Our Current Community Book
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by
The instant New York Times Bestseller * Nominated for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction "A lyrical work of self-discovery that's shockingly intimate and insistently universal...Not so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born -- a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam -- and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard. With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years. Named a Best Book of the Year by: GQ, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, TIME, Esquire, The Washington Post, Apple, Good Housekeeping, The New Yorker, The New York Public Library, Elle.com, The Guardian, The A.V. Club, NPR, Lithub, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue.com, The San Francisco Chronicle, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal Magazine and more!
Call Number: PS3622.U96 O52 2019
What Is Contemplative Practice and Why Use It?
Contemplative Community Circle Mission Statement
The mission of the Contemplative Community Circle (CCC) is to provide a welcoming space for CCBC faculty and staff to learn, share, and experience contemplative practices through introspection, meaning making, creativity, insight, and connection to others. CCC members, in turn, share these contemplative practices with the CCBC community in and outside of the classroom.
The CCC is housed in the Office of Intercultural Engagement (OIE) and shares the commitment of promoting access and equity for all persons
Contemplative Practices for Students
- We have developed a Week of Mindfulness (WofM) ahead of our conferences that includes multiple campuses, disciplines, and co-curricular experiences, to share contemplative practices with students.
- We bring speakers to campus to share ideas about mindfulness. Notably Marisela Gomez of the Baltimore and Beyond: Mindfulness Community
- We bring speakers to campus to share ideas about mindfulness. Notably Marisela Gomez of the Baltimore and Beyond: Mindfulness Community came to share with us in 2019.
- We hold periodic Refress-Sesh opportunities, where students may attend mindfulness experiences, such as the labyrinth walk, yoga, contemplative art, etc.
The Contemplative Community Circle (CCC) Was Founded by Stephanie Briggs in 2016
Recent and Upcoming Events
Journeying and Returning:
Body, Speech, and Mind in Action
A two-part workshop with Stephanie Briggs and Elaine Yuen.
Saturday and Sunday, March 18-19, 2023
9:30 am to 6 pm on Saturday / 10 am to 1 pm on Sunday
ThorpeWood Mountain Retreat
Contemplative Practices Deepening
Awareness and Concentration
Friday, October 21
Learn about contemplative practice, with the goals of enhancing cognitive performance, empowering creativity, managing stress and emotional challenges, developing the “whole person”, and staying present and connected to the community and to the world. Gerard Yun, Assistant Professor of Community Music at Canada’s Wilfred Laurier University, will present on the contemplative and meditative aspects of music, and our connections to communities and to Nature. Contact David Hewitt: dhewitt@ccbcmd.edu or Alyssa Simms-Clark: asimmsclark@ccbcmd.edu
Free for all CCBC faculty/staff or currently enrolled CCBC students! Registration link: https://javawebapp.ccbcmd.edu/ QuickReg/Register.jsp?frc=CEWELL (CRN 32476).
• Contemplative Session I: 11 a.m.–12 p.m. • Presentation by Gerard Yun: 12:20–1:50 p.m. • Contemplative Session II: 2–2:55 p.m. • Contemplative Session III: 3:05–4 p.m.
What Does the Contemplative Community Circle Do?
Monthly gatherings for faculty and staff
Our CCC consists of faculty and staff from all parts of the campus. We have representation from The Office of Intercultural Engagement, for-credit schools, the library, and continuing education, to name a few. We meet monthly to share contemplative practices and plan mindful events. If you would like to join us, please see the calendar for the next meeting and reach out to us for more information.
Annual Contemplative Community Circle/Continuing Education Conference
Each year, we hold a conference on contemplative practice.
Rooted in Community & Contemplative Practice Mini-Conference, November 2018 connected with Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing.
Threading Care, Compassion and Social Justice through Contemplative Practice,
November 2019 connected with Kate Evans’ Threads of the Refugee Crisis.
Finding Our Truth, Finding Our Stories, through Contemplative Practice,
October 2020 connected with Thomas King’s The Truth about Stories
Contemplative Community Circle Conference, 2021
Stay tuned for more information regarding the Fall 2021 conference, which will focus on themes from the Community Book, Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through the Storm, by Tich Nhat Hanh. Date TBD.
Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh
Fear by
"Written in words so intimate, calm, kind, and immediate, this extraordinary book feels like a message from our very own heart....Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most important voices of our time, and we have never needed to listen to him more than now." --Sogyal Rinpoche Fear is destructive, a pervasive problem we all face. Vietnamese Buddhist Zen Master, poet, scholar, peace activist, and one of the foremost spiritual leaders in the world--a gifted teacher who was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.--Thich Nhat Hanh has written a powerful and practical strategic guide to overcoming our debilitating uncertainties and personal terrors. The New York Times said Hanh, "ranks second only to the Dalai Lama" as the Buddhist leader with the most influence in the West. In Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through the Storm, Hanh explores the origins of our fears, illuminating a path to finding peace and freedom from anxiety and offering powerful tools to help us eradicate it from our lives
Call Number: BQ4302 .N425 2014ISBN: 0062004735
If you are using the book, Fear, here are some useful resources:
- Mindfulness in Fear Part 1Mindfulness Ideas and Practices (Adapted) from Thich Nhat Hanh's book Fear, compiled by Amy Pucino, PhD, CBC, 2021-2022
- Mindfulness in Fear Part 2Mindfulness Ideas and Practices (Adapted) from Thich Nhat Hanh's book Fear, compiled by Amy Pucino, PhD, CBC, 2021-2022
Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert
Under a White Sky by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction returns to humanity's transformative impact on the environment, now asking: After doing so much damage, can we change nature, this time to save it? RECOMMENDED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND BILL GATES * SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * "Beautifully and insistently, Kolbert shows us that it is time to think radically about the ways we manage the environment."--Helen Macdonald, The New York Times That man should have dominion "over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. So pervasive are human impacts on the planet that it's said we live in a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. In Under a White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. Along the way, she meets biologists who are trying to preserve the world's rarest fish, which lives in a single tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave; engineers who are turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland; Australian researchers who are trying to develop a "super coral" that can survive on a hotter globe; and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth. One way to look at human civilization, says Kolbert, is as a ten-thousand-year exercise in defying nature. In The Sixth Extinction, she explored the ways in which our capacity for destruction has reshaped the natural world. Now she examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the only hope for its salvation. By turns inspiring, terrifying, and darkly comic, Under a White Sky is an utterly original examination of the challenges we face.
- Under a White Sky - eBook by ISBN: 0593136276
Mindfulness for Faculty
- Professional Development: We share contemplative practice sessions at professional development opportunities.
- Mindfulness Spaces: We created affinity meditation groups for racial justice and healing in Fall 2020.
- Contemplative Retreats: We have shared retreats for faculty, such as one held at Thorpewood Retreat Center in Thurmont for School of Health Professionals in 2018 and for CCBC educators and students in March 2023.
If you have an idea how contemplative practices might be useful for your program, please contact us
CCC Relationships at CCBC
We work with departments, groups and organizations on campus to strengthen contemplative practice opportunities.
- The Office of Intercultural EngagementThe CCC is housed in the Office of Intercultural Engagement.
- Continuing Education, Lifelong LearningThe CCC partners with Continuing Education, particularly for the annual conference.
- The Community Book ConnectionEach year, the CCC chooses a theme for the Week of Mindfulness and conference in tandem with the Community Book.
- Culturally Responsive Teaching and LearningCCC members share contemplative practices during the CRT Conference.
- The Office of Student LifeCCBC Student Ambassadors, through the Student Life Program, have assisted with CCC events.
- Social Justice InitiativesThe CCC shares contemplative practices and co-sponsorship for social justice initiatives at CCBC, co-sponsoring events and running workshops related to social justice.
If you would like to partner with the Contemplative Community Circle, please reach out. Contact information below.
Other Contemplative Opportunities at CCBC
Contact Us!
Do you have questions or ideas for the Contemplative Community Circle? Please contact Contemplative Community Circle Co-Facilitators, Dave Hewitt (dhewitt@ccbcmd.edu) or Alyssa Simms-Clark (asimmsclark@ccbcmd.edu)
Do you have a suggestion for this Library Research Page? Please contact Amy Pucino (apucino@ccbcmd.edu) or Debra Sambuco (dsambuco@ccbcmd.edu)