Writing

By Sally Carless, M.Ed.

I have written (and overseen the creation of) a lot of curriculum over the years. I am the primary author of Global Village’s Whole Child Healthy Planet K-8 Curriculum. I also wrote Planetary Stewardship, Global Spirituality and Activism, Literature of Diversity, Cultural Geography, and several other high school courses.

I like to write about what touches my heart. I am a regular contributor to the Ojai Post and the Global Village Voice. My writing has also been published on various websites including CommonDreams.org, HopeDance, and Paths of Learning:

Education as Activism: Global Village School Educates for a Better World One Person at a Time
Global Village Voice, August 2009
Imagine how the world would be different if children received the type of education that nurtured their individual gifts and empowered them to be capable, confident, and wise stewards of the planet. Imagine the kind of adults these youth would become if they were provided with learning experiences that value peace, compassion, justice, sustainability, appreciation of diversity, and the living of an authentic and meaningful life.

Indigo Children and Homeschooling
A to Z Cool Homeschooling, May 2009
Who are the Indigo children? How do you know if your child is one? And if they are--or if you're not sure, but you know that their current schooling situation is not working for them--what do you do about it?

Power of the Heart - Grassroots Philanthropy
HopeDance Sept/Oct 2007

This is an amazing time to be alive. It can be immensely painful to have an open heart, as it is now possible to learn – in graphic detail – about terrible suffering around the globe, often as it is happening. The flip side is also true: we are able to know about so much more magnificence than was ever possible before. There are so many people and groups doing wonderful, courageous, beautiful things every day, and the Internet helps us connect with each other.
Power of the Heart is an international community focused on the ideas of “grassroots philanthropy” and activism. It’s about compassion, action, and change, and the power of an open heart. The basic idea is that you don’t have to be rich to be a philanthropist, and that when your heart is touched by something in the world, you can do something that will make a difference.

Seabiscuit Goes to Washington: On Hope, Vision, and Politics
Ojai Post, August 2007
Most of the time it is so incredibly disheartening to listen to these candidates dance around the issues, strutting around like roosters trying to show who’s the toughest – trying to prove that they are the ones who can save us from “those evildoers.”..
Who is your Seabiscuit? What is your vision for this country? How would you act, how would you vote, if you started to believe that what you long for might actually be possible?

The Heart Connection
March 2007

As director of Global Village School, I recently had the opportunity to host Nepali teacher and visionary, Chintamani Yogi. Yogi Ji visited us as part of his six-week tour around the U.S. He shared chanting, stories, and reflections; told of his work in Nepal; and left everyone with much food for thought. His presentation truly did take place in ‘sacred space.’ There was such a special loving feeling in the room. It was a magical evening.

Network of Spiritual Progressives Launched at Berkeley Conference
HopeDance Sep/Oct 05
Many religious and political leaders would have us believe that “God” is American, votes Republican, believes in bombing countries into peace and freedom, and thinks that only people of the opposite sex should fall in love with each other.
Could it be, though, that God is actually not a card-carrying member of the Republican Party with an American flag flying outside her door? That it is not just conservatives who define their lives and their voting in terms of what is sacred to them? That people can have a connection with divinity — whatever that might mean to them — without using it as a weapon or as a means of division?

Depleted Uranium: America's Silent Weapon of Mass Destruction
Common Dreams, July 13, 2004

"American troops are coming home poisoned -- not by Saddam -- but by their own government's weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction. The first reports from soldiers returning from Iraq have come in, and they are testing positive for depleted uranium (DU) in their systems. And these are not just random soldiers many are police officers and fire fighters from New York who serve in the NY Army National Guard. These are the very symbols of what this war was supposedly about."

Is This What "Supporting Our Troops" Really Looks Like?
HopeDance, May/June 2004

"What does supporting the troops really mean? When the US government attacked Iraq, many assumed that supporting the troops meant supporting the war -- that to speak against the drive to war was to speak against the troops risking their lives overseas. The notion that the American government takes care of its soldiers’ health and needs is a myth. They are exposed to severe health hazards without being informed, they are poorly paid and equipped, they have been misled about the reasons for going to war, and they often receive substandard care when they return from their service."

Wisdom and Action
HopeDance, Jan/Feb 2004
"How can we maintain our equilibrium in a world seemingly gone mad? How do we resist giving in to despair, helplessness, and rage in the face of disturbing statistics about nuclear waste or the latest detailing of the imperial ambitions of our government? How do we keep 'sustaining the gaze,' when it all seems too much for one person to bear? How can we spare the time necessary for inner growth when there is so much other work to be done? And how can we afford not to?"

Global Village School: An Education in Peace and Justice
Paths of Learning, Winter 2003
The theme of this issue of Paths of Learning was “Does America Really Love Its Children?” “How would the world be different if a generation of our youth grew up confident in their ability to make a difference, and skilled at discerning the truth in their hearts?”