Gun Violence – theCauseCoach

Podcast S1|E22: Kurt Fliegel, Solutions to End Gun Violence

June 2, 2022June 2, 2022thecausecoach

Kurt Fliegel, runner, concerned citizen, parent and grandparent, (and yes, my husband) discusses practical solutions to end gun violence. He answers the question, “what can I do” and provides a template that everyone can use today to create a personal plan of “positive, organized, networked action.” He is a supporter of Sandy Hook Promise, but suggests that you look at all the non-government organizations advocating for solutions and find the one which best aligns with your values and thinking.

I would also like to add that Kurt, having recent dental surgery, was reluctant to come on, but felt this cause was too important not to, although he was still a little self-conscious about his speech being less than normal. Sounded okay to me, 🙂 but I promised to put this disclaimer in.

Kurt’s template, which can be used to mobilize for this and other causes can be found HERE.

Kurt can be found on Twitter: @kurtfliegel and Instagram (mostly running) @flglchicago

Let Me Reach Out!

February 16, 2018January 10, 2021thecausecoach

This is another one of those weeks where I struggled to figure out what I’m going to say here. I have lots of ideas of things that I want to write about, but some weeks none of my ideas seem appropriate. Like many parents, I am shaken by another school shooting. 29 mass shootings so far this year, the 18th at a school. I ran hard yesterday morning. Running relieves stress.

“Not just exercise, but a way to get in touch with and reclaim myself in an often fragmenting world, running also serves as a powerful antidote to clinical depression, a metaphor for the creative process, and, in its most profound moments, a spiritual practice.” – Poet Alison Townsend

You don’t know how it feels

October 6, 2017January 9, 2021thecausecoach

This is another week in which I wrote something that will be saved for publishing another day. When I work with clients, sometimes it becomes apparent that there is an emotional issue we need to work through before we can focus on anything else. The term we use for that is clearing. Sometimes the client needs time to be in that moment…to be angry, sad, concerned or even celebratory…before they can focus on next steps toward their goals. So as this week unfolded, I realized I couldn’t just publish what I wrote last weekend. And honestly, it has taken me all week to process my emotions.

Americans are absolutely right to be outraged at the toll of guns. Just since 1970, more Americans have died from guns than all the Americans who died in wars going back to the American Revolution (about 1.45 million vs. 1.4 million). That gun toll includes suicides, murders and accidents, and these days it amounts to 92 bodies a day.

We spend billions of dollars tackling terrorism, which killed 229 Americans worldwide from 2005 through 2014, according to the State Department. In the same 10 years, including suicides, some 310,000 Americans died from guns.

Nicholas Kristof, Jan. 16, 2016, Some Inconvenient Gun Facts for Liberals, New York Times