! I'm carefully watching both the US federal election (November 5) and the provincial election in British Columbia (October 19). The stakes feel high and I'm anxious about the results. Community is everything. Last night I joined about 50 badass women at a pub to watch the US Presidential debate. Thank you to Core Firm and Tawâw Strategies for hosting. Are you registered to vote where you live? Thanks to Opreet, Parm, Nikki from Core Firm and Andrea from Tawâw Strategies...

I often start my day by pulling a tarot card. My question is usually "What is something I need to pay attention to today?" This card, The Mentor of Feathers (from the out of print Collective Tarot deck), keeps coming up for me. The Mentor of Feathers is like the king of air. It's the last card in the suit that's about communication and intellect. The description says "This card is about owning your knowledge , taking authorship and being the wise bird that you are." What do you need to say...

These days I've been thinking a lot about the ethics and environmental impact of AI and how I want to use these tools in ways that are values aligned for me. This is another place where it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Perhaps you're also experimenting out where to put the slider. I'm speaking on this topic at an event in Vancouver at the end of the month. If you skip to the end of this newsletter, I also share some of the people I follow on AI. Queer Tech event in Vancouver I'll be one...