Creating Forever
“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another”.- Toni Morrison
Posted in Inspiration
The Will to Meaning
Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, author of Man’s Search for Meaning . . .
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Experiment with Empathy
We are wired for connection. You give us the internet and we turn it into the largest web of connections that has ever existed. Each of us has mirror neurons, “neurons that mirror the behavior of another, as though the observer were itself acting.” Empathy is our highest capacity – the vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. Our highest levels of development come with a heightened capacity to see and experience truth in other perspectives and at other levels. Read More
Leave a commentSi se puede…
“Un pueblo unido, jamas será vencido“….
Leave a commentThe Distant Hill, Under Our Feet
A Walk
My eyes already touch the sunny hill,
Going far ahead of the road I have begun.
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;
It has its inner light, even from a distance —
And changes us, even if we do not reach it,
Into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are;
A gesture waves us on, answering our own wave . . .
But what we feel is the wind in our faces.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
The older I get, the more I think I understand these words by Rilke. Read More
Leave a commentWoman of Courage
Photo by: The Howard University Library
“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired…”
Leave a commentThe Power of Words
Words and the way in which we order and convey them can have tremendous power. This has been driven home by a variety of experiences and stories. There was the environmental conservation effort that was having a hard time bringing certain stakeholders under its umbrella until it began offering others the opportunity to join a movement to “preserve quality of place.” Then there was the effort to intervene on the behalf of some of our depleted fisheries that began with a slogan more or less about about “saving fish,” and that only ended up bringing key players into the fold when it shifted to being about “ensuring that we can fish forever.” Engagement is a science and an art form and the importance of our word choices is not to be underestimated.
What experiences have you had with the power of words in the pursuit of social change?
Leave a commentIn the Spirit of Ella…
Leave a commentWe Are All Connected
WWF – We Are All Connected from Troublemakers.tv on Vimeo.
Leave a commentLetting Our Eyes Adjust
|Photo by diveofficer|http://www.flickr.com/photos/diveofficer/2224496557|
Metaphors can be very useful in helping us grasp and work with otherwise complex issues and difficult circumstances. I’ve been working with one particular image lately as I’ve been doing change work on both personal and professional fronts. As we all know, it can be very difficult to move from where we are, even when we know change would likely bring something better. Of course, there are many different sources of resistance, and something I’ve been thinking about lately is how the reality of our current situation, while being an impetus for change, can also become all-consuming in a way that obscures other possible paths forward. I liken this to the image of standing under a bright streetlight at night. Where we are is fully illuminated, and beyond that, the dark is that much more obscured in contrast to the brightness in which we are engulfed. This can make any movement beyond that glow, as glaring and unpleasant as it may be, somewhat daunting. We can’t see the alternatives! But if we were to venture slowly out beyond the edges of the lamp’s light, what would we find? Over time our eyes adjust. Gradually, we are able to see more clearly that there are in fact viable alternative paths forward. Perhaps thinking about and allowing for this adjustment will embolden our stepping into the shadows.
Leave a commentThe moon is most happy, When it is full.
Photo by: Aonir
The moon is most happy
When it is full.
And the sun always looks
Like a perfectly minted gold coin.
Leave a commentDo the Thing
Photo by: Allie
When I walk out of my door in the morning I am forced to look at a note that I’ve written to myself – “Do the Thing.” Sometimes I will also place this note on my meditation cushion, so that I have to pick it up and move it right before I turn within. I’ve been thinking a lot about the persistent gap between “talking/thinking about the thing” and actually doing it. It is a gap that runs the gamut, I find it in my own individual life and in organizational life, I find it in our political discourse and within the social larger movement.
Perhaps the gap is inescapable. It is possible that we live through aspirations. It is possible that we think and talk about the thing in order to slowly catch up with it through the grind of real life.
And we do know that reflection is a good thing, that we learn through conversations, that it is important to articulate our vision.
I’m not trying to deny or undermine these things.
I just think that it is good to mind the gap. When we mind the gap we are less abstract. When we mind the gap it becomes harder to talk about goodness and justice while treating each other badly.
As a “process consultant,” a designer of interaction, I also think that minding the gap is what inspires me to strive for a generative experience – and actual taste of the thing we are working towards.
When aiming for transformation we must create transformative spaces. Do not have “another meeting” where you talk about social change. Design transformative spaces that give you a taste of it. Mind the gap. Live in the world you are trying to build. How you get there is as important as getting there. Do the thing.
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