tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14622620432168644442024-03-13T07:59:11.256-07:00Story Telling in BusinessBloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13215615171585034619noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-26165461187809319412022-12-28T06:33:00.005-08:002022-12-28T06:47:52.329-08:00Your/Our Story 2023<p> <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30glSySNa4AdOEfmJqPcC58lIDcPm042sl82M58kwJecvX__KDBMR1JCHdBXfNEEWZqOTPfLwC5ca87mFKgXkOedGQAQG-vJVgCuneggSSGqdd1XlyPZBeLP3Yt9wMXLdiys_N4C2Y94sLGtgDM2ZAeNGu03wO5CYFtExOKzkiKN2gu7NAIdn-AFC/s403/moral%20compass.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="403" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30glSySNa4AdOEfmJqPcC58lIDcPm042sl82M58kwJecvX__KDBMR1JCHdBXfNEEWZqOTPfLwC5ca87mFKgXkOedGQAQG-vJVgCuneggSSGqdd1XlyPZBeLP3Yt9wMXLdiys_N4C2Y94sLGtgDM2ZAeNGu03wO5CYFtExOKzkiKN2gu7NAIdn-AFC/w320-h320/moral%20compass.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Illustration of the Theory of Moral Foundations, by Aprilia Muktirinia</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">“<em>Evil is not what we should fear. Creatures with power acting in their own interest: that is what should make us shudder” - Shehan Karunatilaka (Booker Prize-winning, Sri Lankan author)</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“It’s not dark yet but it’s getting there” – Bob Dylan</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">SCIENCE FICTION AND MAN AT THE PINNACLE</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Winston “<em>Churchill believed that modern scientific advancements, while productive of many good things, could also potentially lead to the loss of freedom. He sought to counter this possibility by speaking out against socialism and by recruiting citizens to the cause of a free society" </em>- Prof Larry P. Arnn, Hillsdale College</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> Yuval Noah Harari, adviser to Klaus Schwab and lecturer at the World Economic Forum is adamant that:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> •<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>natural selection is being replaced by intelligent design as man continues to evolve, </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>science is gearing up to create eternal life for man, </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>men will become gods, </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the Bible is fake news, </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>science is the new world religion.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://podpoint.com/truth-to-ponder/we-will-become-gods-yuval-noah-harari-wef-advisor" style="color: #751f04;">https://podpoint.com/truth-to-ponder/we-will-become-gods-yuval-noah-harari-wef-advisor</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Homo Deus,</em> Harari’s new book is recommended by Bill Gates. Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg are amongst his other fans. A review states, “<em>We are the only species in earth’s long history that has single-handedly changed the entire planet, and we no longer expect any higher being to shape our destinies for </em><em>us”</em>. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.ynharari.com/book/homo-deus/" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.ynharari.com/book/homo-deus/ </a> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">See also: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=yuval+noah+harari+everlasting+life+for+man" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.google.com/search?q=yuval+noah+harari+everlasting+life+for+man</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The term science fiction describes a speculative literary genre but has recently assumed a sinister new meaning when dishonest, deceptive ‘leaders’ and a new self-appointed ‘elite’ refer to “following the science”. (We need to question everything. Ask “Who says?” and “So what?”)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>DANGER AHEAD</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Churchill - British warrior, statesman and Prime Minister during both war time and times of peace thought and worked on the basis that there are only two types of country:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> •<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>People own the government (Participatory democracy at its best. Free), or</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Governments own the people (Socialism carries within it the seeds of totalitarianism. A regimented society without freedom)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We are on a path from the former to the latter.</p></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQvwjG4-ojzIr6SejJapfAp3uPy1OhG0vJh5q8jCfNmNPMF3XNUz9bVUYg6qL8mJ388e4WMPA8T0EuCsaYeEoOlK22bHDx7uuC9D4Kjl657CNfdVBNeGNRi_wupzVk7b703xnjfvH5HtTVyXP1sPco3BWo0-U078f7dp76pflQ6K07gShOwgBYgar/s602/story2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="602" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQvwjG4-ojzIr6SejJapfAp3uPy1OhG0vJh5q8jCfNmNPMF3XNUz9bVUYg6qL8mJ388e4WMPA8T0EuCsaYeEoOlK22bHDx7uuC9D4Kjl657CNfdVBNeGNRi_wupzVk7b703xnjfvH5HtTVyXP1sPco3BWo0-U078f7dp76pflQ6K07gShOwgBYgar/w400-h225/story2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In this chart (click on image to see larger version) we try to depict:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>THE DANGER OF POWER</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Information-power, the power of science, technology, engineering, wealth, position - in the wrong narcissistic hands for the wrong reasons - signals extreme danger for humanity. Churchill pointed out that Marx saw the institution of family as a threat to the State, (where all loyalty should be directed).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Andrzej Lobaczewski, the Polish psychologist, recognized that ruthless and disturbed individuals are strongly drawn to political power, and often end up constituting the government of nations. In <em>The Hideous Strength</em>, C.S. Lewis (educator, philosopher, author of the <em>Chronicles of Narnia</em> series and other incredibly wise books), tells a story of self-appointed ruling “elites” who adopt the power of science and use emergency conditions as the opportunity to enforce their self-interested rule. They run NICE (the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments) as a front for sinister forces).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Lewis points out the self-destruct certainty of totalitarian politics, for example Nazism, and “<em>the disciplined cruelty of some ideological oligarchy</em>”. (Wedgeworth, S. 2013)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Such power overcomes any resistance to the reining in of the destructive potential carried by science, engineering and technology.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>GOVERNMENTS WHO TELL AND DON’T TALK ARE DANGEROUS</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In any form of totalitarian rule (like socialism or absolute monarchy) that entails a “scientifically” regimented rule by a self-appointed “elite”, and administration is performed by non-elected civil servants who are neither civil nor servants - the people effectively become slaves. Get told what to do. Institutions like family and local community are overthrown and eradicated by centralized, unbridled power.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The toll on citizens can be huge – to take one indicator: rates of euthanasia, assisted and unassisted suicide may all be on the rise around the world. And the numbers tend to increase in times of undue trauma and economic hardship. For every suicide there are many more attempted suicides, and for every attempted suicide there are many more contemplating whether to act or not. It runs deep and sore. (Chapman, A. 2020)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And what we are being encouraged to accept is an artificially imposed ‘new normal’ which is not new (Oligarchies continue to happen time and time again) and is certainly not normal (when evaluated against freedom, morality, power abuse and power imbalances, loss of competence at deep listening and communication, how we organise, democracy, well-being, dominance of pseudo-science, conflicts, thrust of education, our physical norms, what we may own, what we may or may not spend, what we must think and believe, falsehoods, rich-poor gaps, narcissism, inequalities, exploitation of societies and the environment by irresponsible capitalism, decline of neighbourliness and compassion and our disconnections from others, nature and spirituality, the negative ongoing impact of lockdowns and related regulations and controls, forced compliance with 'orders' from the 'elite' reinforced by digital vaccine passports and the like …) and this ‘new normal’ is set to get worse. Far worse. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Make no mistake. We are in mortal danger. It's like the (twisted values) game of Monopoly where the rich and 'elite' are amassing all the wealth, powers and control, and are bent on eliminating any competition. We might go around the board another few times but the end is in sight.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We opened this newsletter with a quote that mentions "<em>Creatures with power acting in their own interest</em>". And so for example the World Health Organisation (funded by Bill Gates) is slowly but surely amending the 2005 International Health regulations to eliminate individual freedoms and push their idea of the '<em>collective interest</em>'. Humanity may be described (as is said to be the American death row tradition) as a "<em>dead man walking</em>".</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">A MORAL COMPASS IS NEEDED</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">C.S. Lewis was in his time the most popular U.K. radio host ever. He believed that the fundamental, foundational nature of what it means to be human - a universally embedded objective moral value - is an inheritance the human family cannot afford to lose. Call it <em>Tao</em> (The Way). It is needed to counter evil, tyranny, and slavery in their many guises.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Tao is widely accepted as a true way for humanity. (Truth is a deep remembrance of the nature of things and what is important). (Moore, T. 2002)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Perspective is needed:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>A traveller watches an old man struggling to draw water from a well in order to irrigate his garden.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>He suggests to him a vastly more effective, modern, mechanistic solution. One that would produce water far in excess of what the gardener needs.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>The old man is angry as he replies, “Those who use cunning implements are cunning in their dealings with others, and those who are cunning in their dealings with others lack purity of heart, and those who have cunning in their hearts have restless spirits. I know about solutions such as you propose, but I am ashamed to use them”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">- Chuang-Tzu the 4th Century BC Chinese sage. (Williams, G. 2016)</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJbuO9VJt3_rvejfaq0Nvrydh7woXHO00w3xQPGn6rIG-nyd_yhrPpVP2ONQf4cXbprJ9XtLDA0KYfS4k2RY1B7LO0dihwflZe8g0-e0QYNHsl0yE4c-c5arY3i9Be_DajzHVFYa_k_jbpx2ygnU3da4OT9Nyfq2d6bvomV0e49uAYRTBUKxUN63eC/s363/story3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="363" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJbuO9VJt3_rvejfaq0Nvrydh7woXHO00w3xQPGn6rIG-nyd_yhrPpVP2ONQf4cXbprJ9XtLDA0KYfS4k2RY1B7LO0dihwflZe8g0-e0QYNHsl0yE4c-c5arY3i9Be_DajzHVFYa_k_jbpx2ygnU3da4OT9Nyfq2d6bvomV0e49uAYRTBUKxUN63eC/w320-h296/story3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Yullyeo is an ancient Asian concept of the rhythm, cycles, pattern of the universe, “<em>similar to the idea of the Tao, that can help people to understand their place in the universe</em>”. (Lee, I. 2018). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">AND</span> <span style="color: blue;">CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A raising of consciousness is much needed, in order to birth a new narrative for humanity.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">One that takes an opposite direction to the expectations of the likes of Yuval Noah Harari, and the New World Order and the so-called ‘elite’. Take Dr Gabor Maté’s advice and counter some of Yval Harari’s thinking by reading <em>The Dawn of Everything.</em> (Graeber, D. & Wengrow, D. 2021)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Raising our consciousness is an absolute choice for every individual to make:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Taking a simple view that ‘self’ is the core of our being, I think we can take one of two routes:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The low road. Maintain the basic animalistic and egoic self, which determines that our values and choices, conditioned by society, become self-serving and narrow by nature</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The high road. In order to becoming fully human, to be able to bask in beauty, solitude, community, love… requires putting on a more beautiful mind of non-duality and higher character (<em>metanoia</em>), learning to love sacrificially and becoming self-emptying (<em>kenosis</em>) and being completed and being in a new, enlightening, energising point of contact with one’s Creator (<em>pleroma</em>) (Bourgeault, C. 2010) For me personally this lines up with mention of belonging to "<em>The Way</em>" throughout Acts in the New Testament. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Let’s choose and take the high road, and usher in new hope for a better future.</p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSq9D7b84ViXqF6T8L8y8bkhZ18-pS0QB2WJvWfZQR9OD1S0o9mujfDMND3GvQ_OfiiLl041jlxbxn0TjNXnJRDRaFiR8b7Ohg7dQExAG5ryY7q35up4RQ3SOJytOkiNm0jKnM9LHJFVZjBTvWd_XVmH-U-W3IRY7siSauR2Zt6ZLsYFERPXWVmDY/s602/story4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="602" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSq9D7b84ViXqF6T8L8y8bkhZ18-pS0QB2WJvWfZQR9OD1S0o9mujfDMND3GvQ_OfiiLl041jlxbxn0TjNXnJRDRaFiR8b7Ohg7dQExAG5ryY7q35up4RQ3SOJytOkiNm0jKnM9LHJFVZjBTvWd_XVmH-U-W3IRY7siSauR2Zt6ZLsYFERPXWVmDY/w320-h180/story4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(Click on image to see larger version)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A move from a telling to a talking governing approach, and towards community.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A move towards recognizing the individual and collective trauma that abounds, and promoting the bringing of light and light - triad character traits that underline Tao/ objective moral value (finding the way, the truth and the life) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A closing of the gap between ‘left brain’ scientific/ engineering/ technological analysis and decision-making; and ‘right brain’ poetic, human and big-picture thinking. And embracing community and family (in the widest possible sense) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Ponder for yourself the moral foundation of "<em>sanctity</em>" depicted in the opening illustration. What does it mean to you? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>QUOTATIONS</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">SPEAK TRUTH TO PREVENT A 'POST-TRUTH' CULTURE</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">"...telling the truth is the first necessary step toward facing well the numerous crises of our day, from a global pandemic </span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">to climate change. Truth-telling is an act of faithful resistance and practical hope"- Mary Emily Briehl Duba, Wendt Center for Character Education 2022</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">DO TO OTHERS...</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” - Martin Luther King, Jr.</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">BE HEART-LED</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart” - Helen Keller, the first deaf and blind person to write her biography The Story of my Life, at the age of 22</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">FOCUS ON THE LIGHT</span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” - Aristotle</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">NEWS </span></b></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"></p><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-size: 13px;">NEW BOOKS33 LEARNING PROGRAMMES</span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Books33, who this year published Story Bridging: create the connections and possibilities that build bridges, are in the business of education. Early on in 2023 a number of on-line distance-learning, self-directed courses for business leaders and progressively - minded staff members will be launched:</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">• Business Story telling certificate course</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">• Story Circle Work certificate course</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">• Story Bridging Foundation course</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">• Story Bridging course for Professionals</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">• Advanced Feedback & Measurement certificate course</div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Certificate courses are 10-hours long, Foundation courses 5 hours, Professional courses 20 hours, all paced at the learner’s discretion. Free introductory courses (60 to 90 minutes) will be available for each of the above topics.</div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">At the end of 2019 I was requested by the editor and story guru David Boje to write a chapter for the Encyclopaedia of Business Storytelling to be published by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd. I invited Steve Banhegyi and Terrence Gargiulo to co-write this chapter which is now due to be published in the first quarter 2023. (The chapter has been greatly expanded and evolved into the Story Bridging book which is available at the give-away price of US$4 - in order to spread the story bridging message for our times during this turbulent, dangerous period. Global Kindle version: https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx </div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">STORY BRIDGING CONFERENCE</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Artem Mushin-Makedonskiy, Russian Story Gatherer and Board member, Storytelling In Organizations Group of the National Storytelling Network, who so successfully hosted the popular Storify Your Leadership and Storify Your Culture webinars, is keen to conduct a third conference sometime in May 2023. He envisages “a conference where people could come to discover story techniques and narrative mindsets that can help build bridges instead of walls - inside their communities and teams, companies, countries, between people and groups and even inside themselves”. Naturally this pleases me no end!</div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">WORLD STORYTELLING INSTITUTE</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">In association with the World Storytelling Institute, the Indian Institute of Psychodrama is offering a Diploma Course in "Psychodrama" commencing March 2023.</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Course info is at</div></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">https://centerforcounselling.org/advanced-post-graduate-diploma-in-psychodrama-in-chennai </div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!</div></span><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><br style="font-size: 13px;" /><strong style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">REFERENCES</strong><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Bourgeault, Cynthia (2010) <em>The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: discovering the woman at the heart of Christianity</em> Shambhala Boulder</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Chapman, Alan (2020) <em>Suicide</em> <a href="https://www.businessballs.com/blog/suicide-prevention/" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.businessballs.com/blog/suicide-prevention/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Graeber, David & Wengrow, David (2023) T<em>he Dawn of Everything: a new history of humanity</em> Picador</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Lee, Ilchee (2018) <em>10 Simple Ways to feel the Rhythm of the Universe</em> Patheos</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/ilchilee/2018/04/24/10-simple-ways-to-feel-the-rhythm-of-the-universe" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/ilchilee/2018/04/24/10-simple-ways-to-feel-the-rhythm-of-the-universe</a>/</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Moore, Thomas (2002) <em>The Soul’s Religion: cultivating a profoundly spiritual way of life</em> Bantam Books</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Wedgeworth, Steven (2013) <em>From the Politics of N.I.C.E.</em> Calvinist International 24 February, 2013 <a href="https://calvinistinternational.com/2013/02/24/the-politics-of-n-i-c-e/" style="color: #751f04;">https://calvinistinternational.com/2013/02/24/the-politics-of-n-i-c-e/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham (2016) <em>Ancient wisdom for Modern Workplaces</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>IMAGE</strong></span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_illustration_of_Moral_foundations_Theory_created_by_Aprilia_Muktirina.jpg" style="color: #751f04;">File_An_illustration_of_Moral_foundations_Theory_created_by_Aprilia_Muktirina.jpg</a> Wikimedia Commons</div></div></div></div><p><br /></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-6407346487259545452022-11-14T06:48:00.001-08:002022-11-14T06:49:45.083-08:00The “Post Covid” situation – New findings<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOwxzPWS6waopV1hrBaX3F6VB3e9_sydDt6zp3I3cDMVDTycctJkbKvUJ5ct7vSDnhbQRmGr2Hf4Mdg6wpYdH02vjsUj8z9P6G3DzY1WwMG61Kn0AjERZuniRdpqyOpGT6EaF75zkhVSJg2DGiwFtta3Lh6HKa9IIO5MU8Sh1tr-x3dFvF3OTZwA_/s602/Dysfunctional.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="602" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOwxzPWS6waopV1hrBaX3F6VB3e9_sydDt6zp3I3cDMVDTycctJkbKvUJ5ct7vSDnhbQRmGr2Hf4Mdg6wpYdH02vjsUj8z9P6G3DzY1WwMG61Kn0AjERZuniRdpqyOpGT6EaF75zkhVSJg2DGiwFtta3Lh6HKa9IIO5MU8Sh1tr-x3dFvF3OTZwA_/w400-h225/Dysfunctional.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Unless someone like you cares an awful lot;
nothing is going to get better. It’s not” – </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">Dr
Seuss (The Lorax)</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Background<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We recently posted an article highlighting the
wellness, mental and physical health and well-being problems being experienced
as a result of employee’s covid experiences. (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you have yet to read </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Curing Malady at Work</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, where we talk about this and also about lost
connections and lost values, go to: </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/10/curing-malady-at-work.html"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/10/curing-malady-at-work.html</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As Gabor Maté proves, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">there is nothing
'normal' about the way we are living and the remarkably high </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">level of stress
and toxicity that we face every day. (</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mat</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">é, g. 2022)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are a growing number of research papers
and articles emanating from a number of countries, about the inefficacy of and
the adverse effects of covid </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">vaccinations. </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That is </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">not</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> what this
article is about. Instead, in this article we outline the impact on the health
and wellness of people emanating from their </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">covid experience</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> as we move
into what is being heralded by some as a post-covid period. (This period may
turn out to be simply the lull before the next inevitable medical, financial,
technological or social pandemic - which will again traumatise millions). Documentation
of what people are experiencing is still sparse but deserves our full
consideration.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What we can now say with certainty is that people
have suffered and continue to suffer. There </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">have</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> been many impacts,
potentially serious and lasting in terms of our health and wellness at every
level: physical, intellectual emotional, social and spiritual. These traumatic
impacts have been both collective and individual.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">New Findings of Note</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Scientists in Europe and the USA compared
levels of the five-factor model of personality traits before and after the
coronavirus pandemic, finding that personality itself has been affected by the
trauma of covid (with some differences across age groups):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Extraversion</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
(characterised by outgoing sociability, high energy) declined (moved towards
introversion)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Openness </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(characterised
by curiousness, insight, imaginativeness) declined <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Agreeableness </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Prosocial, kind, giving, helpful, accepting)
decreased<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Conscientiousness </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(goal-directed, focused) suffered<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Neuroticism</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
(self-blaming, tendency to focus on negative emotions) increased<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Bello, C. 2022)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On a ‘whole person’ basis, other research
conducted, and our own experiences and observations have been in line with the findings
that follow. (See References below).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Interlinked, negative impacts (mainly
long-lasting and not short-lived) that are being revealed: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Physical </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Insomnia, digestive problems, listlessness,
curtailed movement and lack of exercise, unexpected sudden ailments of many
sorts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Intellectual</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Boredom, brain fog, memory loss - ‘pandemic
amnesia’, not feeling in control <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Exacerbated for some by longer work hours) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Emotional/ Psychological</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Anxiety, high stress, panic, depression,
loneliness, grieving for those who’ve died <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Parents worry about their school-going kids:
schooling time lost, lowered concentration, new fears and vulnerabilities,
teacher’s inability to handle acting out, giving up, low morale <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Often triggered by change, uncertainty and
financial stress). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Social</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Social isolation is abnormal for humans and can
become a self-imposed habit. Many relationships have suffered. A ‘me-first’ attitude
has become more prevalent. There is less compassion for the other. ‘Red flag
words’ spark conflict. There is a new sense of being vulnerable to harm from
others (Young and older experience this). And sometimes a phenomenon of pseudo
self-sufficiency. (‘It’s everyone for themselves’)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Attachment-style (attachment-inheritance may
be a better word) plays a big role. Where attachment style is one of relational
insecurity, the dynamic between needing to have your own space and being able
to enjoy being very close to another or others creates problematical behaviours.
These may result in major conflict within relationships) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spiritual</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fear and being wary of others, feeling
vulnerable to others and the unknown future. Community and togetherness is
impacted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Attending funerals where there is forced distancing
between mourners, or not being able to be with loved ones when they are dying have
scarred people. They ask, ‘Why is this being allowed to happen to me?!’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some also exclaim: ‘The world should for us
all be charged with the grandeur of God. Humans should be blessed by the
spiritual realities of beauty, love, harmony, contentment. Not weighed down by
abuse, totalitarian behaviour by those in charge, not subject to narcissism and
a materialistic culture. Why is this happening?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">W</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">hat has been imposed, and/or allowed with
inadequate response, can be described as despicable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The impacts outlined above have the potential
to render people, institutions and organisations dysfunctional if no adequate remedy
is forthcoming. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In addition, in a hybrid (at-home and on-site)
operating circumstance, where there is already potential for a single
organisation culture to come under threat, these ongoing covid impacts may
certainly exacerbate culture damage.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We advocate as a first step that leaders of
organisations and institutions learn about their specific situation by
conducting a quick, illuminating survey in order to find answers and take
action. Contact </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/contact-us/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://culturescan.biz/contact-us/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(If you wish to do a sample survey (which is
not as refined as the one that would be done for your organisation but will
give you an idea of possible survey content, go to: </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/wellness-assessment/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://culturescan.biz/wellness-assessment/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">)</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #00202f; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bello, Camille (2022) <i>Scientists believe COVID may have
altered our personalities, especially young adults </i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Euronews November, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/11/11/scientists-believe-covid-may-have-altered-our-personalities-especially-young-adults"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/11/11/scientists-believe-covid-may-have-altered-our-personalities-especially-young-adults</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></h1><h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Chirichella,
Caroline (2022) <i>How and Why the Coronavirus Pandemic Might Be Messing with
Your Memory</i> Shape</span></h1><h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/mental-health/pandemic-memory-loss" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/mental-health/pandemic-memory-loss</span></a></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Lebow, Hilary I
(2021) and Juby, Bethany, PsyD medically reviewed. <i>How the Pandemic Affected
Our relationships</i> PsychCentral <a href="https://psychcentral.com/health/the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-relationships#Pandemic-and-relationships:-The-big-picture"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://psychcentral.com/health/the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-relationships#Pandemic-and-relationships:-The-big-picture</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mat</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, Gabor MD, with Mat</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, Daniel (2022) <i>The Myth of Normal: trauma, illness and
healing in a toxic culture</i> Avery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); color: #282828; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nardone, G,
and Portelli, C. (2005) <i>Knowing through changing: The evolution of
brief strategic therapy</i>. United Kingdom: Crown House.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h1 style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Pietrabissa,
Giada & Simpson, Susan G. (2020) </span><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #282828; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Psychological Consequences of Social Isolation During
COVID-19 Outbreak</span></i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #282828; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">09 September 2020 Frontiers in Psychology </span></span><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02201/full"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02201/full</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h1><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); color: #282828; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rogers, J. P,
Chesney, E., Oliver, D., Pollak, T. A., McGuire, P, Fusar-Poli, P, et al.
(2020. <i>Psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations associated with severe
coronavirus infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis with comparison
to the COVID-19 pandemic </i>Lancet Psychiatry 7, 611–627. doi:
10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30203-0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></div></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-57635685008004858282022-11-04T04:51:00.009-07:002022-12-10T22:37:05.593-08:00FIVE CONVERSATIONS<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can we together nurture humanity back to a better ‘new normal’?
These explorations or conversations are aimed at mobilising a meaningful,
perhaps counter-intuitive response to the malaise that cloaks society as
economic, environmental, technological, societal and geo-political woes beset
the World. The pace and pervasive nature of change is overwhelming to many, who
find themselves individually and collectively traumatised, leaderless, feel
betrayed, lied to, and on the cusp of losing not only rights and freedoms, but maybe
even their very humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Winston "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #102d51; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual;"><i>Churchill believed that modern scientific advancements, while productive of many good things, could also potentially lead to the loss of freedom. He sought to counter this possibility by speaking out against socialism and by recruiting citizens to the cause of a free society. He also championed constitutionalism and social reform as means of increasing social stability and protecting free markets and property rights</i>". Prof Larry P. Arnn, Hillsdale College</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>So, this is </span><i>not</i><span> a call nor an attempt to
activate protest and solve problems. </span><span> </span><span>Simply a sharing of thoughts and feelings.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8WIPeHZEevinOKn_fX7uIx1SkyTqR7bJ7_YeAc0iCpVVwdBsiCamfsZ6fdjH44yx9q_zDmEbpCErpB7aM0cQLzVvpM-JN5mIMfwKMjUpx3CuH__RSjfj1xyR1QVbByQapY01B5nf5MLy5UtySgNHgylT6rpXbD52-FfYJTLaCYVfIa2PKljnfE7M/s506/Panel%20Explorations.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="506" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8WIPeHZEevinOKn_fX7uIx1SkyTqR7bJ7_YeAc0iCpVVwdBsiCamfsZ6fdjH44yx9q_zDmEbpCErpB7aM0cQLzVvpM-JN5mIMfwKMjUpx3CuH__RSjfj1xyR1QVbByQapY01B5nf5MLy5UtySgNHgylT6rpXbD52-FfYJTLaCYVfIa2PKljnfE7M/w400-h210/Panel%20Explorations.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">SPREADING
LIGHT</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">: We are disconnected, dissociated in
an abnormal, doomsday World. What is happening out there? What can we help to
make something better happen?</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">INVOKING HEART</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: Acting from the heart to bridge walls
between and within. How do we contribute to move humankind from being
hate-based to heart-based, both human and kind?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">SHARED MIND:
</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Discovering the power of a larger,
more beautiful, interconnected mind. Can we get closer to understanding the
power and potential of our shared, collective mind?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">TALKING
CURES: </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Revelling in new talking cures. Can
philosophies and methodologies like dialogue, circle work and story-bridging be
the spaces in which a transformative difference can come about?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">LIVING WILD
AND FREE</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: Is a new reality, one that we can
imagine, waiting to emerge? How do we improve our ability to belong more deeply
to the interconnected web of life, to forge decent and supportive community, to
mature and integrate self, to hone-in on the values and virtues needed to
undergird a sustainable society, and to bravely bring about a better ‘new
normal’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The 5 conversations that follow are intended to be 'conversation starters' for anyone, or any group wishing to have dialogue on situations and topics relevant to the state of society - what it is today, where it is headed, where it might land, and what we can do in playing a part in its future yet to emerge.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">shedding
light<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/spreading-light-conversation-1-of-5_4.html">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/spreading-light-conversation-1-of-5_4.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">invoking
heart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/invoking-heart-conversation-2-of-5.html">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/invoking-heart-conversation-2-of-5.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">sharing
mind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/shared-mind-conversation-3-of-5.html">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/shared-mind-conversation-3-of-5.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">talking
cures<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/talking-cures-conversation-4-of-5.html">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/talking-cures-conversation-4-of-5.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">living
free<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/living-wild-and-free-conversation-5-of-5.html">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/11/living-wild-and-free-conversation-5-of-5.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-91955433630739879222022-11-04T04:23:00.005-07:002022-11-10T06:16:53.857-08:00Spreading Light – conversation 1 of 5<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reading
time about 9 minutes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBmvr4kIvm9O-Jb1gtKSkveRaFDO38SWAdbz6ELdeVka5IBby689ac3abKV7em1sqZFdb_nBtmMa6XqbsOGYr6sb1_dUKvR1efewxf1Nlaa3Rz75pCewRsnlZ2gzwt93qNtkV_8GPfikdt1V5OmQixAgaEprsweI-EYcgFUuXnPmUGakI0FIzc3BS/s250/meditation%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="250" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBmvr4kIvm9O-Jb1gtKSkveRaFDO38SWAdbz6ELdeVka5IBby689ac3abKV7em1sqZFdb_nBtmMa6XqbsOGYr6sb1_dUKvR1efewxf1Nlaa3Rz75pCewRsnlZ2gzwt93qNtkV_8GPfikdt1V5OmQixAgaEprsweI-EYcgFUuXnPmUGakI0FIzc3BS/w400-h397/meditation%207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Using the royal we, we are not arrogant enough to put to much store by our own importance,
nor believe that we have any right or ability to nurture humankind! We are the
ones needing the nurturing.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-align: center;">We take comfort in Socrates words: “</span><i style="text-align: center;">The only true wisdom is in
knowing you know nothing</i><span style="text-align: center;">”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-align: center;">We can however share aspirations, findings, experiences, yearnings and
connect with others also searching for a better way forward than we now enjoy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a name="_Hlk117574841" style="text-align: center;">We live in a society where ‘normal’ suddenly
evaporated. We have become more prone to individual and collective trauma,
loneliness, and yearnings for closeness, being held, touched (a two-way healing
aspect of living, seriously harmed by social distancing). We’ve come to realise
that we don’t like what was heralded by too many as ‘the new normal’ and know
in our hearts that it is not normal. So with that in mind we listen to this
Alan Chapman song. Is this not the essence of the nurturing, the healing that
we all crave at some level?</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><i>Being Held</i> <i>(I sure do miss
being held by a woman)</i> - Alan Chapman - 10/4/22-23/9/22 <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>I sure do miss being held by a woman <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>That warm embrace like I'm a child like
I'm a new man <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>'Cos what's the point if I can't live
without you <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>And you don't want me how I am to be my
true self <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Should I deprive me of my soul <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Or should I find my space to be <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Fulfilled in other ways that is <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Unless until let go another place <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>I sure do miss believing I'm a human
being <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>More like the kiss of peeling skin is how
I'm feeling <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Is it natural bodhisattva to be lonely <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>And can we actu'lly be somebody alone <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Should I deprive me of my soul <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Or should I find my space to be <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Fulfilled in other ways that is <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Unless until let go another place <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i>Maybe it's because my Mum died a few days
ago and I never held her as she died. Maybe my Mum never held me enough, so I
didn't hold her enough and I couldn't hold her enough. Maybe it's because my
Mum was from the London slums and a drunk for a dad. Maybe it's because he used
to rage at my Nan, and my Mum, and her sisters when they were kids. Nana died
in a big mistake, though she was a rock from the slums, sepsis at 52. Routinely
beaten and abused by a drunken men. It's a cascade. Trauma torments and broken
dreams, never meant it, and holding was the cost we gotta pay. We gotta keep
paying the cost of the debts of the traumas and addictions to the very few that
have everything they think they're needing, to keep it in their families while
we're bleeding from our hearts. And our babies torn apart, and no wonder that
we all crave a holding....</i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://alanchapman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/BeingHeld2oct2022.mp3"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif">https://alanchapman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/BeingHeld2oct2022.mp3</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">The song reminded me of one of my favourite
verses, an encouragement for all, and which may be paraphrased as<span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif">:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i>“So do not fear. I am with you and will comfort,
support, strengthen and help you. I will hold you and uphold you with my
unlimited power and love”. </i>(Isaiah
41:10)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Trauma, depression, fear, despair and ‘holding up our mirror’ and seeing
whast it reflects, may lead to us facing our inner demons, and to post-traumatic
growth, to a more attractive ‘imperfection’, to unheard-of creativity…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">British public servant and
writer Humphrey Trevelyan was of the view that the best artists need to
experience </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">despair, <i>“… must be shaken by the
naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this
disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy”.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I believe that we need also to know and feel what
we face before we can respond adequately with hope, and appropriate
possibilism. Blind optimism and positive thinking simply won’t cut it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today I listened to Dr Gabor Mate being
interviewed by Thomas Hübl.</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Maté, G. 2022). Wonderfully incisive, he questions the very
nature, purpose and conducting of civilization as it is today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We talk glibly about ‘the new normal’. Maté
immediately points out that normal does <i>not</i> equate to healthy and
natural. If everyone mistreated the dog would that practice become ‘normal’?
Many ‘normal’ people reach the top in our society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, the acceptance of racism, of
totalitarianism, patriarchy is not normal and should be resisted. The same
applies to our approaches to economy, society, environment, today’s structures,
divisions, hierarchies, behaviours, left-brain dominance, some of the values we
have adopted, many of the new ideas being foist upon us, the presence of unnecessary
stresses, the uneven spread of power. As well as our lack of connection, lack
of loving acceptance, lack of expression and participation in laws promulgated
and how countries are run, and lack of meaning and purpose for many.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Recent evolution and ‘progress’ has moved the
huge majority of humanity away from nature and our true nature, so we now live
in a world foreign to us. We have trauma and unmet needs due to this
ab-normalisation, symptoms being the likes of alienation, depression.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What follows are thoughts from </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Story
Bridging</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (mainly Chapter 2: Walls) that are intended to outline the
challenges (and opportunities) that we face at this time. A case of knowing the
battleground and of knowing your ‘enemies’. To recover our care, compassion, gratitude, wonder,
creativity and a degenerating culture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Deep systemic issues are raised in this first discussion.
By sharing our feelings, experiences, insights, through our stories we
contribute to the emergence of a collective of kindred spirits, and to a raising
of collective consciousness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The beautiful lotus plant rises out of murky
depths.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why the rise of darkness and hate?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An explanation of how Western civilization is
fractured, wounded, traumatized, and in severe psychic and existential pain,
has been offered by psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas. This psychic pain manifests in disconnection
from meaning, purpose, values, nature, relationships. In his comprehensive
analysis of the factors that have led to the prevalence of a paranoid, combative,
separation and division mindsets in society, often accompanied by indifference,
poses one of the key questions of our time: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Freud wrote that the opposite of love was not
hate, but indifference. But if socially conscious selves of all classes have become
indifferent to flagrant violations of economic and human rights – thus
empowering a significant portion of the world’s population to descend into an
underworld of greed, corruption and hate - is this lassitude in fact licensed by a form
of hate?”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (Bollas, C. 2018)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Can we be so harassed and manipulated that we
become listless? Can we become too defeated to care? Using the Bollas in-depth
analysis as a start-point, we have developed a macro view (in broad, cryptic
terms) to illustrate the trends (main narrative strands), their behavioural
consequences, and what needs to be regained or recovered by the collective.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Underlying Forces and Factors</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The underlying Forces and Factors that have
been driving Western culture at an accelerating pace over the past few
centuries, are:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">● Industrialisation, consumerism, and a
continuous - growth paradigm</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Institutionalism <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Extensive travel, and easy movement of
people, goods, and ideas. Globalisation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Societal and market norms driven by power
holders and power wielders (banks, wealthy elite, politicians, military might,
technology and media owners, educationalists, and religious leaders) and a
paradigm of ‘scientific rationality’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Unrestrained spread of irresponsible
capitalism – poorly regulated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Faith is increasingly placed in the
rational, scientific, the military and the technological - for the
determination of direction and values. Institutionalism results. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">20 years
ago, Peter Senge pointed out the dangers of a “shifting the burden” dynamic
becoming imbedded in our culture. He explains that this is similar to relieving
(solving) a headache (symptom) with an aspirin (technology/ scientific
solution) - instead of addressing the fundamental cause (over-commitment/ worry/
stress). We have allowed a shifting of the burden to science and technology.
Instead of addressing human development we have increased our reliance on
technology for solutions to symptomatic problems, all the while reducing our
human qualities and capacities. A trap. (Senge, P. et al. 2004) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● A backlash against perceived/ real absence
of justice and fairness, or threats to “narrow self- interest” (threats of globalisation,
military might, being disenfranchised – may come from a number of sources, for
example marginalised gender and race groups, those with low and declining economic
status, indigenous peoples …) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Arising consequences and mind-sets</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These forces and factors result in the
following consequences and mindsets (conscious and unconscious) and become the
prevalent cultural and behavioural norms:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Focus on acquisition, extrinsic values –
with esteem & status dependent on material ‘success’ – the self is
increasingly defined (certainly informed) by others. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">(The ancient Hebrew for pride – that goes
before a fall – is </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">gāôn</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">, a haughty, arrogant, ‘swelling excellence’)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Accent is on productivity, competition and
wealth. And dominance. A small ‘Elite’ holds the wealth, media, technology
thrust, power. Exploitation and degradation of the environment, society and
long-term economic health is inevitable. Centralised banks ‘box’ the
capabilities of and control the non-elite.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Projection of our ‘shadow’ side onto others
is habitual. Falsehoods and naming and blaming cause wide separation and
polarisation. Fragmentation of collective conscience is wide and deep. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Psychiatrist
M. Scott Peck relays the My Lai incident in South Vietnam in 1968, where
members of the United States Army killed 500 to 600 unarmed villagers. Years
later, he was appointed by the Army Surgeon General as chairman of a committee
given the task of making recommendations about undertaking psychological
research–to understand and help prevent such incidents in future. The
committee’s recommendations were rejected for fear of embarrassing the status
quo. The organisation, the US Army, protected itself. Scott Peck explains
lucidly that group pathology was at play even though each killing was an
individual act. He points out that different levels, as well as different
departments within a hierarchy, can experience a ‘fragmentation of conscience’,
especially under conditions of stress). (Scott Peck, M. 1988) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Hate-led solutions to conflict and
difference are sought – often a function of intense and continually reinforced
identification with one’s own views, a growing fear of and contempt for
opposing views (within a general climate of antagonism, angry rhetoric and
declining relating-competencies). A super-hero complex/ mentality may emerge at
individual, organisation and nation-state levels. It also seems that hurt turns
to despair and/or anger and hatred as over time the disenfranchised remain
unheard and powerless, and their cause may move from a drive for recognition - to
restoration - to retribution - to revenge – to a desire to become dominant – a
backlash. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Greed, corruption and exploitation by major
economic players (banks, big oil, finance, pharma, chemicals, pesticides, soft
drinks, fashion, arms, tech …) is rampant (notwithstanding the
commercialization of principles, purpose, virtues…) The political, social and
economic landscape is characterized by the distorting primacy of 4IR (the
fourth industrial revolution), the immediacy of communications (‘world in my
living room’), digital and technological manipulations. Corporate focus is
largely on techno-savvy, agility, survival and profit maximisation (often
unstated as an aim). All these factors hasten a distinct trend to
dehumanisation. (Exacerbated by deprivation, hunger and thirst, famine,
disease, conflict) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Major and potentially lasting shifts in our
moral, perceiving and connecting capacities become evident. Relating is
shallow, thinking is muddled, powers of concentration in decline, the nature of
our existential ‘being’ is confused. Connection with the ‘divine’ or anything
higher than or outside of self, is weakened or severed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Areas where new minds are called for</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This places the onus on ‘enlightened’ thinkers
to encourage properly - considered collective choices in the following areas:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Recovery of social conscience and social
justice employing citizen-participation and morally - steered systemic-knowing
approaches (Rajagopalan, R. (2020) in communities, and NOT more and more
knee-jerk legislation to increase government and power-elites control-based on
solutions that are not holistic and that serve political self-interest <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Re imagined purpose, meaning, and
actualisation (bottom up) with acceptance of different forms of leadership (but
characterised by being in tune, compassionate and courageous)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Regeneration and stewardship of planet,
society, economic principles. Cooperative and ongoing balancing of local and
global trading and support interactions according to higher values <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Valuing of civility, honour, respect,
freedom of personal choice, collaboration, and compassion. Simultaneous halting
of moral decline. And healing of collective psychic traumas, numbness, denial,
avoidance See: </span><a href="https://www.businessballs.com/blog/compassion-graham-williams/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.businessballs.com/blog/compassion-graham-williams/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Resurgence of ‘spirituality’, the arts,
cultural pursuits (shifting from a technological paradigm to a nature paradigm),
being compassionate<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Education of the populace in reasoned
thinking, existential reflection, listening, self-disclosure, non-dualistic
thinking, sound dialogue. (This will hasten the regaining of lost citizen-
participation and their weightier influence in a practical democracy). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">● Reintroduction of close, warm, meaningful
relating and communicating, being prosocial and empathic, and upholding the
primacy of higher human virtues. Community. Reversal of simplistic projection
of ‘evil’ onto others, teaching win-win and giving/ sharing mentalities.
Promoting the spread of true information and reasonable opinion. Appropriate
appreciation and harnessing of the richness of diversity within a shared
belonging framework (A counter to what William James described: “<i>No more
fiendish punishment could be devised, were such a thing physically possible,
than that one should be turned loose in society and remain absolutely unnoticed
by all the members thereof</i>”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We cannot allow the trends elucidated above
and captured graphically here, and which have caused our current sickness as a
society, to continue by our commission or omission. Trends harming humanity:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa6bdMTPAcN3_xf88ocCU9z81XEpP0Vp15m25Dg3nEVvWOmuF7Y92F6x3MhpkwUyysEIiazTnmt2d3bhb5Yyj-bjXUs1tsu0O04qzMzVCbSjLou3Svb0DdkjpyIPyICcaLQ1wyDF7cKeRV4icFNeiUdshUr8nOPZYYaaIuVite_MKCOxsv7bCaVxQ/s698/panelTrends.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="698" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa6bdMTPAcN3_xf88ocCU9z81XEpP0Vp15m25Dg3nEVvWOmuF7Y92F6x3MhpkwUyysEIiazTnmt2d3bhb5Yyj-bjXUs1tsu0O04qzMzVCbSjLou3Svb0DdkjpyIPyICcaLQ1wyDF7cKeRV4icFNeiUdshUr8nOPZYYaaIuVite_MKCOxsv7bCaVxQ/w640-h360/panelTrends.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>click to enlarge<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One consequence of these trends is a
culmination in grand colonialism. In South Africa the colonialism </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">of apartheid
pales against the new colonialism – the current ANC greed and power lust, the
total domination and control of the political, economic and human rights arenas
through laws, discrimination and menticide. Which in turn pales against the
global - ‘elitist’ determination to colonise the World!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Overcoming hate and separation, reclaiming
human<i>kind-ness</i></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bolstering these disquieting societal trends
is a growing trend of narcissistic behaviours and conversations, and a culture
of misinformation, deception and lies which confront would-be story bridging
endeavours. The decline in empathy and compassion must be reversed if we are to
make progress. Ken Wilber has joined the
tirade, <i>“if we are going to come anywhere close to ending the disasters of
. . . a society defined by its culture wars . . . a society of ethnocentric
enthusiasms claiming ultimate value, a culture wracked by indecision anchored
in post-truth confusion, a society where fully half of its members hate the
other half—then we are going to have to move from a culture of no-truth to a .
. . deliberately developmental culture”. </i>(Wilber, K. 2017)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dark Triad personalities tend to tell ‘Wall’
stories, and Light Triad personalities focus on ‘Bridge’ stories. The British
Psychological Society recently published a report, pretty much summed up in the
following diagram (Jarrett, C. 2019):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl9hb8cb8rJqp4P2ZPPdMwG9VfeW0B3UGq6EcWBb_g0DazkBEeOEPlpxqG8WQeOokL7aXTZmxgv1xhegE3Ok_yHIDJX4n7R1VY8sP_20-2Y8LIoiB8uas8GrhovOlqhQDfidbUTrDzhZvZ_TwmMxWuViGDOjFEHvad-feLeQ4Xswt5JAbsET4ETub/s589/panelNarcissism.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="589" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl9hb8cb8rJqp4P2ZPPdMwG9VfeW0B3UGq6EcWBb_g0DazkBEeOEPlpxqG8WQeOokL7aXTZmxgv1xhegE3Ok_yHIDJX4n7R1VY8sP_20-2Y8LIoiB8uas8GrhovOlqhQDfidbUTrDzhZvZ_TwmMxWuViGDOjFEHvad-feLeQ4Xswt5JAbsET4ETub/w400-h308/panelNarcissism.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">click to enlarge</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jungian analyst and storyteller Clarissa
Pinkola Estes says that <i>"Overcoming narcissism is a psychological and
spiritual imperative for our times"</i>. (Estes, C.P. 2019) and narcissism
is often found alongside psychopathy and Machiavellianism, forming a ‘Dark
Triad’. According to this early research, the dark side triad is more populated
by men, mainly younger, extrinsically - driven participants. The light side is
more populated by women, older participants, those with a stable upbringing and
having a spiritual bent (intrinsically - motivated). Inherent in the light
triad are outward, growth mind-sets. (Jarrett, C. 2019) These are the voices
that need to be heard. This is the potential source of ‘bridge’ stories.
Importantly – we all carry wall and bridge stories within. Yet we see more and
more people being caught up in the ‘me first, look after number one, me only’
mind-set. This disconcerting trend causes lasting damage, lowers the integrity
and collaboration of those who are influenced. (O’Reilly, C. et al 2019) It is
the antithesis of accepting and serving others, forging bonds, and being
compassionate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe urgency is inviting us to slow down,
to listen, to see who is here with us, to consult, and then to respond to
glimpses of possibility that peek through the fabric of the moment” </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">– Bayo
Akomolafe, Nigerian-born philosopher, author and psychologist. </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;"> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And we need to engage fully with this
meta-crisis, or zeitgeist – the cultural tone, moral and cognitive climate, and
spirit of our times. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">English philosopher Roger Scruton approaches
our cultural degeneration from some different angles:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFi0rMYuYsA"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFi0rMYuYsA</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 12pt;">Banking expert Richard Werner explains the lies
perpetuated by banks and how centralisation is synonymous with control by a
small self – appointed elite group</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://deblauwetijger.com/video/english-richard-werner-on-cbdcs-and-how-they-prepare-you-to-be-their-slave/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://deblauwetijger.com/video/english-richard-werner-on-cbdcs-and-how-they-prepare-you-to-be-their-slave/</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">In an email dated 14</span><sup style="text-align: left;">th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> September
Science and Nonduality.com refer to pioneering psychotherapist and psychiatrist
Gabor Maté’s new book. It addresses wellness and wellbeing, and social health</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">. For all its expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often
fails to treat the whole person ignoring how the toxicity of today’s culture
stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance”.</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">
(Maté, Gabor Dr 2022)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bringing light, compassion, healing, change</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“We have this dying civilization on the one hand that’s not
quite dead yet and something else being born that we don’t even know exactly
what it is, but we are the ones who are right in that in-between space, which
puts us in such a critical role in the larger process” – </span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Otto Scharmer</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The foundations for inner and outer healing
may lie within these connections:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe1BCHJ6SBn_-26BnzuGzBRo_L8c5CWetfCu-MyrG4Fowzh7PqfCRKKOfleGMFlwos9XZVIi0Op5u9luRx8rFqQhJWJw3UNBtb6jhTMFVrlN-ezlwAnQunkU4t3F7DyvI0vTSitiSmPI00jeer8PfmP0auoiEU2Dngmt_8qlvGa-xFpXapol1OZPO/s340/Panelbeliefs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="340" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe1BCHJ6SBn_-26BnzuGzBRo_L8c5CWetfCu-MyrG4Fowzh7PqfCRKKOfleGMFlwos9XZVIi0Op5u9luRx8rFqQhJWJw3UNBtb6jhTMFVrlN-ezlwAnQunkU4t3F7DyvI0vTSitiSmPI00jeer8PfmP0auoiEU2Dngmt_8qlvGa-xFpXapol1OZPO/w400-h225/Panelbeliefs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">click to enlarge</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">The panel members do not operate from a basis
of ‘tick-tock’ (linear) time, do not separate time and space, nor energy and
matter, and believe that a future can be lived now and co-created. Thus, we opt
to live as if the desired future has already emerged, introduce a new
narrative, a new zeitgeist. To usher this in we bring to bear on our being and our
doing the characteristics and ‘resources’ of heart, shared mind, dialogue and
circle dynamics, and ‘spiritual’ virtues and whole-person maturities.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Within this framework, our belief is that the
bridging- story process is an important contribution to positively
counteracting the debilitating components of Western culture that are here
described. They are aimed at the building and nurturing of new mindsets and
behavioural norms. Nothing less.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In terms of process, consider the analogy of
someone contracting an illness. An invasion by something</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">harmful may take place
at the unconscious, invisible level, as may be the natural reaction of the
immune system. Later warning signs may emerge, followed by symptoms that may be
sufficiently identifiable to enable a definite diagnosis. Then antidotes and
healing remedies may be administered, and a correction occurs due to the
healing action taken. So, the inculcation and effects of cultural drivers that
have been in play are not initially noticed. Only after symptoms and their
effects appeared (and have been properly diagnosed – singly and holistically)
can the healing, corrective work begin. Rarely does spontaneous remission
happen. Rarely is healing a quick fix. Likewise, lasting bridging and
rebuilding is a longer - term process. Until the time arrives, and we can laud
a new narrative for a healed, coherent, passionate, grateful, forgiving and
compassionate society, one that we as bridging storytellers participate in creating.
We can encourage, exhort and console ourselves with Gide’s observation that </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">“History
is fiction that did happen whereas fiction is history that might have
happened!”</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. (Haven, C. 2009)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In brief<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Society is in a bad way, yet this itself
represents huge opportunities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s <i>Anthem</i>
offer explanation, hope, and surety:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“There is a crack, a crack in everything<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That’s how the light gets in”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">When walls come tumbling down, we see each
other in new ways.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFLECTION QUESTIONS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Do you feel that society
is divided, polarized, fragmented, lonely, losing a value system that promotes
cohesiveness, lacking in compassion. Abnormal? What is your own experience of
the societal trends that have been identified in this article, and have become
an integral part of our culture?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">What, in your
view, are the main areas that urgently need light and love and normalisation …
that will help ourselves and others live a life worth breathing – with <i>no</i>
mundane moments!?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">3. </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">How positive are
you that we can together take opportunities, usher in a new narrative, write a
new future history - and what is the source of or reason for your hope? Does
story-bridging have a role to play for you in your endeavours?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFERENCES<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bollas,
Christopher (2018) <i>Meaning and melancholia: life in the age of bewilderment </i>Routledge<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Estes, Clarissa Pinkola (2019) <i>The Understanding Narcissism Summit</i>
November 4-13, 2019 Sounds True</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Haven,
Cynthia (2009) <i>Yalom’s Book is the Talk of Vienna … Literally</i> Stanford
University: The Book <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2009/11/yaloms-when-nietzsche-wept-is-the-talk-of-vienna-literally-2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2009/11/yaloms-when-nietzsche-wept-is-the-talk-of-vienna-literally-2</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jarrett, Christian (2019) <i>Psychopaths and Narcissists Have Hogged the
Limelight, Now It’s Time to Explore the Saintlier Side Of Human Personality,
Say Researchers, as They Announce a Test of The “Light Triad” Traits </i>British
Psychological Society, Research Digest 22nd March, 2019 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/"><span style="color: #2e74b5; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/</span></a><span style="color: #2e74b5; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Maté, Gabor Dr (2022) <i>The Myth of Normal:
trauma, illness and healing in a toxic culture</i> Penguin Publishing Group<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Maté, Gabor Dr (2022) <i>The Undeniable Link
of Illness and Wellbeing to our Collective Ecosystem</i> Collective Trauma
Summit 6<sup>th</sup> October 2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://collectivetraumasummit.com/speaker-talks"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://collectivetraumasummit.com/speaker-talks</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">O’Reilly, Charles A.,Chatman, Jennifer and
Doerr, Bernadette (2019) <i>When ‘Me’ Trumps ‘We’: narcissistic leaders and the
cultures they create</i> Working Paper 3809. August, 2019. Graduate School of
Business, Stanford University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/when-me-trumps-we-narcissistic-leaders-cultures-they-create"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/when-me-trumps-we-narcissistic-leaders-cultures-they-create</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Peat,
F. David (1996) <i>Infinite Potential: the nature of formative causation</i>
Helix Books<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rajagopalan, Raghav (2020) <i>Immersive
Systemic Knowing: Advancing Systems Thinking Beyond Rational Analysis</i> Springer</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Scott Peck, M (1988) <i>People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing
Human Evil</i> Century Hutchinson </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Scruton,
Roger (2020) <i>How Modern Culture is Degenerating</i> You Tube:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFi0rMYuYsA"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFi0rMYuYsA</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> June 18<sup>th</sup>, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Senge,
Peter; Scharmer, C. Otto; Jaworski, Joseph and Flowers, Betty Sue (2004) <i>Presence:
exploring profound change in people, organizations and society</i> Society for
Organizational Learning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Werner,
Richard (2022) Richard Werner on CBDC’s and How They Prepare You to be Their
Slave <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="LO-normal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://deblauwetijger.com/video/english-richard-werner-on-cbdcs-and-how-they-prepare-you-to-be-their-slave/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://deblauwetijger.com/video/english-richard-werner-on-cbdcs-and-how-they-prepare-you-to-be-their-slave/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wilber, K (2017) <i>Trump and a Post-Truth
World: an evolutionary self-correction</i> Integral Life <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Williams, Graham; Gargiulo, Terrence and
Banhegyi, Steve (2022) <i>Story Bridging: create the connections and
possibilities that build bridges </i>Books33 India<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><span style="font-size: 26pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-32130056081361133792022-11-04T03:17:00.009-07:002022-12-01T20:06:20.637-08:00Invoking “heart” – conversation 2 of 5<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Reading time about 5 minutes</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGrw6v6T1A6jWoqSlDj69JN69jXCqMpA3qoiEoe1Skm5xlzKAFGRCrqmIsTS0FYNxPY-zQul3jOHE7G9u7nshQQreMMO5UTZ04RVhAZN6VARob--oPGNmPLDZJCUd91jnRYVdLTA1pZN4br5VZ2RGaWGsKAUKQk0bWC53MuNV1SLYnjoWGxNjH83x/s490/Panelheart.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="490" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGrw6v6T1A6jWoqSlDj69JN69jXCqMpA3qoiEoe1Skm5xlzKAFGRCrqmIsTS0FYNxPY-zQul3jOHE7G9u7nshQQreMMO5UTZ04RVhAZN6VARob--oPGNmPLDZJCUd91jnRYVdLTA1pZN4br5VZ2RGaWGsKAUKQk0bWC53MuNV1SLYnjoWGxNjH83x/w400-h341/Panelheart.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Context<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Henri Nouwen echoes Christopher Bollas (first panel
discussion in this series) here: <i>“Many voices wonder if humanity can survive
its own destructive powers. As we reflect on the increasing poverty and hunger,
the rapidly spreading hatred and violence within as well as between countries,
and the frightening build-up of nuclear weapons systems, we come to realize
that our world has embarked on a suicidal journey”. </i>He describes our
society as “<i>a dangerous network of domination and manipulation</i>”, with
unsound values and compulsions to be important, enjoy pleasures, be noticed, and
exercise power. (Nouwen, H.J.M. 1983)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Time set aside from hectic work lives (and
invasive work technologies) is ultimately about ‘being’, about our humanity,
about what Pieper calls “<i>a condition of the soul</i>”, about the nurturing
our hearts. He calls for a “<i>contemplative attention to things</i>”. (Pieper,
J. 1963) This also implies that the heart should be viewed as something far
beyond being merely an organ that regulates the flow of blood. Thomas Cowan
gives a superb explanation of the amazing physics of the heart, and also touches
upon the form-making and life-giving role of the spirit in the functioning of
the heart. (A subject for another long discussion!) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Cowan, T. 2022)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nouwen offers the following (although we could
as easily have drawn insight from the Dalai Lama, Thomas Merton or any number
of others seasoned in the ‘spiritual realm’):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Solitude<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In his <i>Way of the Heart,</i> he taps into
the ancient wisdom of the 4<sup>th</sup> century Desert Mothers and Fathers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the transformational furnace or desert of
solitude we are able to escape the pull of the digital world, media ‘noise’,
hostile and strident argument; and become deeply aware of what is happening in
our World and how best to respond. It seems counter-intuitive to become immersed
in what may feel like a ‘doing nothing’ state.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here we are not talking about taking periodic
time out to leave the field of play and pause in a short retreat – in an attempt
to ‘balance’ our compartmentalised work/ home/ social lives. Rather, our
purpose is to seek solitude as a serious, ongoing, primary practice. In
solitude we plumb the depths, struggle, discover the ‘reasons of the heart’,
encounter something bigger than ourselves, learn to be calm, non-judgmental
(which erases the distance between us), find beauty, and become compassionate
to others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Belgian - American poetess and novelist May Sarton
once recorded that part of a real life </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">“… is time alone in which to explore
and to discover what is happening or has happened. Without the interruptions,
nourishing and maddening, this life would become arid. Yet I taste it fully
only when I am alone</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”. This meant too that “… </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">sometimes one has simply
to endure a period of depression for what it may hold of illumination if one
can live through it, attentive to what it exposes or demands</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Sarton, M. 1992)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Silence as respite from words<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In solitude we find silence and respite from
the wordy world we inhabit and are can be sucked into all too easily. Chinese
philosopher Chang Tzu (who believed that chasing after wealth and personal
aggrandizement was folly): “<i>I would like to talk to the man who has
forgotten words</i>”. (Words are used to convey ideas, and once the ideas have
been grasped and understood, the words have served their purpose and may be
forgotten).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If speaking words gets us involved in and
tainted by the world, then silence is a pilgrimage away from that. Words and language,
can mislead, confuse, and deceive. Silence guards the fire within and yields
the wisest thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The fire within allows us “<i>to offer warmth
and light to lost traveller’s</i>” that we come across on our pilgrimage. A
pilgrimage that is activated because of times of solitude.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We speak too much. We are silent too seldom,
too little.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yet silence teaches us to speak with power –
because in silent solitude we touch the Divine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We need to learn (in this noisy, turbulent,
harsh and strident world) to become comfortable with silence, to be blessed by
silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the silences that occur within
conversations, speeches, counselling, and coaching interventions, we can learn to
receive, soak up, digest fewer words more meaningfully, more fully - because
they become imbued with presence. (Presence is elaborated upon in article 5 of
this series)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Silence of the heart is much more
important than silence of the mouth</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”. It becomes a quality of “heart” that
is grown in silence (non-judgmental, non-condemning, accepting, appreciative,
embracing, loving).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(If all beliefs begin in the heart, then the
heart is the place where consciousness is raised and is the start-point of
discovering our interconnectedness and unity)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And in a sense, silence is a mysterious
language:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mother Teresa <span style="background: white; color: black;">once
said, <i>“When I pray, I just listen.” A puzzled reporter queried her about
this statement, asking “What does God say, Mother? What do you hear from God?”
Mother Teresa’s response: “God says nothing. He just listens”. </i>(Rapsas, T.
2022)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Prayer</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Words can often become superfluous.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For those who pray, a prayer of the heart
consists usually of just a few, simple, focused, heartfelt words. Repeated
often.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>Unceasing prayer gives solitude and
silence their real meaning</i>”. (Nouwen, H. 1983)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Full of ourselves</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Is it possible to carry out the practices and
reach the state suggested by Nouwen? Counter-intuitively find how to see with
the heart, discover a new, liberating reality?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span></o:p></span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A student tries hard to impress his
revered teacher. Constantly.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One
day the teacher pours a cup of tea while the student rambles on. The tea
reaches the brim of the cup and begins to overflow. The teacher continues
pouring. More and more tea spills.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
student shouts out, “Teacher the cup has long been full. Stop!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Says
the teacher: “So are you. So full that there is no more room to learn”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe a pure heart is empty of ego, self has
been emptied…yet whole and full of love for others? Single - ‘minded’ in this
way?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzDrFSj4raAtMphtb8Rrh_kGr-w4KqNxo6-77DTf-i9sTNKrGO-eDp23qBDN8MNFIX9UVhr6t35uei18YMiaCrflkgTGGr1a2z2Av_fpKB5DHFtS5EvR3zg4c6OqI4hfk6DQA8wRdx8jX-ipKxeE7Vn6Y5acFr9y4SSS6pzQ5IhkRTjppK7WN461y/s212/compassion5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="212" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzDrFSj4raAtMphtb8Rrh_kGr-w4KqNxo6-77DTf-i9sTNKrGO-eDp23qBDN8MNFIX9UVhr6t35uei18YMiaCrflkgTGGr1a2z2Av_fpKB5DHFtS5EvR3zg4c6OqI4hfk6DQA8wRdx8jX-ipKxeE7Vn6Y5acFr9y4SSS6pzQ5IhkRTjppK7WN461y/w400-h326/compassion5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Story Bridging<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Story bridging is a heart process. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>The idea of bridging story is of a story
that builds a bridge based on well- researched fact, truth, sensitivity to the
other’s worldview, knowledge of self and inherent bias, humility, on communicating
non - violently, and a genuine searching for common ground, a measure of
self-emptying, and an allowing for connection beyond what is rational. Not
prescribing an outcome. (When people begin to inquire together new
possibilities, new ways forward begin to open up</i>”. (Williams, G. et al 2022))<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For practitioners the </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">preparation phase</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
of the process begins with acknowledging a polarised relationship; followed by
research and inner work in a number of areas (including mindset, visualisation,
exploring the topic, the other, unearthing biases, prejudices and barriers
within) and arriving at a readiness to reach out with the right intent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Preparation may be the longest part of the
story-bridging process. It is an act of love aimed at acceptance and inclusion.
Quiet, alone time is an important part of this preparation phase.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaN7fcu25VW5YibYOCJfHDxp7b97JZKQxlFOOK7J_CauZtQYB2P6XE54UqJtTag1JM4KwDm7TTZ04F2nyFy5M6fSk70eueJiv-CCT4meQw38nrqWvs2GfoC4JFVa4V9ZRPIMJ_T2uTF9yM97n68tqDixOg8YaEQdw_exQg-P8Ye-Dk7w44lxoj4etF/s698/Panelbridge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="698" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaN7fcu25VW5YibYOCJfHDxp7b97JZKQxlFOOK7J_CauZtQYB2P6XE54UqJtTag1JM4KwDm7TTZ04F2nyFy5M6fSk70eueJiv-CCT4meQw38nrqWvs2GfoC4JFVa4V9ZRPIMJ_T2uTF9yM97n68tqDixOg8YaEQdw_exQg-P8Ye-Dk7w44lxoj4etF/w400-h225/Panelbridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> click to enlarge<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Counter-intuitively, solitude promotes
connection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is a downside to the heart-led approach
that we need to be aware of, and that is the question of transference and
counter- transference, said to be present in all social-relating. “</span><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Your heart is fully transparent in all its beautiful hues and
ugly blemishes. </span></i><i><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #0a0202; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Not only is it transparent to the other, but far more so than
it is to you. What is opaque to your inner gaze is clearly visible to the gaze
of the other</span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">”. We unconsciously convey what we desire
from the other person (conditioned by parental, association dynamics) and this
implicit communication is in fact stronger than what we actually convey
verbally, explicitly. Becoming aware via self-analysis is there a worthwhile,
albeit challenging endeavour. (Farah, S. 2022)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But a huge upside. The heart is what enables us to raise our consciousness and escape from a binary, dualistic system of operating and judging that is driven by ego (either/or based on difference). Instead we are enabled to move to a non-dualistic, beautiful heart-mind (and/both) where "<i>the heart is primarily an organ of spiritual perception, a highly sensitive instrument for keeping us aligned.</i>.." with a deeper reality, with what we know in our innermost beings. (Bourgeault, C. 2008) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF06wIGbZfHP0UGgJLz9GL5eKwtSYi2vVjcHYGIAaoZuqx4y5eYJ2kz7-997vD254s2CEllusdK8pdjTn6FQfTDg0bY7QYjMWYnY-_oTMKthH7wfu1gyrtOSAFizKSC5stt1pqlSvAPUhg_XvbfO1vOdocw8qdS-IedeXAudfU4iDTy1uHb4BxJM2j/s602/Books33Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="602" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF06wIGbZfHP0UGgJLz9GL5eKwtSYi2vVjcHYGIAaoZuqx4y5eYJ2kz7-997vD254s2CEllusdK8pdjTn6FQfTDg0bY7QYjMWYnY-_oTMKthH7wfu1gyrtOSAFizKSC5stt1pqlSvAPUhg_XvbfO1vOdocw8qdS-IedeXAudfU4iDTy1uHb4BxJM2j/w400-h314/Books33Cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFLECTION QUESTIONS</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> 1.<b> </b></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Where there is
polarization, even hostility, how can a withdrawal into solitude be beneficial?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Can the ‘way of
the heart’ trump sound reasoning, logic and solid argument – and if so, why?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">3. </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Have you (and if
so, how have you) benefitted from the experience of solitude and silence?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">4. </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">In the Story-Bridging
process, much emphasis is placed on the ‘heart-mind’. How do you apply this in your work?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFERENCES</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bourgeault, Cynthia (2008) <i>The Wisdom Jesus. transforming heart and mind - a new perspective on Christ and His message</i> Shambhala</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Cowan, Dr
Thomas, M.D. <i>The Heart is not a Pump!</i> You Tube<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUCBEKO3IJc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUCBEKO3IJc</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<h2 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="meta-author"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></span></h2><h2 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="meta-author"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Farah, Stephen
(2022) </span></span><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A tool to identify
your transference: understanding your unconscious communication in</span></i><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> relationships </span></i></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Centre of Applied Jungian Studies (CAJS), 1<sup>st</sup> May,
2022</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://appliedjung.com/identify-your-transference/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://appliedjung.com/identify-your-transference/</span></a><span class="meta-author"><span style="color: #0a0202; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nouwen, Henri J.M. (1983) <i>The Way of the
Heart</i> Ballantine Books, NY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pieper, Josef (1963) <i>Leisure. The Basis of
Culture</i> Pantheon Books Inc, Random House<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rapsas, Tom (2022) <i>A Crash Course in the
Language of God</i> Patheos 25 August, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wakeupcall/2022/08/a-crash-course-in-the-language-of-god/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wakeupcall/2022/08/a-crash-course-in-the-language-of-god/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sarton, May (1992) <i>Journal of a Solitude</i>
W.W. Norton & Company <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 26pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p></span><p></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-21360858912793535072022-11-04T02:46:00.006-07:002022-12-29T21:52:18.731-08:00Shared mind – conversation 3 of 5<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reading time about 6 minutes<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1L2OXd6Pzdcn19eiz-ooOU0E_LQrrcOcQfSOpEGOapKiL7KInaYVny27HJbHlpI9fozc-F5yNY8QCKw88YMvvopGGM_szZH8ypbvrx_acY97KNacQzGZO0dBq_83n9Xr5JXXlTprl4iXSowmRpa2uZQOe0v9wyXrHQQSNGbYOkjp9nyWhXMbiLls/s300/articleweb1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="300" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1L2OXd6Pzdcn19eiz-ooOU0E_LQrrcOcQfSOpEGOapKiL7KInaYVny27HJbHlpI9fozc-F5yNY8QCKw88YMvvopGGM_szZH8ypbvrx_acY97KNacQzGZO0dBq_83n9Xr5JXXlTprl4iXSowmRpa2uZQOe0v9wyXrHQQSNGbYOkjp9nyWhXMbiLls/w400-h277/articleweb1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Developing beautiful minds<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ancient Greek ‘<i>Eunoia</i>’ meant “<i>well
mind, beautiful thinking</i>” (and of course, this facilitates bridging between
speaker and listener). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the late Edward de Bono’s lesser known
and read books, <i>How to Have a Beautiful Mind,</i> develops this thought and
addresses conversational questions on how to agree, disagree differ, be
interesting, polite, responsive, listen, question, reframe, handle diversions,
interruptions. He also delves into concepts, parallel thinking, emotions,
values, information and knowledge, opinions, attitudes, nature of topics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">De Bono acknowledges that it is very challenging
to find points of agreement given our built in, limited ‘logic bubbles’ and our
need to be right. He advises the development of these skills and enjoying the
use of the mind in conversations. (de Bono, E. 2004)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Consciously attending to, placing emphasis on,
aligning our intent and energy with an idea, feeling, cause that is meaningful
and worthwhile, is “<i>as important in the handling of our lives as in learning
to walk or how to talk</i>” (Keyserling, H. 1938) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The nature of our thinking defines our world
and meditating on an idea keeps the mind thinking beautifully (including
subsequently in our unconscious). We can choose to focus on higher purposes and
qualities. (Ferrucci, P. 2004)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At this point an important understanding is
that “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">thought emerges not merely in the context of, but rather </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">through </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">personal
relations”.</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (Hobson, P. 2004). This leads us into exploring the deep,
inspiring concept of the mind developed by Dan Siegel:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How should we describe and define the ‘Mind’?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If the mind is where we process choice and
change (based on our relationship to past, present and future) then for
ourselves, our planet we should have good knowledge of what the mind is. Dan
Siegel pushes the boundaries of our understanding by proposing this working
definition:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">An embodied and relational,
self-organizing emergent process that regulates the flow of energy and
information both within and between</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It is </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">not</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> confined to the brain, the
body, the self - but a dynamic, complex, driving-to-be-integrated, living (social
and neural) system. By nature, mind is part of David Bohm’s quantum explicate
and implicate realities, enabling us to be conscious (insightful and aware); the
basis of our health, well-being, resilience and compassion; and “arises in
part, from a social field outside of one’s control”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In a 2017 book I referred to Dan Siegel’s </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Wheel
of Awareness</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> that explains our incredible self-organising and integrating
energy and information flow system, the mind. We have amazing capacities to:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> perceive and experience the world ‘outside’
of ourselves <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> monitor, use and regulate what is happening
in our body, and its wisdom - heart rate, hunger, respiration, joints,
oesophagus (interoception) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> make full use of our senses - sight, hearing,
smell, touch, taste and our prioceptive sense of motion <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> tune into our mental activities - thought,
feeling, belief, memory, images, attitudes, hopes, dreams, desires, imagination.
We are reflective beings. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> be aware of and experience our sense of
relatedness (to other people, strangers, all of humanity and life– past
present, future). We are social beings. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Without engaging with this wheel of awareness
how on earth can we manage ourselves moment to moment and over time, begin to
understand our own realities, connect with and intimately relate to others,
play our part in interconnected life at large?! (Williams, G. 2017)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvLW7sNWq4k1qgSrx-TjkBSAYdWqvQkU_XrIgGyuFqV_2FFBfPUXr_sxT_stnnv5LtQTpjHrBjj70NC4hTy4ZThTxViZ_zTgKHMmFlpujRZeX6IaMDOU6EMP59G0pEpQtNFXCHW24zxIliQtjPFsit0G274S9O878tGYBlp0gPu3vIwgd6W77vPbS/s564/AwarenessWheel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="564" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvLW7sNWq4k1qgSrx-TjkBSAYdWqvQkU_XrIgGyuFqV_2FFBfPUXr_sxT_stnnv5LtQTpjHrBjj70NC4hTy4ZThTxViZ_zTgKHMmFlpujRZeX6IaMDOU6EMP59G0pEpQtNFXCHW24zxIliQtjPFsit0G274S9O878tGYBlp0gPu3vIwgd6W77vPbS/w400-h360/AwarenessWheel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>click to enlarge<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the ideas invoked for me by the <i>Wheel
of Awareness</i> is what Louis Cozolino calls the “<i>social synapse</i>”. He
draws an analogy between people and neurons in the brain and the spaces
between. In the same way that synapses connect neurons throughout (the wider
‘brain’ and as in Siegel’s <i>Wheel of Awareness </i>and all the senses,
activities, interconnections we enjoy) so are people connected by social
synapses – that connect, ‘tune in’, communicate, inform, experience
reciprocity, stimulate, develop and regulate the individual and shared mind. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">“<i>When it
comes right down to it, doesn’t communication between people consist of the
same building blocks? When we smile, wave, and say hello, these behaviours are
sent through the space between us. These messages are received by our senses
and converted into chemical signals within our nervous systems…which
generate…new behaviours that, in turn, transmit messages back across the social
synapse. The social synapse is the space between us – a space filled with seen
and unseen messages and the medium through which we are combined into larger
organisms such as families, tribes, societies and the human species as a
whole…” </i>(Cozolino, L. 2006)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I came across this Chinese character for listening. Whether this is
accurate or not doesn’t matter. For me the notion does capture the power of
awareness, the realm of consciousness, the breadth of the concept of ‘mind’,
and causes us to think of listening in a much deeper way:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Cmn_6lWZu0dBcJUC0fRPOcZhNvb9KBXfJupo984DyAlwk1bvOF0P2RxR6E5ezsIB4xZRvKsig7pUUIhu7feGwb_b1fjdUXNT-lm9Om7atcHiMPjG8T5YTOg-4SUHMqPpvrQCcgzjhXqu-2DTi-rmYrdYnaE-XOphHfR485fMsMcHa3MSSm9r0lvG/s253/Panel%20Listen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="253" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Cmn_6lWZu0dBcJUC0fRPOcZhNvb9KBXfJupo984DyAlwk1bvOF0P2RxR6E5ezsIB4xZRvKsig7pUUIhu7feGwb_b1fjdUXNT-lm9Om7atcHiMPjG8T5YTOg-4SUHMqPpvrQCcgzjhXqu-2DTi-rmYrdYnaE-XOphHfR485fMsMcHa3MSSm9r0lvG/w400-h161/Panel%20Listen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">click to enlarge</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">In a lost and lonely world, where people are more disconnected than ever
before, the power of deep, compassionate listening assumes incredible
importance. Listening is an act of love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The mind operates top-down (existing mental
models) and bottom up (new sensing, experiencing in the present moment)</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The mind also allows for both left-mode
perceptions (categorising, case-effect logic) and right-mode (bigger picture,
interconnections, context, concepts) and is quantum and can accept that space
and time, matter and energy are not different in many ways. In terms of
relationship and the ‘between mind’ the flow of energy and information allows
us to (non-logically) “feel felt” when another is attuned and present – akin to
noosphere – and shaped and changed both neurologically and socially.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Creation of meaning, including spiritual
meaning is developed by the mind</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One purpose of our mind is to integrate is
Siegel’s view, the ‘<i>why?</i>’ of mind, which fits with our questing to
discover who we are, why we exist, what difference we may make, a consciousness-raising
means to us becoming aware of a sense of the lived life and meaning, the
emergence of kindness and compassion in our being. Information and energy flows
regulated by the mind is <i>“a fundamental part of a complex system bounded neither
by skull nor skin”. </i>Nine functions of integration identified by Siegel,
that inform our being and doing, are:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.body regulation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2. attuned communication with self and other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3. emotional balance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4. response (pause) flexibility<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5. soothing fear<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6. insight (connecting past, present and
future with self - understanding)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7. empathy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">8. morality (higher than ourselves)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">9. intuition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He sees integration as the basis of our
health, well-being, and of the world’s wisdom traditions. (Refer to the overlap
with Louis Cozolino’s thinking outlined above). That may be fostered by
mindfulness training. Be a bridge between science and spirituality. The way we
learn to live together – or interpersonal integration. (His new book, launched
in September 2022 delves deeper into how we are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"intraconnected"
within our individual bodies, our human family, and within all of nature.
(Siegal, D. 2022))</span></p><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Being present and aware leads to a
raised consciousness and a deeper knowing, which promotes neural integration –
the basis of healthy self-regulation. And a better linking of our top-down (constructor)
and bottom-up (conduit) functioning.</span></div><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There is inexplicable power in the between and
within mind. “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">In some cases, research has now revealed that if the timing of
an experience is right, we can actually pass such changes on to the next
generation by way of our eggs and sperm (Yehuda, et al 2014; Youngson and
Whitelaw, 2012; Meaney, 2010)”.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A trauma experienced by a mother induces
trauma in an infant in the womb and also facilitates natural adaptive
behaviours. (Siegel, D. 2017) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Escaping our normally limited notions of self,
time, spirit/ energy, the physical brain, individual mind and so on – Siegel’s concept
of the mind – an emergent, self-organising, embodied, relational process that
arises from and regulates energy and information flow within and between – is
hugely liberating, inspiring and healing!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If the soul or essence of a person lives on
when a person dies, an aspect of the relational, deep interconnectivity. Siegel
suggests that we “<i>may have an ‘eternal imprint’</i> and that we can imagine
“<i>that energy is the fundamental essence of the universe</i>”. This means
that there is huge spiritual possibility and importance in his view of Mind. I
love the heading of one of his chapters: “<i>Humankind: Can We Be Both?</i>”! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can we be both human and kind?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As “<i>integration of the self enables the
differentiation of an individual ‘me’ with an interconnected ‘we’</i>”, being
accepting, respectful, kind, compassionate are natural outcomes. Not
anticipating and being anxious about the future, and not regretting nor
resenting the past, but being aware of the present facilitates these
characteristics. If we let go of having a fully separate identity, we must
surely become far less prone to narcissistic, self-serving behaviour. Have a more
beautiful mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Siegel cites Einstein:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“A
human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’, a part limited in
time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something
separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This
delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and
to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free
ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all
living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to
achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a
part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
(Einstein, 1972)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Joseph Campbell gives one of the best views of
our inner struggle/ journey to reach a point of being fully conscious, which
parallel’s Siegel’s approach to full understanding, awareness and integration.
A consciousness shared with humanity, animals, plants …</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8ciMkayVM"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8ciMkayVM</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (Campbell, J. 2022)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">PANEL QUESTIONS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do you think that
the pressures of living in our society today society (fragmentation, technology
leading the way, bad political behaviour, breakdown of supply chains, scarcity
of essentials, conflict, trauma, lethargy and withdrawal) have the effect of
steering us to a place where we ‘live <i>down</i> to the expectations of
others’ and diminish our own power and willingness to act proactively?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2.</span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">How do we change
that mindset?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">3. </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">How do you
believe Dan Siegel’s notion of the mind can enhance the way we see, feel,
understand and do things, relate to others, reimagine and shape the future? For
example, by using and leveraging his <i>Wheel of Awareness</i>?</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFERENCES<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Campbell, Joseph (2022) <i>Interviewed by Bill
Moyers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Episode 1 ‘ The Hero’s Adventure”</i> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8ciMkayVM"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8ciMkayVM</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cozolino, L (2006) <i>The Neuroscience of
Human Relationships: attachment and the developing social brain</i> Norton
& Company, Inc. NY</span><span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">de Bono, Edward (2004) <i>How to Have a
Beautiful Mind</i> Vermilion London<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Einstein, E. (1950) <i>Letter in the New York Times</i>
(29 March, 1972) <i>and the New York Post</i> (28 November, 1972)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hobson, Peter (2004) <i>The Cradle of Thought:
exploring the origins of thinking</i> Pan Books<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ferrucci, Piero (2004) <i>What we may be:
techniques for psychological and spiritual growth through psychosynthesis</i>
Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Penguin NY<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Keyserling, Herman (1938) <i>From Suffering to
Fulfillment</i> Selwyn & Blount, London<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 12pt;">Siegal, Daniel J. MD (2022) </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 12pt;">IntraConnected: MWe
(Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 12pt;"> (Norton
Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) W.W.Norton & Company</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Siegel, Daniel J, MD (2017) <i>Mind: a journey
to the heart of being human</i> W.W. Norton & Company<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Siegel, Dan J, MD (2017) </span><a href="http://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness_thanks"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">http://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness_thanks</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Williams, Graham (2017) <i>Building Your
BounceBackAbility</i> Porat Jacobsen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><br /></span></p></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-91273766484790686722022-11-04T01:26:00.004-07:002022-12-02T20:30:22.971-08:00Talking Cures – conversation 4 of 5<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reading time about 9 minutes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">('Talking Cure includes listening, conveying, holding)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgcsgNIHUABj1U30KyE22HMmhPPQ9YWBvRjv5Oe_fpxuaZIDKrJI7yZAFNalyC7D02zeV7ntpXiVN7AQ3WqpKgv2sXaYxUdtN7cYdN3288luHSDXdbE_l25uizDPHTC1tka__cV6zCOIYLRdjuFoH-_71gQLAsQ0naqleMbPBPGDtLNtkTEhlZ7Lr/s230/circle%20chairs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="230" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgcsgNIHUABj1U30KyE22HMmhPPQ9YWBvRjv5Oe_fpxuaZIDKrJI7yZAFNalyC7D02zeV7ntpXiVN7AQ3WqpKgv2sXaYxUdtN7cYdN3288luHSDXdbE_l25uizDPHTC1tka__cV6zCOIYLRdjuFoH-_71gQLAsQ0naqleMbPBPGDtLNtkTEhlZ7Lr/w400-h224/circle%20chairs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Feeding each other’s minds<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Zeldin’s view, Socrates was a teacher who
wouldn’t teach! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Instead, he was the first known
conversationalist, believing in dialogue because it discounted argument in
favour of politeness, tact, soul-shared learning. “<i>Individuals could not be
intelligent on their own… they needed someone else to stimulate them</i>”. (Zeldin,
T. 1998) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We depend on each other in many ways, feed
each other in many ways. An ancient story told by Piero Ferrucci (Ferrucci, p.
2004):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“A
man was given permission to visit Heaven and Hell while he was still alive. He
went first to Hell, and there he saw a great gathering of people seated at long
tables set with rich and abundant food. Yet these people were starving and
weeping.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
visitor saw the reason: their spoons and forks were longer than their arms, so
that they were unable to bring food to their mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Next
the man went to Heaven, where he saw the same setting: long tables richly
garnished with food of every kind. Here, too, the people had spoons and forks
longer than their arms and were likewise unable to feed themselves. Yet they
were joyful and well fed. But they were not trying to feed themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
were feeding each other”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Not just food, but energy, beauty, variety,
thoughts ….</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In these times we continue to be swamped by information, numerous sources and channels, yet struggle to build a picture of what is truly happening, struggle to unearth truth. Fake news, propaganda, rumour, distortion, lies, conflicting world views, selective censoring and silence practiced by the media don't help the situation! So independent thinking and dialogue rooted in objective moral value, non dualistic thinking and open-mindedness blended with prudence and a well-functioning critical faculty becomes more and more valuable. Hopefully paving a way to meaningful conversation exchanges.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Aspects of Dialogue</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">David Bohm’s concept of dialogue is rooted in
notion of shared exploration and discovery, and informs much of the dynamics of
circle work (Bohm, D. 1996):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dialogue in action: Zubin Mehta and Placido
Domingo in concert, feeling into each other:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc_24Ya5Y4E"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc_24Ya5Y4E</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The aspiration of dialogue is a free flow of
meaning, a raising of consciousness, building of relationships and enhanced
communication in a group that is a microcosm of society. (Bohm’s call for
dialogue is wonderful, but his method cumbersome (high group numbers,
protracted period of time, frequent meeting, lack of agenda or facilitation)
hence our preference for circle work based on the same principles but a
different methodology)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ON COMMUNICATION</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Because thoughts or ideas are notoriously
difficult to define and largely misrepresented and misunderstood, they may be
maintained and leveraged by a small collective. However, sound dialogue has the
potential to glue together a fragmented humanity by throwing light on an idea. In
dialogue, even assumptions and frictions between conversationalists, and
misperceived intent through poor listening, holds the possibility generating
new insights, greater understanding and new meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The <i>process </i>must not aim at coming to
conclusions, solving problems, taking action, but building better
representations of ideas. And be trusted because thought grows, continuously
develops itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The aim is big. Consider that built up over
centuries is an independent, unconscious pool of know-how that far exceeds the
limitation of individuals - collective representations fed to us from this
thought pool are not true reality, but polluted reality. So, it behoves us to
deepen our discernment and consider ideas (givens) in a new way. And that we
cannot continue to try and solve our internal or relational ‘problems’ in
technical problem-solving manner.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(Think about the range of misunderstandings,
misrepresentations, perceptions that are raised by different people on basic
givens or ideas – yet the ideas continue to be non – neutral, accepted once
boxed into one’s own definition only, give rise to ‘problems’ to be solved instead
of ideas to be changed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Capitalism. Communism. Democracy. Eugenics. Elitism.
Artificial Intelligence. Abundance. Positive thinking. Scientific expertise.
Black Lives Matter. Gender bias. Social distancing. Collective good…) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Walls block listening. Separate and fragment.
Through dialogue, recognising similarities and differences regarding an idea
may highlight something new to those engaged – a shared, new creation may
emerge, overcoming even unconscious blocking or interference).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ON DIALOGUE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Society lacks coherent shared meaning making
it likely to fall apart in many areas. Dialogue allows for a stream of meaning
that flows among, through and between us. It’s about sharing and grasping
meaning (bridges) – NOT solving, analysing, proving, winning as we defend
beliefs, assumptions, worldviews – and avoid uncomfortable cognitive dissonance
(walls). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">By nature, we tend to set up (and cast in
concrete) independent entities – nations, religions, disciplines, ideas – which
are outcomes of our thought process. We tend towards self - interest, believe truth
is as we see it, groupings (because we need connection and validation).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If we pended our assumptions, beliefs then
through dialogue we can allow them to dissolve, grow towards new perceptions
and sensitivity, and participatory consciousness can happen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">THE NATURE OF COLLECTIVE THOUGHT</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In a troubled, conflicted world, new thought
creeps in and prevails over us all because most of our thought is collective,
shaped by influences and what we experience. We “<i>see the world according to
the general collective representations circulating around or society and
culture</i> …” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(One can here sense <i>why</i> rumour,
propaganda, misinformation on a grand scale, menticide programmes can be so
powerful and effective. Our challenge is of course to change collective
(mis)representations in the right way) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">THE PROBLEM AND THE PARADOX</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We face a multitude of new, big, complex
‘problems’ today and feel that they require ‘discussion’ and the “putting
forward” of ‘solutions’ (the Greek meaning of solution is “<i>put forward</i>”).
Into our endeavours and without questioning the ideas we discuss, we bring our
presuppositions, assumption, understandings, definitions of parts and
relationships.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Relational (individual, group, international),
psychological, societal problems can’t be treated as problems. They are
paradoxical and our own individual paradoxes are a deeply rooted, inherent
aspect of ourselves. Vices are unsolvable paradoxes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">THE OBSERVER AND THE OBSERVED</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>Normally we don’t see that our assumptions
are affecting the nature of our observations</i>”. They are a lens. A sort of
‘observer’. And all of our ‘ideas’ are pre-wrapped for us by the wider
collective. (Here alone is a good justification for Bohm’s notion of dialogue)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">SUSPENSION, THE BODY, AND PROPRIOCEPTION</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Suspending judgment and suspension before
acting is suppressing thoughts or feelings until a right response can be made –
for example awareness of one’s aggression allows unfiltered observation, an
ability to lighten and balance a potentially wrong response. (Think mindful
awareness as a brake to support anger management).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like the body, thought has movement, is a
process, an element in an interconnected system, a set of reflexes which may be
liable to warning/ alert, insight and change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Proprioception is a sense or self-perception
of movement, force, body position mediated by neurons located in our muscles,
tendons, joints – an extension of our mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Clearly in dialogue suspension, the body and
proprioception can play a positive role.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">PARTICIPATORY THOUGHT AND THE UNLIMITED</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thoughts are always a work in progress. Ideas
under construction. And dialogue fits under the heading of participatory
conversation towards collective meaning making.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Indigenous cultures have long adopted such a
way of communicating and being.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This has enhanced their bond to nature, their
deep understanding of our connectivity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Simple Principles of dialogue</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Dialogue is then an inquiry into the process of
collective thinking. Bohm believed that such a form of exchanging ideas about
ideas was of absolutely crucial relevance to transforming culture and setting
it free from misinformation and misrepresentation.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Dialogue occurs in an empty space not limited by
aims, agendas, need for conclusions, decisions. So we stay free.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Every participant listens, suspends judgment, does
not attack ideas. Suspends assumptions. Doesn’t impede the flow of the
dialogue.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Every participant is transparent, honest, open as possible
and does not hold back in order to be ‘politically correct’</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Ideas become shared and built-upon by all. Synergy
becomes a regular dynamic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dialogue moves us from being hate-based to being
heart-based.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">In dialoguing we see each other through, don’t see
through each other. There is a sense that in the process of true dialogue we
lose self to the collective.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Dynamics of Circle Work</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6uiBkSix-pXo8Bk2bPcGRXp0O2kt2K7FHNv2bWfEx4MiFcmiZiN9tbObOTKzr0-jD3sVdO1JTfsaCQgMS4U_DPvoyLxmPOSAgH5V35d_Z85BgnXZb1SYNenBXJrFVpwd6cpN7KEp86DL23crELDrsfM6bspIgYjv68kTe-Bv6wM9A5EGY70PBHupo/s363/CircleWork.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="363" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6uiBkSix-pXo8Bk2bPcGRXp0O2kt2K7FHNv2bWfEx4MiFcmiZiN9tbObOTKzr0-jD3sVdO1JTfsaCQgMS4U_DPvoyLxmPOSAgH5V35d_Z85BgnXZb1SYNenBXJrFVpwd6cpN7KEp86DL23crELDrsfM6bspIgYjv68kTe-Bv6wM9A5EGY70PBHupo/w400-h286/CircleWork.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></b><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Circles are NOT places for holding meetings
and debates. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They have been around in many cultures
(historical, modern and indigenous) and many applications for many years in
many forms. In our process we include as many Dialogue aspects and thinking as
is feasible. </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/the-magic-of-perspective-the-culturescan-process/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://culturescan.biz/the-magic-of-perspective-the-culturescan-process/</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tasks are carried out (outperforming all other
setups in our view) by a small group of people. But the power of circles lies
in the building of relationships, being a crucible for shared leadership, a
space where people take on responsibility in a new way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Peter Block answered the question “In one
sentence, what are the essential underlying factors or dynamics that give rise
to the spirit and power of these circles?” in this way: “<i>A fully functioning
circle welcomes strangers. The members refrain from offering help and advice.
Participants are heard for who they are. They receive affirmation that there is
nothing wrong with them. This makes leadership as we know it, obsolete. Members
are present for each other</i>”) (Block, P. 2020). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We characterise circles as a:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Container. A
unique social construct, a safe and confidential space<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Incubator. A cultivation
and nurturing of the whole person (physical, intellectual, emotional, social,
spiritual), deeper mindfulness, deeper relating, and thinking with a bigger,
more beautiful mind. And of a shared emergent future<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Relationship
builder. Where people can be. And be together. Belong. Experience presence and
compassion. Circle participation equips individuals to connect across all
diversities with love, compassion, commitment, respect and honesty. Without
deception of self nor of others).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Conversation facilitator.
Deep conversations happen. Presence is choosing to be fully in the present
moment in terms of one’s sensory, relational, intuitive and interconnectivity
realities, and to be attuned to others, be open, vulnerable and be there for
them. Dan Siegel: “<i>Presence is the portal for integration, and integration
is the basis of health and well-being… But is also fully relational, honouring
the personal self of me and the interconnected self of we ..</i>.” (Siegel, D.
2018) Stories – the currency of meaning – is exchanged.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Learning space.
The learning space provided by circle methodology (and reinforcing work
conducted outside of circle activities) stimulates both learning and new ways
of learning and allows for a bridging of the individuals and group’s past and
the future. This often leads to the letting go of ‘baggage’ that has been
limiting growth, and an embracing of an expanding of every aspect of their
personhood – intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.7pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Enlarger. The
experience of circle work, over time, leads to the emergence of people who have
‘enlarged’. For different people this may be in terms of physical embodiment,
bigger and more beautiful thinking, emotional and social intelligence, or even
a transcendent state – appreciating connectivity, understanding capacities,
possessing character virtues, and developing maturities (cognitive, social,
emotional, ethical and spiritual). The Antony Gormley sculpture hints at this
emergence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
(Williams, G. 2022)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3zCixFX7b69ZXgbkrG06HjYolITs9ing82RQbbI117STDSlZp18gup5rGIv1DBy-gPph9vxPcAZBxL6-8mwZ0ZyteyXHZ2CnocQto86Bl8fApei-M5pO51KmMo9xejVSjTtW45xBjWawUOkMNHtOXbFcDGQdX1rDujWGpb1E6k4yBwP_iifZobTn/s440/Circle%20Acronym.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="431" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3zCixFX7b69ZXgbkrG06HjYolITs9ing82RQbbI117STDSlZp18gup5rGIv1DBy-gPph9vxPcAZBxL6-8mwZ0ZyteyXHZ2CnocQto86Bl8fApei-M5pO51KmMo9xejVSjTtW45xBjWawUOkMNHtOXbFcDGQdX1rDujWGpb1E6k4yBwP_iifZobTn/w391-h400/Circle%20Acronym.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="font-size: 12pt;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a name="_Hlk113179228"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We must never diminish the power and
meaning of circle work.</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">The world in
which we live is characterised by social isolation and uprooted values – causes
of widespread anxiety, depression and trauma. Circles offer a way out of this: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> Johann Hari</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">In Native American Indigenous culture, circles
themselves were considered sacred and imbued with divine presence. Now that’s a
non-Western, non-egoic way of thinking! (Except that as Jung has said, “</span><i style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The most
powerful religious symbol is the circle. The circle is one of the great
primordial images of mankind, that in considering the symbol of the circle we
are analysing the self”</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">. (Campbell, J. 2022) Each participant when given
the power to speak or listen becomes part of that sacredness</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
very recent email: “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">My name is Anna, I’m a journalist and teacher from
Moscow, Russia. I’m writing just to say million thanks for your
remarkable presentation about Story Circles on «Storify your culture»
conference this May.</i></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ve started organizing and facilitating story circles with my colleagues,
friends and family and each time the results are beyond all the expectations.
It’s a truly invaluable tool which deepens the relationships, takes them
to the next level and helps gain into myriads of insights. So inspiring and
uplifting!</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span></div><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV56wNcj3PlGJnDrZJjZprknS-aOxOlXSFw_cxaq9DUkJr15flVO2NYuWlJLDcEMKrnNfRojg20Ht7iNee0yBytCOPxbTCnWbzDoROONkCJsPAQsJAT8ArxvP05-9EP1bEEWcggAOdrRQr0TAMY55Md-WHQHSwmhNzevLOnmOYIkhlLPRLfYOyJEJZ/s676/circlescope.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="676" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV56wNcj3PlGJnDrZJjZprknS-aOxOlXSFw_cxaq9DUkJr15flVO2NYuWlJLDcEMKrnNfRojg20Ht7iNee0yBytCOPxbTCnWbzDoROONkCJsPAQsJAT8ArxvP05-9EP1bEEWcggAOdrRQr0TAMY55Md-WHQHSwmhNzevLOnmOYIkhlLPRLfYOyJEJZ/w400-h239/circlescope.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">click to enlarge</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="font-size: 12pt;"></p><p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Circles are much, much more than solving
problems or completing tasks. They are places where: <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12pt;">
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">people attend to
each other in a deeply spiritual, transformative way<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a shared
thought-pool emerges, as does real community<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a raising of consciousness
happens through the sharing our stories<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Closing Thoughts</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is little doubt that the times in which
we live are hostile, divisive and fragmenting at all levels (individuals,
relationships, communities, organisations, nations) - which trend is fuelled by
propaganda and lies. The good news is that we have the minds, characteristics, capacities
and technologies/ methods to develop true dialogue and bring healing and new
life to our society.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a name="_Hlk113179289" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><i>“What
happens first, in any “community”, is that those who would participate in it
listen. But if we would listen, we must also tell; and if we would tell our
stories, we need places where we can tell and listen. In this mutuality
between telling and listening, between speaking and hearing, lies the deepest
spiritual significance of mutual-aid groups (sometimes erroneously termed
“self-help groups”), like Alcoholics Anonymous.</i></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>Those wrestling with spiritual dilemmas do not need
answers but presence - permission to confront the dilemma and struggle with it
aloud”. </i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Kurtz, E and Ketcham, K. 1994)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i style="font-size: 12pt;">“It’s coming from the circle that we are each
other’s medicine”</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Professor Ruby Mendenhall, University of
Illinois</span><b style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b>REFLECTION QUESTIONS<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">1.<b> </b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">How important is deep
conversation, true dialogue and the building of connections and relationships,
of esteem and belonging, in the world that we inhabit today?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">In your situation
is your leadership ready to let go and allow employees (or community members or
circle participants) to freely participate in confidential circles and assume
responsibility for implementing suggestions/ recommendations? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 3. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">In your view how
does circle work differ from more “left-brain” approaches to problems or ideas
(for example systems thinking, agile) and what do you believe are the
advantages or disadvantages of these differences?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;">REFERENCES</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Block, Peter (2020) <i>Leadership and
the Small Group Common Good Collective</i>
https://commongood.cc/reader/leadership-and-the-small-group-by-peter-block/ </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bohm,
David (1996) <i>On Dialogue</i> (edited by Lee Nichol) Routledge, London and
New York</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Campbell, Joseph (2022) <i>Interviewed
by Bill Moyers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth.</i> Episode 6 ‘Masks of
Eternity’ 23 August 2022</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9RVCPePDk"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9RVCPePDk</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferrucci,
Piero (2004) <i>What We May Be: techniques for psychological and spiritual
growth through psychosynthesis </i>Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Penguin</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hari,
Johann (2019) This Could Be Why You Are Depressed or Anxious 11 October, 2019
Youtube</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE</span></a><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kurtz,
Ernest and Ketcham, Katherine (1994) <i>The Spirituality of Imperfection:
storytelling and the journey to wholeness </i>Bantam Books</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Siegel, Daniel J. MD (2018) Aware:
the science and practice of presence (The ground-breaking meditation practice)
Perigee www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness/</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Zeldin, Theodore (1998) <i>An Intimate History
of Humanity</i> Vintage<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Williams, Graham (2022) <i>The Use of Circle
Work by Modern - Day Leaders</i> Handout for Storify Your Culture Conference,
2022<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class="msonormalmrcssattr" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span><p></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-size: 12pt;"></p><br /></span><p></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-5708700840609873062022-11-04T00:45:00.004-07:002022-11-10T06:45:10.435-08:00Living Wild and Free. Conversation 5 of 5<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Reading time about 17 minutes</span></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvTGo7Kt0Am_KjGN78cOAZeCIfhMNPwhQXuW8zdbHf8_0gN5XAT5H9_RsizeyXY3ELFLKG8QZPQSCiASmkjhBsdVcHMrQfVmxnKJL1-ojpus9GljB1QLA8dS6qV-9R4qMpJxJkm9yl70i26t_QkqONnscPjOXo7YRrgZdX-a09IN5sHnGpgz7f7bA/s667/VanGogh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvTGo7Kt0Am_KjGN78cOAZeCIfhMNPwhQXuW8zdbHf8_0gN5XAT5H9_RsizeyXY3ELFLKG8QZPQSCiASmkjhBsdVcHMrQfVmxnKJL1-ojpus9GljB1QLA8dS6qV-9R4qMpJxJkm9yl70i26t_QkqONnscPjOXo7YRrgZdX-a09IN5sHnGpgz7f7bA/w400-h320/VanGogh.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div style="border-bottom: solid #A2A9B1 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A2A9B1 .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm;">
<h1 style="border: none; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A2A9B1 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span class="mw-page-title-main"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Vincent van Gogh - Enclosed Field with Ploughman</span></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>Grace happens when we act with others on
behalf of our world</i>” – Joanna Macey</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Imagine<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Imagine that “</span><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Out
beyond ideas of religious, cultural and other codes, rules, ideas and belief or
disbelief in these ideas and practices, there is a field of non-dualism, of
unconditional and transcendent compassion and love, where words are not
necessary, we are fully connected, are as one. I'll meet you there”. </span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a
paraphrasing of the Sufi poet Rumi’s:</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Out beyond
ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing,</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 35.45pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">
<span> </span>there is a field. I’ll meet you there.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 30.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 30pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> When the soul lies down in that grass,<br />
the world is too full to talk about.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps
the ‘field’ of which Rumi speaks is beyond the finite, and beyond what we will
ever fully understand. Spirituality is not about knowledge, argument or skill
but about love, devotion and soul to soul bridging. Words are unable to convey
that reality. Quantum physicist David Bohm gets it right:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"The
field of the finite is all that we can see, hear, touch, remember and describe.
This field is basically that which is manifest, or tangible. The essential
quality of the infinite, by contrast, is its subtlety, its intangibility. This
quality is conveyed in the word spirit, whose root meaning is "wind or
breath." This suggests an invisible but pervasive energy to which the
manifest world of the finite responds. This energy, or spirit, infuses all
living beings, and without it any organism must fall apart into its constituent
elements. That which is truly alive in the living being is the energy of
spirit, and this is never born and never dies". </span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Imagine
Films. 2021)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It is in
this realm that we find no separated self, no judgment, no misrepresentation of
ideas, but a true presence. Energy or spirit and matter are one – matter can be
understood as condensed energy. (Time and space similarly need not be separated
nor contained by our usual thinking). We are truly awake and alive. And fed by
community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We can
imagine now a World that is better, and heals as it is healed.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Szu44N8sq5M1IYewr4Jb6rP-4TsttaawtBl_TbOPNNbmAlPVjZgBIThhwvC3R9OZT4k0INXT8hyA2MR9zAlMs5ECwRHlogMaeaKQng70H80dLjxvbDLl00uPxsn0uK-NmiFQhYh_vz_V7OsuM8iTqY2HV-HTRN-J5mDvpoCP6hsbbbrjUXcSdawW/s600/imagination1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Szu44N8sq5M1IYewr4Jb6rP-4TsttaawtBl_TbOPNNbmAlPVjZgBIThhwvC3R9OZT4k0INXT8hyA2MR9zAlMs5ECwRHlogMaeaKQng70H80dLjxvbDLl00uPxsn0uK-NmiFQhYh_vz_V7OsuM8iTqY2HV-HTRN-J5mDvpoCP6hsbbbrjUXcSdawW/w400-h300/imagination1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; padding: 0cm;">Two men share a hospital ward</span></i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. </span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">Paul
is bedridden, dying.</span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">Ghulam
is near the window. </span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">Every day he stands up, looks out, and relates to Paul what
the world outside is like. He describes beautiful park gardens, birds, a
bubbling brook. A mother comforting her child. People holding hands as they
walk.</span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">Unexpectedly,
Ghulam dies. But his healing word-pictures have resulted in Paul’s recovery.</span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">Paul
asks if he may move to the window bed.</span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA; padding: 0cm;">When
he looks out of the window he looks directly at a blank, brick wall across the
narrow road.</span></i></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Image-ination
transports us into a deeper consciousness. It’s a state like floating, being in
a trance, timeless, dream-like, lost in a spa experience, the absence of
trauma. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Here we
might discover our greater selves.</span><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spirituality<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Many leaders continue to shy away from mention
of the word ‘spirituality’ – especially in a hard-nosed</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> ‘business’ context.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">One of our problems today is that we are
not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit. We’re interested in the
news of the day and the problems of the hour</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">”. We fail to hear those “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">who
speak of the eternal values that have to do with the centering of our lives</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">”.
(Campbell, J. 1988).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">A view of spirituality:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">A deep internal
focus and a sensitive outward execution</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">a meaningful,
transcending, pervasive world view that calls forth faith and hope and a higher
purpose, and rises above religion, culture and ethnicity</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">a deep
appreciation of our wonderful interconnectedness </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">an other - orientation.
The desire to serve others, society and the environment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">an awakening from
‘self’ - consciousness to a wider, deeper consciousness (and an understanding
that there is an unknown, unfathomable, deeper reality (implicate – to use a
David Bohm term) that holds together and is always interacting with what we see
and know (explicate reality)) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">the development
of positive principles and character virtues, a mature ethics and morality in
action (purity of heart) - along with a recognition that unconditional love is
the highest virtue (not only desired, but reachable) (Williams, G. &
Chalmers, C. 2017)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Spirituality is about the whole person,
embracing the physical, intellectual, emotional, social.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When we’re spiritual we think, feel and act
differently and there is congruence between these different parts. (We are
acutely aware that there is a mystical, mysterious, inexplicable dimension to
spirituality which we cannot capture here – an inner experience).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Until such time as spirituality and spiritual
governance in organisations, institutions and nations is more entrenched, some
backlash is expected.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">When
Beethoven wrote his Eroica symphony he was going deaf. The symphony is full of
passion, protest and despair. He conveyed what he felt, being alive and human.
The Eroica was pooh - poohed by the musicians of his day. But their contempt
was misplaced. They were proven wrong, and Eroica forever changed our notion of
what a symphony is. Analogous to the Eroica story is the Alcoholics Anonymous
story, and the overcoming of what most thought could never be overcome. “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">For
if words like love, honesty and trust can be mixed in with the sadness, fear,
despair, and degradation of any alcoholic’s life, then maybe spirituality is
something that alcoholics can claim, maybe there is something to this “higher
power” stuff, something that can bring release, gratitude, humility, tolerance,
and forgiveness back into lives that had lost all hope of ever experiencing them
again”.</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> (Kurtz & Ketcham, 1994)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Hopefully there will be an awakening to the
veracity of spiritual governance, and that the necessary conversations and
actions take place in organisations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Spiritual leadership within corporations may
come from different religious traditions, but spirituality is not synonymous
with religiosity. For example, Bereket in Turkey successfully follow four
interlinked streams to serve the common good. Each stream is balanced to ensure
practicality. They are:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">spiritual depth,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">ethical
sensitivity,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">positive
engagement</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">community
responsiveness. (Karakas & Sarigollu, 2013)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Starbucks found that spirituality enhances
performance and benefits customers, employees and other stakeholders. (Marques,
2008)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The different language of Poetry can paint a
word-picture that enables us to touch otherwise elusive and indescribable
meaning.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a name="_Hlk115345322" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“… may we in
this life trust to those elements we have yet to see or imagine</span></i></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
find the true shape of our own self by forming it well to the great intangibles
about us”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">David Whyte
(Working Together)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Values, Maturity and Culture in the context of
spirituality</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Society is currently characterised by values
such as look after number one; survival of the fittest; be happy and embrace pleasure;
self-esteem is grown when we succeed - and success means amassing wealth,
property and possessions, recognition, and having power and knowledge; strive
to impress by aiming at perfection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And we pay only nominal attention to developing
our personhood and presence, having a higher purpose, focussing on others and
being caring and compassionate, and stewarding the planet. These latter
interior values (not externally determined) move us towards better relating,
raised consciousness, becoming fully human. And being able to truly live wild,
live free. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And be
encouraged, “<i>Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will
have neighbors</i>”. (Confucius)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">C.S. Lewis on the nature of goodness:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Moral Value is Objective (NOT subjective) - is discovered (reasoned and elemental) not projected premise. A fundamental,
foundational nature of what it means to be human - an inheritance by the
human family. (The Tao = the way) A u</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">niversally embedded moral environment
(objectivity of values) and adopted by diverse authorities: Babylonian, Hindu,
Jewish, Egyptian, Aboriginal, Native American, Greek, Roman, Christian, Buddhist,
Chinese…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Subjectivism and Totalitarianism can happen in
communist, capitalist, fascist, democratic, positivist use of unconstrained
POWER (valued for itself) - Objective moral value is the guide to prevent
tyranny and slavery. (In our times the assumption of power by a self-appointed,
subjective "elite" to bring about their "new world order").
The umbrella of Tao is an imperative, concrete "good" reality. Practical
reason. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We have a bridge between objective and subjective value so
that objective value doesn't become absolute and dictatorial but allows for the
subjective to find the objective (from The Magician's Nephew) "<i>For
what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it
also depends on what sort of person you are".</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So philosophically, not theologically for the human
species:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Moral Value is Objective<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Moral Value is Universally Held to be Objective<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- We learn moral Value by Practice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A lifeblood Hierarchy of values that must steer our
thinking:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Eternal world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Social and political matters<span style="color: #102d51;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A lovely modern parable illustrating all that
has been written about above is Trina Paulus’s </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Hope for the Flowers</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A precis of <i>Hope for the Flowers:</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Stripe the
caterpillar seeks more, remains unsatisfied. Other caterpillars could not help.
One day he found and joined a huge, tall pile of squirming caterpillars. A
caterpillar pillar. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">They were
all pushing and struggling to get to the top. Stripe was excited, thinking that
here he might find what he sought. Everyone was too busy to explain, no one
knew what was at the top, but everyone believed it had to be good if they all
wanted to get there. “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Stripe was pushed and kicked and stepped on from every
direction. It was climb or be climbed…</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">”. A single-minded approach. No
friends, only obstacles and threats. Everyone pushing to get to the top.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">And then he
met Yellow, who was having doubts. But one day she was blocking his way up and he
stepped on her head to get ahead. He felt bad and apologised. She cried and
confessed that she hated life on the pillar, wanted out. Stripe felt the same
way. After a long while they found themselves on the side of the pillar, on
some soft, green grass. They hugged and felt good. Enjoyed every moment. Were
happy to be off the pillar and in love. But Stripe grew restless, became
unsure, and began to long for the climbing life again. One day one of the
caterpillars that fell off the pillar didn’t die at once but gasped “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The top
… they’ll see … butterflies alone</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">…” and then died. Stripe wanted to go back
and did so after a long while thinking and being in turmoil. Yellow was pulled
and pushed in both directions but eventually decided she could not, knowing
deep down that climbing was a wrong choice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Yellow was
desolated. She waited and waited for Stripe to return. One day she wandered off
and met a grey-haired caterpillar. He was hanging upside down from a tree and
explained that he was starting the process of making a cocoon in order to become
a butterfly, something “…</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful
wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and
carries the seeds of love from one flower to another”. </i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Yellow couldn’t
believe that she, an unattractive worm, could be a butterfly. Nor that she
would have to die before she could have this new life, when she could really
love. The grey-haired caterpillar assured her that after she was changed, she
could fly to Stripe and try and convince him also to become a butterfly. And so,
she took the risk …</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Meanwhile,
Stripe was making fast, ruthless progress up the caterpillar pillar. But the
pillar was taking its toll and he was quite exhausted as he neared the top. And
those nearest the top were all ruthless, and their only way to the very top was
to get rid of competitors. Many fell off.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">And
eventually he saw that there was nothing at the top. But lots of other
caterpillar pillars could be seen. He thought of Yellow. And then: </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">“A
brilliant yellow winged creature was circling the pillar, moving freely – a
wonderful sight! How did it get so high without climbing?”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Most were
unable to let go of the dark and gloomy space that was the pillar, but Stripe,
having seen a butterfly, began the long way down the pillar. At the bottom he
fell asleep and on waking the yellow creature was “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">fanning him with wings of
light … stroked him with her feelers … looked lovingly at him</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">” and showed
him how to enter a cocoon. Although afraid, he took the risk.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">And Yellow
waited. And one day ….</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">(Paulus, T. 1972)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Two aspects of spirituality deserve special mention.
Maturity and presence.</span><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Maturity<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Areas
of maturity (applied intelligences if you like), include: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">SPIRITUAL
MATURITY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is an
outcome of <i>being </i>that precedes <i>doing</i> and realises that values
that are not converted to character virtues remain empty talk. Spiritual
maturity is demonstrated by metanoia (bigger picture, non-dualistic thinking),
and kenosis (self-emptying beyond merely being prosocial). Ken
Wilbur points out that spiritual waking up without growing up can be disastrous
and abrasive. Thus, taken further, cleaning up should precede showing up. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Wilbur
also points out that pioneering psychologist Abraham Maslow topped his
framework for self-actualisation with transpersonal needs, which include
compassion.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“…
according to this more recent research, those at the lower stages of Growing Up
almost always interpret their spirituality in power-driven, egocentric, and
ethnocentric ways, thus actually predisposing them—causing them—to be
hatred-driven and given to murder, torture, and warfare—and all, of course, in
the name of the love of their God. Yet individuals at the higher stages of this
Growing Up development almost always interpret their spirituality in open,
loving, compassionate, and all-humans-included ways.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
stunning breakthrough in the last century is that we finally discovered the
major steps and stages that this overall Growing Up or development goes through.
And thus, for the first time in history, we have some say as to whether a
person’s spiritual reality will incline them toward hatred and war, or toward
love and compassion”.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
(Wilbur, K. 2018)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">EMOTIONAL
MATURITY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Emotional
Intelligence is being self-aware and managing our own emotions effectively, and
with due respect to others. (Goleman, D. 1995) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Emotional
immaturity is when people are unable or reluctant to express their feelings
appropriately or at all, shy away from venturing beyond being shallow, work
towards becoming other-oriented and being empathic - and instead, remain
self-serving, egoic. They cannot admit to being wrong or having made a mistake
and have commitment issues. ...</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Emotional
immaturity makes people prone to work-a-holism (often to mask their lack of
self- esteem)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">SOCIAL
MATURITY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Social
intelligence is the way we apply a rational, moderating brake to our
evolutionary-wired and memory-driven primitive, impulsive being. As we mature,
we become more socially adept, grow skills like listening, understanding, being
prosocial, and building healthy relationships. Share stories.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Where
the focus is on self and others do not matter, then the development of
narcissistic tendencies is possible. A sociopathic component of personality makes
us socially immature. Conversely the development of reliability, respect,
trust, compassion and a giving rather than taking nature (especially in hard
times) indicate social maturity. (Goleman, D. 2006) A recent interesting
finding aligns with dan Siegel’s shared mind idea (discussed in article 3) –
that leader-follower minds fuse (Goleman D. & Boyatzis, R. E. 2008)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">COGNITIVE
MATURITY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thinking
with a larger mind (metanoia) allows for engagement with paradox, ambiguity,
uncertainty, unpredictability. Thinking non - dualistically in ‘and/both’ terms
rather than ‘either/or’ terms often lead to better sense making, problem
solving, decision making, and a predisposition to accept diversity. (This
includes thinking in terms of relationship-building being the best route to
superior task performance). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Cognitive
maturity allows for open-mindedness, adaptability, and agile response. It
usually goes hand in hand with sound self-esteem (which in turn admits to
genuineness, authenticity, imperfection and vulnerability). And a mature
thinking capacity spans the temporal range (future, past and present) including
non-tick tock/linear time.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ETHICAL
MATURITY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oberlechner
puts it succinctly: <i>“Virtue ethics … emphasizes the character,
motivation, and intention of the decision maker. The understanding of ethics in
virtue ethics represents a comprehensive approach, not a specific approach,
because it moves beyond the examination of single isolated issues or
situations. It looks at ethics from an agent-based perspective, not an
action-based perspective; it addresses characteristics of the decision maker’s
personality rather than particular actions (as in the rules and guidelines for
actions in deontological theories) or consequences of actions (as in
consequentialist theories)”</i>. (Oberlechner, T. 1997)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Development is affected by numerous factors but tends
to move from </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: ACaslon-Regular;">self – interest (reinforced by punishment avoidance, then
later by reward seeking), then meeting the expectations of others (for their
approval, and later in the interest of law and order); then becoming principled
(adopting principles that promote societal welfare - a ‘social contract’,
followed by entrenching principles that are arrived at through independent
reasoning - a personal virtues framework
and a level of responsibility to self) (Oberlechner, T. 2007)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">PHYSICAL
MATURITY</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Embodiment
and interoception are areas of study based on an interrelated mind - body
concept. (The physiological, psychological and psychosocial interplays between
the causes, reactions to and alleviation of stress and trauma, for example, are
now widely accepted). Physical stirrings may trigger intuitive insights.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">These
different maturities are not separate from each other. Cognitive maturity might
come into play when having to solve a problem, make a decision, make sense of
something - but without the spiritual aspect of wisdom it will not be
sufficient. Technical/ Task maturity and all the knowledge and experience in
the world, if not linked with the relationship dynamics of emotional and social
maturity, will not result in optimum workplace performance and employee growth.
Ethical maturity is in some ways an outcome of an intersection of spiritual,
cognitive and social maturity. And being mature in the midst of a heated argument,
and pausing to identify feelings and reaction possibilities before responding
(verbally or physically) may be driven by the intersection of a number of the
maturities outlined above. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Presence<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwFf_u-l01ETR5pnpnDGyxLUsLIPQCkouBOBVcuRckDPpuIJzZzbTx_eOitqKi8OCTj0mVrtROsw-Vr3ky8UjJZg4w776qEPlyl_k59654QJzlMvZUbAWZMT_zBCq6uoSbXL4_hTOLTOTLb2zFFj7-c6Dwr-TGa5m0bmOAjNM3hOPT1cHLxuZe1Rb/s237/christian4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="237" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFwFf_u-l01ETR5pnpnDGyxLUsLIPQCkouBOBVcuRckDPpuIJzZzbTx_eOitqKi8OCTj0mVrtROsw-Vr3ky8UjJZg4w776qEPlyl_k59654QJzlMvZUbAWZMT_zBCq6uoSbXL4_hTOLTOTLb2zFFj7-c6Dwr-TGa5m0bmOAjNM3hOPT1cHLxuZe1Rb/w400-h277/christian4.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Bonnell, D. 2011)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Summary of this 5-article series</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We need a meaningful response to malaise that
cloaks society as economic, environmental, technological and societal woes
beset us and we find ourselves leaderless, betrayed, lied to, and on the cusp
of losing not only our freedom but our very humanity. I have been disturbed to
see the very fragility of democracy, and how easily the legal system can be
kidnapped to introduce undemocratic and discriminatory laws, to harshly punish
the ‘disobedient’, reinforce totalitarianism. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(This is nothing new. Round about 80 years ago C.S. Lewis (as discussed by Steven Wedgeworth) wrote </span><i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">"(The Abolition of Man,) </span></i><a name="_Hlk118967097" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>The Hideous Strength, </i>about the 'elite' technocrats (and "their applied science from a National point
of view", who run the National Institute of Co-ordinated
Experiments; their 'lo</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">gical
positivism'. These “<i>men without chests</i>” - those thinkers and supposed educators
who promote brain and stomach, but reject the validity of mind and
heart". In their view</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Man doesn't need nature and should evolve beyond mere
humanity - and will use 'science' freely, use emergency powers, transcend
normal law in order to achieve their aims, and in the process become god. (Wedgeworth, s. 2013)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reversal of this evil requires
the building of solid, sustainable values that convert to virtues, the building
of structures that last, the building of bridges not walls at every level.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Such a meaningful response draws on latent,
emerging capacities of heart and mind, a counter-intuitive process of
engagement with others, and an understanding of the degree to which we are
interconnected, compassionate beings – a humankind that is human and kind. This
is soul work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is not a call to activate protest but to
invoke compassion, wisdom, connection, beauty, wonder, gratitude, forgiveness –
and habitual reflection that fills our minds with good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>Maybe urgency is inviting us to slow down,
to listen, to see who is here with us, to consult, and then to respond to
glimpses of possibility that peek through the fabric of the moment” </i>– Bayo
Akomolafe, Nigerian-born philosopher, author and psychologist. <i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Meditation and Dialogue is in some quarters
referred to as and ‘sacred activism’, and integral to our response. As is Story
bridging and circle work. We lead from the heart-mind (with a deeper
understanding of ‘mind’ as having a bridging capacity that operates in both
explicate and implicate reality)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A thread of healing runs through the 5
discussions <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Can we do enough? Can we be enough?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dominique Lapierre relates an incident when he
offered a contribution to Mother Theresa’s work:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Mother, I know that what we have brought is
only a drop in the ocean of need…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Her reply: “<i>But if that drop were not in
the ocean, the ocean would miss it. And it is God who has sent you”</i>, she
interrupted me with amused gentleness. (Lapierre, D. 1999)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rabbi Baal Shem Tov died in Ukraine in the 18</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
century. During his last days because he knew that his disciples would feel
lost without him, he called on them disciples to gather around, saying to them,
“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">For many years I have gone to a special place in the forest, lit a fire,
prayed. And God has always come to our aid and we felt His love”</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“But what now that you are leaving us?”,</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> they cried out in anguish.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<i>You know where to go and what to do</i>”,
he said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For many years after his death, his followers
did as they were instructed when they were in need, and all was well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A generation later, the people forgot how to
properly make ready and light the fire. But it was enough. God still came to
their aid. And they let His love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Years later as changes took place and yet
another generation came into being, the community could no longer remember
precisely where the holy place was. But because they still prayed, God heard
them, loved them, and came to help them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eventually as time went by, they lost the
habit of prayer. All except for one person to whom Baal Shem Tov’s story and instructions
were handed down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That person continued to pray, and retold the
story, once more shared the instructions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And it was enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Poised</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The world is in a sorry state, but a wonderful
new world is poised to emerge from the ashes as things play out. We are poised
to contribute in a wonderful way (without any superiority nor arrogance) as we employ
our minds and hearts and connections and tap into the capacities and resources
available to us. What, how and when are of course highly individual matters and
choices. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Contemporary of Sigmund Freud, Japanese
psychologist Shōma Morita: “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">When it is raining, if you have an umbrella,
then use it</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bashō beautifully and exactly captures this uncertainty
of what happens next. Like the dragonfly, humankind is delicately poised.
(Hass, 2010).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The dragonfly <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">can't quite land <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">on that blade of grass</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (Bashō) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During this poised, liminal space, a personal
exercise worth doing may be:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqWXIrH5Va5KwtJKGLQwqMN7sQBfD-9NazmnQnSKlPw1cR5GC_3V1hCS2am5GwVWQBh_oABAc1eqkI_xi9bgt9sEWRpJmiEEU7pcYydKlcYH_B93WSToSXzRvH0ZIX27bvRs5gMBDOuedRAOh-ca5ez-M49Qegq6ZhqO89VMN5evFkzI9M40l_n18/s407/boat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="407" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqWXIrH5Va5KwtJKGLQwqMN7sQBfD-9NazmnQnSKlPw1cR5GC_3V1hCS2am5GwVWQBh_oABAc1eqkI_xi9bgt9sEWRpJmiEEU7pcYydKlcYH_B93WSToSXzRvH0ZIX27bvRs5gMBDOuedRAOh-ca5ez-M49Qegq6ZhqO89VMN5evFkzI9M40l_n18/w400-h255/boat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">R.P.Steiner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Think
about the negative occurrences and consequences, the baggage that hinders your
ability to live fully. Actively imagine lifting this heavy weight (symbolised
by a rock) and throwing it away. A rock that is keeping the boat (you) from
being able to float and travel as it was designed to do. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
rocks may represent a relationship that needs mending, a limiting belief, a
button that keeps on being pushed, a fixed/ rigid mind-set, a bias or prejudice
that surfaces from time to time, a shadow aspect of yourself that you have pushed
beneath the surface because you’ve been conditioned to hide from others what
might make you less acceptable - a behaviour, a compulsion, aspiration, fear, even
the hiding of a wonderful interest or strength. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As each
rock is lifted and thrown out of the boat, consider its impact on yourself,
others. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Letting
go of divisiveness releases inclusivity, a threat or problem may become an
opportunity, criticism gives way to acceptance and praise, releasing anger and
hate ushers in peace and love, seeing beyond doubt about someone’s ability
exposes their potential … most times the cost of letting go is less than the
cost of hanging on. Letting go, discarding what inhibits, holds back is
wonderfully liberating and frees us to do and become what we may be. More than
enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFLECTION QUESTIONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Will staying true to the Tao, slowing down, returning to nature and our
true nature, practicing of gratitude, wonder, forgiveness; building small
communities, being compassionate, standing up for and ushering in a new normal
we can be proud of and wish our children to inherit – help to turn things
around? What early steps would you recommend to someone wish to escape the paradigms,
values and behaviours of the World that have recently emerged, and instead live
wild and live free?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">2. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">What actions are most needed in our society and
our organisations now to bring <i>Hope for the Flowers</i>?</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">What do you read into Antony Gormley’s
sculpture “<i>Quantum Cloud</i>” in terms of the 5 articles in this series
(bringing light in - to counter darkness; our interconnectedness, integration
and the mind; the nature of dialogue and thought pools; living wild and living
free with heart and soul)?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YhujqZxO8R94fdaACj1LXBoSWPzYy759gcO1_xZtWsBBXATG2RSJh1G8XxTCe4HocQo4DlvuP0YPPaLvQmPM-bNcTzBxGGcX_b25bUn8gNJNkl2LbwXoIo-8212KSMI9UC-RS2DE9lRmbSjBpH2n9xfqQCcSoFsaqrvp2CoJtnUJc9HoLd7GXZv7/s269/Bohm%20GORMLEY.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="201" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YhujqZxO8R94fdaACj1LXBoSWPzYy759gcO1_xZtWsBBXATG2RSJh1G8XxTCe4HocQo4DlvuP0YPPaLvQmPM-bNcTzBxGGcX_b25bUn8gNJNkl2LbwXoIo-8212KSMI9UC-RS2DE9lRmbSjBpH2n9xfqQCcSoFsaqrvp2CoJtnUJc9HoLd7GXZv7/w299-h400/Bohm%20GORMLEY.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Antony Gormley Quantum Cloud</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFERENCES</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Bonnell, Daniel painting (2011) </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The Road to
Emmaus</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Campbell, J. (1988) </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The Power of Myth</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">
New York: Doubleday</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Goleman,
Daniel (1995) <i>Emotional intelligence</i> Bantam Books, NY</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Goleman,
Daniel (2006) <i>Social Intelligence</i> Hutchinson, London<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Goleman,
Daniel and Boyatzis, Richard E. (2008) <i>Social Intelligence and the Biology of
leadership</i> HBR </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2008/09/social-intelligence-and-the-biology-of-leadership"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://hbr.org/2008/09/social-intelligence-and-the-biology-of-leadership</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Karakas, F. & Sarigollu, E. (2013) </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The
Role of Leadership in Creating Virtuous and Compassionate Organizations:
Narratives of Benevolent Leadership in an Anatolian Tiger</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> Journal of
Business Ethics 113:663–678</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Kurtz, Ernest & Ketcham, Katherine (1994) </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The
Spirituality of Imperfection; storytelling and the journey to wholeness</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">
Bantam Books</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Lapierre, Dominique (1999) </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">A Thousand Suns</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">
Simon & Schuster UK</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Marques, J.F. (2008) </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Spiritual performance
from an organizational perspective: the Starbucks way</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> Corporate Governance:
The international journal of business in society, Volume: 8 Issue: 3</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oberlechner, Thomas (1997) <i>The Psychology of Ethics in the
Finance and Investment Industry</i> The Research Foundation of the CFA
Institute 2007, citing Dobson, J. Ethics in Finance II Financial Analysts
Journal, vol. 53, no. 1 (January/February):15–25. 1997<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oberlechner, Thomas (2007) </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Gotham-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Psychology of Ethics in the Finance
and Investment Industry </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Gotham-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Research
Foundation of the CFA Institute 2007
citing </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: ACaslon-Regular;">Kohlberg, L., C. Levine, and A. Hewer <i>Moral Stages: A Current Formulation and a Response to Critic</i>s In </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: ACaslon-Italic;">Contributions to Human
Development, Vol. 10</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: ACaslon-Regular;">.
1983 Edited by J.A. Meacham. New York: Karger<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Paulus,
Trina (1972) <i>Hope for the Flowers</i> Paulus Press<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rohr,
Richard (2020) <i>Love, the Highest Form of Knowing</i> (Knowing and not
Knowing) Centre for Action and Contemplation Friday January 31<sup>st</sup>
2020</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Siegel, Daniel J. MD (2018) <i>Aware: the science and practice of
presence (The ground-breaking meditation practice)</i> Perigee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tolle,
Eckhart <i>Eckhart Tolle Teaching the Power of Presence</i> Personal
Growth Information.com </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://personalgrowthinformation.com/1291/eckhart-tolle-teaching-on-the-power-of-presence/#:~:text=Eckhart%20Tolle%20explains%3A,awareness%20behind%20the%20thought%20processes"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://personalgrowthinformation.com/1291/eckhart-tolle-teaching-on-the-power-of-presence/#:~:text=Eckhart%20Tolle%20explains%3A,awareness%20behind%20the%20thought%20processes</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Vincent van Gogh -
Enclosed Field with Ploughman</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Enclosed_Field_with_Ploughman_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Enclosed_Field_with_Ploughman_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a name="_Hlk118967097" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #102d51; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></a><a name="_Hlk118967097"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Wedgeworth, Steven (2013) </span></a>From The Politics of N.I.C.E. Calvinist International</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a name="_Hlk118967097" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #102d51; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></a><a href="https://calvinistinternational.com/2013/02/24/the-politics-of-n-i-c-e/" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">https://calvinistinternational.com/2013/02/24/the-politics-of-n-i-c-e/</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Wilbur,
Ken (2018) </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Wake Up. Grow Up. The Leading Edge of the Unknown in the
Human Being </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Amazon</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://integral-life-home.s3.amazonaws.com/Wilber-WakeUpGrowUp-TheEdgeOfTheUnknown.pdf"><span style="color: #751f04; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">http://integral-life-home.s3.amazonaws.com/Wilber-WakeUpGrowUp-TheEdgeOfTheUnknown.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Williams, Graham with Chalmers, Carolynn
(2017) <i>The Arrival of Corporate Spiritual Governance</i> Journal of
Spirituality, Leadership and Management, 2017, vol. 9, pp. 1-19 </span><a href="http://www.slam.org.au/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.slam.org.au</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Published by Spirituality, Leadership and
Management Inc<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuSXnk6HnVDnzxGlJW979ERkhpAUEKlb7oOLDo9o9gfpGJMr3N-sp4Ypmq9bd7iiJIpVWf71h_4UzoP0Gs5tvtOygpgruM70RRCDljreYQ1PgofWIwqcyWdiByvDiwdvBdzMSrvfnjMuhGc9Zpd_Pyrlo_1t-ylFfikVYbRifjFSwEhSqbAFRxx-i/s602/Books33Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="602" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuSXnk6HnVDnzxGlJW979ERkhpAUEKlb7oOLDo9o9gfpGJMr3N-sp4Ypmq9bd7iiJIpVWf71h_4UzoP0Gs5tvtOygpgruM70RRCDljreYQ1PgofWIwqcyWdiByvDiwdvBdzMSrvfnjMuhGc9Zpd_Pyrlo_1t-ylFfikVYbRifjFSwEhSqbAFRxx-i/w400-h314/Books33Cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p></div><p><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-87819308450284695732022-11-01T07:09:00.005-07:002022-11-04T05:57:24.395-07:00SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS AUDIENCE: TESTING! DOES THIS NEW LEARNING PROGRAMME APPEAL TO YOU?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Story Bridging is a new and important contribution to healing our divided, traumatised society, organisations, communities and families. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We are contemplating offering a brand new self-directed, distance learning course on the topic in South Africa.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Please let me know after looking at the course outline your level of interest and likelihood of doing the course: <a href="mailto:centserv@iafrica.com">centserv@iafrica.com</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Any other comments you may have will be most welcome.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">(click on images to enlarge)</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9Jw4-Rj3aLkPwCBSu3VrMQcrR6dItz4BP6Q0kQkr9ceZygAkigj5wRo-QulGBLQpQeF6Lwwx43jy6H3eEPN6ioEQV733F2I3XESz__xFMd1Q8DVA56JnwgW9uhHdunRAV7Dq4EDsR8GHtertjMpIGSKayYGkOP8ZHaK9DPmgaMA_cZBXBa_r19NT/s693/bridgecourse1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="693" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9Jw4-Rj3aLkPwCBSu3VrMQcrR6dItz4BP6Q0kQkr9ceZygAkigj5wRo-QulGBLQpQeF6Lwwx43jy6H3eEPN6ioEQV733F2I3XESz__xFMd1Q8DVA56JnwgW9uhHdunRAV7Dq4EDsR8GHtertjMpIGSKayYGkOP8ZHaK9DPmgaMA_cZBXBa_r19NT/w400-h225/bridgecourse1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US">At the end of 2019 Graham Williams was requested by the
Editor of the Encyclopedia of Business Storytelling to write a chapter for this
work, to be published by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">World Scientific are a prestigious organization
who publish the Nobel speeches, text - books for Harvard, Princeton and Stanford
universities, and quality encyclopedias. For the first time ever there will be
an encyclopedia devoted to business storytelling. In meeting that request we (Graham and co-authors Steve Banhegyi and Terrence Gargiulo) greatly expanded the chapter into a book that fully describes the
rationale for, explanation of, and detailed process for practical
implementation of story-bridging at all levels – within, personal, community,
organization, institution, and nation-state.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Our hope is that the over time the book reaches
every eye, mind, heart, and spirit that will be blessed by it - everyone who
wishes to embrace the challenge and discipline of building bridges instead of
walls in our traumatized World. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Now we are delighted to contemplate offering the first
training course based on the book. A Professional Certified
course (Self-directed, distance learning) estimated to take 15 hours to work through the material, reflections, exercises, video clips....</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The Story Bridging book is the prescribed text -
book for this course. A must-have reference for all story bridging
practitioners.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Global Kindle
version: <u><a href="https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx">https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx</a></u><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iUs8UdXjVhYTkNOB77N5jm42Y--9mk4FvjiGamfPN3xLksZYx6g6FLjZSEQukN8r0QMEowQeSaDldSd41IgvBh9GuJIsE2V3diEKXN2o139qp4E_Y-Xa1OZLmpE0PT7YXeDwurNdI9BFO7b0b-w3_MMx_lXDGfzh2QrbMBCuoMahbo8aeUA0IiG7/s707/bridgecourse2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="707" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iUs8UdXjVhYTkNOB77N5jm42Y--9mk4FvjiGamfPN3xLksZYx6g6FLjZSEQukN8r0QMEowQeSaDldSd41IgvBh9GuJIsE2V3diEKXN2o139qp4E_Y-Xa1OZLmpE0PT7YXeDwurNdI9BFO7b0b-w3_MMx_lXDGfzh2QrbMBCuoMahbo8aeUA0IiG7/w400-h225/bridgecourse2.jpg" width="400" /></a></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> click to enlarge</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We believe that
you will get the most out of this self-directed learning programme if:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->You
follow the order in which the material is presented. (Of course, there is a
natural tendency to jump ahead. Some that we know are very anxious to get to
the application section as soon as possible so that they can quickly start
practicing story bridging). Patience
will pay off<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->There
is a lot of content and nuanced ideas. Pause often to digest and reflect on
what you have learnt. Take frequent, short breaks (Getting immersed in too much
material at any one time can overwhelm and confuse)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Devote
as much time as you can to doing the exercise and discussing the material with
others who are doing the course with you or are trusted advisers. Sometimes the
best learning takes place “outside of the classroom”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Don’t
fret if you don’t grasp something immediately. Leave that part and go back to
it later. If something continues to elude or concern you, please be in touch
with us, your presenters.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqgRhQ7G7qXNFUjaFrmLl8FXmPHO-oXkcQnookpCy40nvfxUYDxGl6dAT2i6oi6b6uQA67LWlOwVfmlyz9vw5FBDaXqGTV2ALTMfLN9VKMkOaTccCYsxFv86_81LE0VXtGXeea6qw1i8K6M7N5dBB38DNr04S6dOND-4xWb-ZdZQLGujPT4bIKVLC/s698/bridgecourse3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="698" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqgRhQ7G7qXNFUjaFrmLl8FXmPHO-oXkcQnookpCy40nvfxUYDxGl6dAT2i6oi6b6uQA67LWlOwVfmlyz9vw5FBDaXqGTV2ALTMfLN9VKMkOaTccCYsxFv86_81LE0VXtGXeea6qw1i8K6M7N5dBB38DNr04S6dOND-4xWb-ZdZQLGujPT4bIKVLC/w400-h225/bridgecourse3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">click to enlarge</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Look at these
objectives carefully. They cover knowledge, understanding, application of the story-bridging
process, skills, and characteristics<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Change the
objectives to fit with what <i>you</i> want to get out of this course - Make
them your own</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8WQgVMNky_Ev4XYoLHXo7jz75vjLGOVWvh_upv_8ZGbGdkaE7LlAsWYdla-R23z5KFzzzLP4iH5NwYmui-3gAke3VocfCDFtOsZ4_IWmS4xje9w_57iniLcF19TPA-pfHsf0_BBO6Rv4xvKz-j66_I_fOqsq6Uy0KUySN-kutDExp9uho-Ub3nR4/s688/bridgecourse4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="688" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8WQgVMNky_Ev4XYoLHXo7jz75vjLGOVWvh_upv_8ZGbGdkaE7LlAsWYdla-R23z5KFzzzLP4iH5NwYmui-3gAke3VocfCDFtOsZ4_IWmS4xje9w_57iniLcF19TPA-pfHsf0_BBO6Rv4xvKz-j66_I_fOqsq6Uy0KUySN-kutDExp9uho-Ub3nR4/w400-h225/bridgecourse4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Presenting this course, from South Africa, are
Graham Williams and Steve Banhegyi. Both are authors, consult to organisations,
coach, and are well known storytellers. Together they founded and run </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://culturescan.biz</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-williams-b5857b28">https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-williams-b5857b28</a></span></u></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebanhegyi/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebanhegyi/</a></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Both Steve and Graham will be available to
participants during the programme should there be any difficulties with any
aspect of their self-directed learning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Please let me know your interest in taking this course: </span><a href="mailto:centserv@iafrica.com" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">centserv@iafrica.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-85471503872811562242022-10-03T01:13:00.004-07:002022-11-01T04:07:24.266-07:00CURING MALADY AT WORK<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi9k5XaQLaGv3fMZ2kyOQhE7GIRQrRzUtd6QTZeDFCuJBkqc-zL5sr8UxPEgB526cOnfpmit5fjJjiQ0LqEezAG8TdQmd70r7SoXTPje2PI4xQYtTEBZxzua6BL88X7hsct7authhIadxI4iRW62KQKJHdaHAqbAfIRRFIxvQ_rfGom7mf5TTTWBR/s1145/Wellness.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1145" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi9k5XaQLaGv3fMZ2kyOQhE7GIRQrRzUtd6QTZeDFCuJBkqc-zL5sr8UxPEgB526cOnfpmit5fjJjiQ0LqEezAG8TdQmd70r7SoXTPje2PI4xQYtTEBZxzua6BL88X7hsct7authhIadxI4iRW62KQKJHdaHAqbAfIRRFIxvQ_rfGom7mf5TTTWBR/w400-h268/Wellness.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Check
the facts<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Call on your own
INDEPENDENT FACT CHECKERS and you will confirm for yourself that:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">The impact of covid-19 and the authoritarian way it
was handled by most governments and some organizations led to wellness concerns, issues (and suffering) for employees – both physical and mental</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Nearly three years later there is a raised awareness
of the importance of proper nutrition, exercise and fitness, better work-home
integration…</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Pre-eminent trauma psychiatrist and
psychotherapist, Dr Gabor Maté in his latest book <i>The Myth of Normal</i> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">gives proof that there
is nothing 'normal' about the way we are living and the level of stress and
toxicity we face on a daily basis. (</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">Maté, G. 2022)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">There <i>is</i> a definite
need for organizations to pay more attention to helping employees to meet their
changing wellness needs. Here is </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">a staggering statistic and a wonderful opportunity: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">In the UK “…<i>every one-in-two work-related ill - health cases is </i></span><i style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">caused by stress or poor mental health</span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">… <i>If you know what’s
bothering your people, you’ve got a great head-start to help them overcome
their problem”. </i>(Goldman, R. 2022)</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Think about Joseph Campbell and the Heroes Journey – and the anecdotes we hear so frequently every day now. From safe, familiar ground, having been thrust into the “new normal”, family and friends are reporting occurrences that they have never experienced before. Like depression. They have entered the dark unknown forest, are facing inner ‘thought and feeling’ demons. They are anxious, disrupted, dissociated, not coping, not concentrating when working. Not recovering. Too proud to seek proper help, or mention it to colleagues. Recovery eludes them. How will their story end? </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Diagnoses</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is sad that a book
called <i>Lost Connections</i> was published during this era of great connectivity.
It highlights how we have in fact become disconnected from ourselves, others,
meaningful work, meaningful values and a reasonable hope for the future. (Hari,
J. 2018) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Covid-19 social
distancing and regulations that (rightly or wrongly) infringed on our basic
rights, have added to the extent to which we have become disconnected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And in an earlier exposition
called <i>Stolen Focus</i> Hari explains how this technological, ‘connected’
age has led to our inability to concentrate. (Hari, J. 2022) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Probably exacerbated
by ‘long covid’ brain - fog. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hari’s piѐce de résistance
is a talk explaining how t</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">he world in
which we live is characterised by social isolation and uprooted values – the causes
of widespread anxiety, depression and trauma. (Hari, J. 2019) Every CEO and HR
Director should watch and learn from this: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Especially
because a new phenomenon is being reported, that of ‘silent quitting’: not
speaking out but working-to-rule, doing the minimum possible when more is
required for organisations to perform and survive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Towards a Cure<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even if they don’t
verbalize it, employees are crying out for physical and mental health and
wellness support. <o:p></o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">A large and increasing number of employees
are traumatized and immobilized by the pressure of living and coping in today’s
world. These pressures are financial, relational, to do with self-doubt,
uncertainty, hostility, changes and other characteristics of the so-called new
‘normal’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CultureScan offer an
up-to-date, confidential, valid and extremely useful wellness check for organizations,
that leads to fast and direct improvement-action. This is a great way for
leaders to listen and learn, and then respond immediately. The short, focused
probe covers the coping and resilience status of employees; their experience of
and sense of the overall wellness situation and what is happening in their
circles; and their reading of new needs that are emerging - for both remote and
onsite workers. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do a sample (non-customized assessment) at: </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/wellness-assessment/" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">https://culturescan.biz/wellness-assessment/ </a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Then enquire regarding how to quickly set it up for your organisation at </span><a href="https://culturescan.biz/contact-us/" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">culturescan.biz</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Or be in touch with me: </span><a href="mailto:centserv@iafrica.com" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">centserv@iafrica.com</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">In s<span style="font-size: 12pt;">upport of conducting the assessment for your organization is a timely article by Dr Curtis Friedel, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Enhancing leadership by promoting coping behaviour</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (in order to boost creativity and problem solving) (Curtis, C.R. 2022) Psychological safety, employer: employee bonding and an improved wellness climate are also promoted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Care. By being
decisive and commissioning the Wellness Assessment for your organization now.</span></p>
<h3 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #232323; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #232323; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">References<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #232323; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Friedel, Curtis R. Dr (2022) <i>Enhancing
leadership by promoting coping behaviour</i> Training Zone. 1 September, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/lead/strategy/enhancing-leadership-by-promoting-coping-behaviour">https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/lead/strategy/enhancing-leadership-by-promoting-coping-behaviour</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Goldman, Russell
(2022) <i>Five Golden Rules for Workplace Wellbeing</i> HR Zone 23 September
2022<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hari, Johann (2018) <i>Lost
connections: uncovering the real causes of depression and the unexpected
solutions</i> Bloomsbury<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hari, Johann (2019) <i>This
could be why you are depressed or anxious</i> You Tube 11 October, 2019 </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE"><span lang="EN-US">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hari, Johann (2022) <i>Stolen focus: why you
can’t pay attention – and how to think deeply agai</i></span><i>n</i> Kindle<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Maté,
Gabor MD, with Maté, Daniel (2022) <i>The Myth of Normal: trauma, illness and
healing in a toxic culture</i> Avery<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">IMAGE<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/The_Stethoscope%2C_Peru.jpg/640px-The_Stethoscope%2C_Peru.jpg">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/The_Stethoscope%2C_Peru.jpg/640px-The_Stethoscope%2C_Peru.jpg</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span></p>
<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Build bridges, deal with the walls between and within.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx" style="color: #751f04;">3aJ8xWx</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0_Z9xSQPfwPvOvjZo3JAbl6efeCrEf0XnqE_bzp6GFwe92uPTwztpmefI_VooIKRlXCMuLOiXPUPi63qvIwoYVkuyP1NaOodiN4dgBajxF9hh-_iJEs6RUjx0tuP5gGPVeC8UnBwJhykPZdLVUQDVA50Syq7fGDbN5yBcS8HSBbgg5_xNv1kz92Z/s602/Books33Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="602" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0_Z9xSQPfwPvOvjZo3JAbl6efeCrEf0XnqE_bzp6GFwe92uPTwztpmefI_VooIKRlXCMuLOiXPUPi63qvIwoYVkuyP1NaOodiN4dgBajxF9hh-_iJEs6RUjx0tuP5gGPVeC8UnBwJhykPZdLVUQDVA50Syq7fGDbN5yBcS8HSBbgg5_xNv1kz92Z/w400-h314/Books33Cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p></div><p><br /></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-57742854434533690342022-09-13T05:57:00.002-07:002022-09-13T17:53:57.294-07:00Quo Vadis Leader Development?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa6laEZNYzTIf7vTbTRMODzzCDLTA9UPSmZsvfCckVwnlx4ImhKu9yC8xUJCZTA7uLe5JbIa2wXvOrdY-HpwPUD5N70zsD_qpTkxwmA7MA394dRg9thJCQ7IT0oIxIaUgrxjJ5sXNB4haa5CD4ccM1Com6uJ0tqmfuE-iyXYSxjz4NoA2W5gKZl9Y/s568/leading.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="568" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa6laEZNYzTIf7vTbTRMODzzCDLTA9UPSmZsvfCckVwnlx4ImhKu9yC8xUJCZTA7uLe5JbIa2wXvOrdY-HpwPUD5N70zsD_qpTkxwmA7MA394dRg9thJCQ7IT0oIxIaUgrxjJ5sXNB4haa5CD4ccM1Com6uJ0tqmfuE-iyXYSxjz4NoA2W5gKZl9Y/w400-h198/leading.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: maroon;"><strong>Two Observations</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I suspect that few would argue against these propositions:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>The quality of leadership has been on the decline - whether political, institutional, organizational or within families. (Examples of good leaders are occasionally put forward, but as exceptions to the rule: Hannibal, Ford, Churchill … Certainly, follower respect, trust and confidence in their leaders continues to fall dramatically. This decline has steepened due to the conduct of both public and private sector leaders since the advent of the covid-19 pandemic and how it has been handled. Certainly the perception by some that a small self-appointed elite (by definition: arrogant) seeks to rule and control the wider collective hasn't instilled any confidence in leadership).</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li> The proliferation of leadership - development efforts has been confusing. (There is always a new ‘flavour of the month’, accompanied by outrageous claims by consultants, trainers and academia. Yet, little changes except the volume of writing – often characterised by increasing complexity. Contemporary theories include competency-based leadership, authentic leadership, situational leadership, results-based-leadership, servant leadership, spiritual or ‘conscious’ leadership, dispersed or distributed leadership, adaptive leadership, agile and resilient leadership, mindful from-the-inside-out leadership, leader-as-coach, shared/ group leadership…) </li></ul><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It’s tempting to draw a cause-and-effect correlation between these two propositions! (It may be more likely that leadership quality has declined due to the force of cultural and societal trends (profit and power maximisation, rise of narcissism, demise of participative democracy, and the magnified difficulties of leading (and not withdrawing!) during a time when environments, operating climate, staff expectations and loyalties, markets, technology, competition, how and where work is done, are all hugely and continuously changing …) …) </div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div><p>Click to enlarge:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6YB840RiFshAf5ReVoqfto5HkP3WyOQm_X_zZm0bV3Q-_nWHBu0VRe4-JEMQTx27ft1OvlogUp0ZTbqa-ATKPdvoXQo2IySwHs1ox-OpglKFQjaZQYW-4anRxSvfSfOSgV2ncMeuGFjcNwqm22bGXbc0OIgPgRpu1Ls1lPhJdIYEXCQILPNjTOvW/s724/leader%20training.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="724" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6YB840RiFshAf5ReVoqfto5HkP3WyOQm_X_zZm0bV3Q-_nWHBu0VRe4-JEMQTx27ft1OvlogUp0ZTbqa-ATKPdvoXQo2IySwHs1ox-OpglKFQjaZQYW-4anRxSvfSfOSgV2ncMeuGFjcNwqm22bGXbc0OIgPgRpu1Ls1lPhJdIYEXCQILPNjTOvW/w400-h214/leader%20training.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Well over 100 years ago the name of the game was centralisation, command and control - to impose the will of the leader on the people. Have we now come full circle? Maybe leaders are feeling a great need to control precisely because they fear losing control in a new world of work, or when new, not-before-experienced situations arise?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Whatever your conclusion you may still ask, “Where to Now?” In an era of new relationship dynamics, new values, new working contexts, new and different employee expectations of Employee Value Propositions and wellness concerns - surely leadership development, coaching and training content and approaches need a drastic relook?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: maroon;"><strong>Three Reflections</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Three items for your awareness and reflection.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">1.LEADERS ARE FALLIBLE. They may earn respect and trust but should not be idolised, worshipped. Although flaws are usually disguised and well hidden, being human, all people are fallible, have or lack personal maturity, virtues, vices, motives and vested interests, and weaknesses, and finite coping mechanisms. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Because, as the old proverb says, “<em>A fish rots from the head</em>”, when the dark side of leadership manifests, then followers suffer. And what more and more are seeing to be a truism, “<em>In a septic tank </em>(as in a country, institution or big corporation) <em>the biggest turds float to the top”. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Babiak and Hare have contributed to studies of the leadership mental health phenomenon and their work is well explained on the YouTube: <em>I Am Fishhead - Are Corporate Leaders Psychopaths?</em> (Babiak, P. & Hare, R. 2007) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In my view a narcissistic/ psychopathic/ Machiavellian (dark triad) combination is particularly potent.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We all have feet of clay but should nonetheless be held to account for the responsibilities we accept, and the promises we make. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Reflect on this: Why do so many men become incompetent leaders?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/why_do_so_many_incompetent_men.html%20%20%20August,%202013" style="color: #751f04;">http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/why_do_so_many_incompetent_men.html August, 2013</a> (Chamorro-Premuzic, Dr T. 2013)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And on this lovely story of some good (albeit counter-intuitive) leadership:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://samilhistory.com/2017/04/15/comrades-legend-springbok-and-war-veteran-the-remarkable-bill-payn/" style="color: #751f04;">https://samilhistory.com/2017/04/15/comrades-legend-springbok-and-war-veteran-the-remarkable-bill-payn/ </a> (Dickens, P. 2022)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Alternatively: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/sport/the-brandy-fuelled-springbok-who-ran-the-comrades-in-his-rugby-boots-e5462b7e-2ab6-44d0-9c3a-27dc38a01d12" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.iol.co.za/sport/the-brandy-fuelled-springbok-who-ran-the-comrades-in-his-rugby-boots-e5462b7e-2ab6-44d0-9c3a-27dc38a01d12 </a> (Greenaway, M. 2022)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> Surely strength of character is paramoun?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">2.LEADERS ARE AN INTEGRAL, INTERCONNECTED PART OF THE COUNTRY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY OPERATE </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The long-term damage to countries and organisations, and their citizens and members, due to corrupt, incompetent, self-focused leadership can be horrific. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">There is always a good chance that the power-holder’s personality characteristics, by a process of osmosis, become part of the organisation’s culture. This is the true danger of dark leadership. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">When harmful cultural norms, habits and responses become second nature, then individuals are no longer consciously aware that they are behaving in a dysfunctional way, or that they are responsible for their own behaviour. Group pathology has been absorbed by and entrenched in individuals. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It seems that forced conformity and diffused responsibility are both in play here. As is a ‘<em>fragmentation of conscience’</em>, motivated by fear and self – preservation. (Scott Peck, M. 1990)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Psychologist Irving Janis: “<em>When certain conditions are present … groups quickly reach consensus decisions with amazing disregard for obvious warning signs that they are on the wrong track. Extremely cohesive groups, oriented around a strong leader, will ignore or punish dissenting opinions”.</em> (Sachs, J. 2012) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We simply can’t afford to stay locked into command and control - style leadership (no matter what the pressures are to do this). The World deserves better. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Is there still doubt that in terms of the development and training of future leaders - tuned-in, compassionate, responsible leaders are desperately needed? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://culturescan.biz/" style="color: #751f04;">https://culturescan.biz</a> favour a person-focused leader who conscientiously wrestles through <em>Who am I? Why am I here? What lasting difference can I make to better others and my world? How will I measure this?</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The development of meaningful virtues in individuals and organisations must assume the highest importance. Society is currently characterised by values such as: look after number one; survival of the fittest; be happy and embrace pleasure; self-esteem is grown when we succeed - and success means amassing wealth, property and possessions, recognition, having power and knowledge, aiming for 'perfection'.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We pay only nominal attention to developing personhood and presence, accessing wisdom, ethics, having a higher purpose, focussing on others, being caring and compassionate, and stewarding the planet, society and economy. These ‘interior’ values (not externally determined) move us towards better relating, raised consciousness, and becoming fully human. And being able to truly lead and live wild and free. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Franciscan Richard Rohr: <em>“To be a leader is to author life in others”.</em><i> That requires tolerance, compassion and wisdom, being comfortable with multiple perspectives, and being willing to journey with others into the unknown.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(One development worth exploring more in a future newsletter is that of circle work in a business context, as a shared leadership initiative. <em>“A fully functioning circle welcomes strangers. The members refrain from offering help and advice. Participants are heard for who they are. They receive affirmation that there is nothing wrong with them. This makes leadership as we know it, obsolete. Members are present for each other”</em>) (Block, P. 2020). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">3.HOPE FOR THE FLOWERS. A PARABLE FOR OUR TIMES </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Stripe the caterpillar was always seeking more, remained unsatisfied. Other caterpillars could not help. One day he found and joined a huge, tall pile of squirming caterpillars. A caterpillar pillar.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">They were all pushing and struggling to get to the top. Stripe was excited, thinking that here he might find what he sought. Everyone was too busy to explain, no one knew what was at the top, but everyone believed it had to be good if they all wanted to get there. <em>“Stripe was pushed and kicked and stepped on from every direction. It was climb or be climbed…”.</em> A single-minded approach. No friends, only obstacles and threats. Everyone pushing to get to the top. Some falling by the wayside. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And then he met Yellow, who was having doubts. But one day she was blocking his way up the pillar and he stepped on her head to get ahead. He felt bad and apologised. She cried and confessed that she hated life on the pillar, wanted out. Stripe felt the same way. And they looked for a way to leave the pillar. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">After a long while they found themselves on the side of the pillar, on some soft, green grass. They hugged and felt good. Enjoyed every moment. Were happy to be off the pillar and in love. But Stripe grew restless, became unsure, and began to long for the climbing life again. One day one of the caterpillars that fell off the pillar didn’t die at once but gasped “The top … they’ll see … butterflies alone…” and then died. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Stripe wanted to go back and did so after a long while thinking and being in turmoil. Yellow was pulled and pushed in both directions but eventually decided she could not, knowing deep down that climbing was a wrong choice.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Yellow was desolated. She waited and waited for Stripe to return. One day she wandered off and met a grey-haired caterpillar. He was hanging upside down from a tree and explained that he was starting the process of making a cocoon in order to become a butterfly, something “…<em>you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another</em>”. Yellow couldn’t believe that she, an unattractive worm, could be a butterfly. Nor that she would have to die before she could have this new life, when she could really love. The grey-haired caterpillar assured her that after she was changed, she could fly to Stripe and try and convince him also to become a butterfly. And so, she took the risk …</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Stripe was making fast, ruthless progress up the caterpillar pillar. But the pillar was taking its toll and he was quite exhausted as he neared the top. And those nearest the top were all ruthless, and their only way to the very top was to get rid of competitors. Many fell off. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And eventually he saw that there was nothing at the top. But lots of other caterpillar pillars could be seen. He thought of Yellow. And then: <em>“A brilliant yellow winged creature was circling the pillar, moving freely – a wonderful sight! How did it get so high without climbing?”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Most were unable to let go of the dark and gloomy space that was the pillar, but Stripe, having seen a butterfly, began the long way down the pillar. At the bottom he fell asleep and on waking the yellow creature was <em>“fanning him with wings of light … stroked him with her feelers … looked lovingly at him” </em>and showed him how to enter a cocoon. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Although afraid, he took the risk. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And Yellow waited. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And one day …. (Paulus, T. 1972)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In the light of the Hope for the Flowers story, reflect on these questions:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>Who am I? </strong></p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Am I able to ignore the ‘flavour of the month’, what passes for ‘current wisdom’ in my peer group, prevalent societal and organisational values and behaviour (manifested rather than stated), and think and act independently and non-dualistically, access multiple frames of reference, follow what I know to be the correct path for me?</li><li>Do I consistently do deep and honest inner work?</li><li>Do I perceive that I belong to an interconnected web of vast potential, far bigger than I am and feel compelled to be as wise and compassionate as I can? Am I other-oriented?</li><li>Can I live with uncertainty and the unknown future?</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>Why am I here?</strong> </p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Have I done enough work on my unique ‘motivational fingerprint’ and higher purpose?</li><li>Am I guided by solid, well thought through principles and in the process of cultivating virtues that support who I am meant to become, wish to BE and do?</li><li>Have I been able to arrive at specific and meaningful relational and task aspirations, and widen the scope of my endeavours?</li><li>Am I motivated to author life in others? (Their coping and their thriving and leading, their being and their doing, their independence)</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>What lasting difference can I make to better others and my world? </strong></p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Have I insight into how who I am and what my purpose is can bring about change and transformation and “author life in others”?</li><li>Do I have the awareness and collaborative intent that can result in the fruit of my endeavours rippling out beyond my own micro-world (even if this is not visible to me)?</li><li>Do I believe that my ‘mind’ (sensing, intuiting, accessing, relating, consciousness) goes beyond self and is a social mind able to connect, communicate, stimulate, develop and regulate a ‘shared mind’ and collective consciousness withot manipulation or imposition?</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>Is there room for the 'spiritual'?</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Many leaders continue to shy away from mention of the word ‘spirituality’ – especially in a hard-nosed ‘business’ context. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">“<em>One of our problems today is that we are not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit. We’re interested in the news of the day and the problems of the hour”. We fail to hear those “who speak of the eternal values that have to do with the centering of our lives”.</em> (Campbell, J. 1988). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(A view of spirituality/ consciousness: </p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>a deep internal focus and a sensitive outward execution </li><li>a meaningful, transcending, pervasive world view that calls forth faith and hope and a higher purpose, and rises above religion, culture and ethnicity</li><li>a deep appreciation of our wonderful interconnectedness </li><li>an other - orientation. The desire to serve others, society and the environment. </li><li>an awakening from ‘self’ - consciousness to a wider, deeper consciousness (and an understanding that there is an unknown, unfathomable, deeper reality (implicate – to use a David Bohm term) that holds together and is always interacting with what we see and know (explicate reality)) </li><li>the development of positive principles and character virtues, a mature ethics and morality in action (purity of heart) - along with a recognition that unconditional love is the highest virtue (not only desired, but reachable) ) (Williams, G. & Chalmers, C. 2017)</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>How will I measure this?</strong></p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>What signs, feedback, inner knowing (if any) do I need in order to measure the difference that I make?</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: maroon;"><strong>References </strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Babiak, Paul & Hare, Robert <em>Snakes in Suits: when psychopaths go to work</em> Harper Collins Publishers NY 2007 and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jxq7hiHi1cE&goback=%2Egde_4122540_member_225862306#%21" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jxq7hiHi1cE&goback=%2Egde_4122540_member_225862306#%21</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Campbell, J. (1988) <em>The Power of Myth</em> New York: Doubleday</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Chamorro-Premuzic, Dr Tomas <em>Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?</em> <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/why_do_so_many_incompetent_men.html" style="color: #751f04;">http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/why_do_so_many_incompetent_men.html</a> August 2013 </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dickens, Peter (2022) <em>Comrades legend, Springbok and war veteran – the remarkable Bill Payn </em>The Observation Post, 15th April, 2022</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://samilhistory.com/2017/04/15/comrades-legend-springbok-and-war-veteran-the-remarkable-bill-payn/" style="color: #751f04;">https://samilhistory.com/2017/04/15/comrades-legend-springbok-and-war-veteran-the-remarkable-bill-payn/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Greenaway, M (2022) <em>The Brandy-fuelled Springbok Who ran the Comrades in his Rugby Boots</em> IOL Sports 22nd August, 2022 </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">h<a href="http://ttps//www.iol.co.za/sport/the-brandy-fuelled-springbok-who-ran-the-comrades-in-his-rugby-boots-e5462b7e-2ab6-44d0-9c3a-27dc38a01d12" style="color: #751f04;">ttps://www.iol.co.za/sport/the-brandy-fuelled-springbok-who-ran-the-comrades-in-his-rugby-boots-e5462b7e-2ab6-44d0-9c3a-27dc38a01d12</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Paulus, Trina <em>Hope for the Flowers </em>Paulist Press NY 1972 </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Peck, M. Scott <em>People of the Lie</em> Arrow Publishers London 1990 </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Sachs, Jonah <em>Winning the Story Wars</em> Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, Mass. 2012</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Siegel, Daniel J, MD (2017 ) <em>Mind: a journey to the heart of being human</em> W.W. Norton & Company</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham; Haarhoff, Dorian & Fox, Peter (2015) T<em>he Virtuosa Organisation; the importance of virtues for a successful business</em> Knowres Publishing <a href="https://kr.co.za/product/the-virtuosa-organisation/" style="color: #751f04;">https://kr.co.za/product/the-virtuosa-organisation/ </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham with Chalmers, Carolynn (2017) T<em>he Arrival of Corporate Spiritual Governance </em>Journal of Spirituality, Leadership and Management, 2017, vol. 9, pp. 1-19 www.slam.org.au Published by Spirituality, Leadership and Management Inc</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham; Gargiulo, Terrence & Banhegyi, Steve (2022) <em>Story Bridging: create the connections and possibilities that build bridges </em>Books33 <a href="https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx" style="color: #751f04;">https://amzn.to/3aJ8xWx</a></div></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-13057821574036463692022-06-02T00:31:00.003-07:002022-06-08T23:26:22.591-07:00BUOYANCY<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFIJbwMVtZsSNc_w0JtMzpkKh1qzRkFG8TLZVja7SrOHwgMZ0Bf3c9c0yTivxdfI_JV5chb51a6HCzxMGIaJ41wdJ_wl8-pDiU7QknxLtkmAABy7bUDhPtjKzEDr1dIgW8x7ZptPWuaamtan5ABMEGH8-eqGnEouDO99uz27MuaE_8EmxcvbefwOz/s314/Buoyancy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="314" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFIJbwMVtZsSNc_w0JtMzpkKh1qzRkFG8TLZVja7SrOHwgMZ0Bf3c9c0yTivxdfI_JV5chb51a6HCzxMGIaJ41wdJ_wl8-pDiU7QknxLtkmAABy7bUDhPtjKzEDr1dIgW8x7ZptPWuaamtan5ABMEGH8-eqGnEouDO99uz27MuaE_8EmxcvbefwOz/w400-h299/Buoyancy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Afloat on the Dead Sea, From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository ©John Norton</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_float_on_the_Dead_Sea.jpg" style="color: #751f04;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_float_on_the_Dead_Sea.jpg</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>SHARING A POEM</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In May, Meridian University in California held a conference where integral practitioners shared their ways of weaving peace in their environments (business and other domains).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">On the (Centre for Transformative Learning) convergence panel that I was on, were panel members from the Netherlands, India and Norway. We spoke about our methodologies, techniques, practices. Our ups and downs. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">https://meridianuniversity.edu/public-programs/workshops-and-events/integral-practitioner-convergence-2022/</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A plan was that we would each share a poem that was meaningful to us, but the conversation veered in another direction - so we never got to do that.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">But a couple of weeks later I was able to share the poem that I had set aside - on a hosted-from-Russia conference (driven by Artem Mushin-Makedonskiy for the Historia Academy) on the topic of using story to change business culture, <a href="https://historia.academy/storify2022-en" style="color: #751f04;">https://historia.academy/storify2022-en</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>WHAT LED UP TO MY CHOICE OF THIS PARTICULAR POEM</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">After a long stint in big corporate life, I became a high-flying, independent management consultant working in many countries in many sectors, addicted to success, achievement.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This period in my career was stopped short by a bout with cancer that led to 2 years of surgery and inactivity. And of course, ones’ customer base doesn’t hang around! So before starting again I had to make use of this wake - up call. My reflections led me to move away from over-valuing position/ possessions/ power/ pleasure of the hedonistic kind/ and the seeking for perfection. And instead to begin straddling the intrinsic values of higher purpose and meaning/ other people/presence/ personhood and care for the planet. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">On this new path I discovered the value of story as a powerful potential contributor to business success - beyond being confined to a limited role in training, scenario-formation, and motivational talks by leaders. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I saw that story was hugely underused. And over time I’ve seen story adopted in business for initiating change, uncovering meaning, building teams and a host of other areas where story-communication makes a difference. I’ve gravitated to using story together with circle work and seen first - hand how (among other areas) corporate culture, values and artifacts, symbols and norms can be beautifully shifted by this process and the very special dynamics that come into play. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Underlying all of this journey was a growing realisation that ultimately LOVE is the highest value, the highest virtue. Inside and outside of the business world. In 2014 I wrote: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“Some day, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire”</em> (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French theologian, scientist, philosopher) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>An ignored force in the corporate world One of the ‘flights of the mind’ I’ve had for some time is the notion that the word ‘love’ will at last enter the vocabulary of the hardnosed business world”</em>… and be practised…<em>”… love is being authentic, not wily; being transparent and not Machiavellian; being the wearing of your heart on your sleeve rather than holding your cards close to your chest; trusting in the success that comes from setting an aspirational standard; being an example rather than outwitting an opponent; a readiness to show vulnerability. It is also about being human and realizing that the only currency that makes for sound business relationships is a capacity to discern motives that are borne of LOVE. It is about having a code or language that is based on respect, validation and ‘seeing the other’”</em>. (Williams, G. 2014) Being focused on the good of others and self-emptying.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The first two lines and last two lines of a Rumi poem have yielded more and more meaning for me. Maybe it will speak to you too?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The poem is called BOYANCY. (Rumi. 1995)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">As we journey together in families, communities, as business colleagues or other relationships, what counts is how we freely share our experiences, feelings, information, stories. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What counts is how we come alongside and instead of seeing through each other, we see each other through. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What counts is that when we speak, it is to express and not to impress. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Think companionship and think compassion – they are part of the same root word – and I fear the new world that is emerging is fast losing both. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Love is more than ever an imperative in our polarising, dividing, fragmenting, alienating world.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>THE POEM</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"><em>Love has taken away all my practices</em></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"><em>And filled me with poetry</em></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"><em>Feel the motions of tenderness around you, </em></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"><em>the buoyancy</em></span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Love has taken away all my practices</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Love cuts through complexity, masks, fears. Techniques, methodologies and processes all fall away ultimately. Love is what makes us open to being our vulnerable selves, accepting others unconditionally, accepting their differences and worldviews, working from an ethical and other-serving basis. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Rowan Williams, theologian and poet, reminds us: “<em>Moral courage is the capacity to act out of pressure generated from the inside rather than the outside”</em>. (Williams, R. 2021) This inside-out way of being surely applies to the practicing of our crafts and interacting and transacting from a place of love.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>And filled me with poetry </strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Poetry is said to date back to thousands of years BC. Being filled with poetry opens up a capacity to see beauty (even in imperfection), see the bigger picture, go deeply beyond words, discern truth, be able to bridge to others.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(Although far too simplistic a statement) the controversial philosopher Martin Heidegger believed that poetry was far less focused than technology on reasoned calculation, measuring, ordering, classifying, steering, manipulating. And far, far more focused on meaningful existence, experience and deeper truth. (Blitz, M 2014)) Filled in order to empty. Self-empty for others. Kenosis.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Feel the motions of tenderness around you</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This line triggers for me thinking about and experiencing a calm, relaxed floating upon, being touched by, and moving with the flow of gentle waves … of love</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>the buoyancy</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">An all-round feeling of being a part of something greater than ourselves. A life force. A spirit of love which embraces, lifts and holds us up, keeps us safe, carries us through. We are immersed in love and thus continue giving love. Heaviness becomes lightness. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">That’s what the Rumi lines say to me. Your engagement with them may be different.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We live in treacherous and dangerous times, but can draw hope from this: <em>“The great historian, Arnold Toynbee’s analyses of how great changes occur, including the building of civilizations, led him to conclude that it is spiritual forces that determine the course of history. The power of inner work and spiritual maturity should never be underestimated”.</em> (Williams, G. et al 2022)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Is the capacity of our finite minds simply far too limited to more – than – partially - understand, appreciate and operate with infinite concepts and gifts such as love? Maybe. But we are all currently who we are because of it. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">As Alana Levandoski says: <em>“we are here because of love, and lack of love”. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(Find out more about her here: <a href="https://www.alanalevandoski.com/" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.alanalevandoski.com/</a> )</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">At least we can know that as we journey, the ripples of love that we bring to who we meet, what we think, feel and do, what we practice – these ripples reach out in ever-expanding circles that go where we know not.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>REFERENCES</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Blitz, Mark (2014) <em>Understanding Heidegger on Technology: On whether thinking can save us</em> The New Atlantis</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/understanding-heidegger-on-technology" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/understanding-heidegger-on-technology</a><a href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/understanding-heidegger-on-technology" style="color: #751f04;"> </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Rumi, Jalal al-Din (1995) <em>The Essential Rumi: translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyn, A.J. Arberry and Reynold Nicholson</em> HarperSanFrancisco</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham; Gargiulo, Terrence and Banhegyi, Steve. 2022. <em>Story- Bridging: create the connections and possibilities that build bridges</em>. Books33, India. 2022)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham; Fox, Peter and Haarhoff, Dorian (2014) <em>The Virtuosa Organisation: the importance of virtues for a successful business</em> Knowres</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Rowan (2021) <em>Rowan Williams & Clare Martin talk about Moral Courage</em> Youtube </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://%20https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=koLTeGg2hvM" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koLTeGg2hvM</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-63933479243640232512022-05-09T00:01:00.003-07:002022-05-09T00:03:50.604-07:00I Believe in Expensive Speech<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcXjPc0E510RpvakAxLPIRaIRV3LR11BpvDbuAYhK0Y8oY1yGGs_AxPwG-u36oFeZtt5lZ3cnjfx9XL91o8diKk2fRzXuHwP-MG1VN9bgwIwtBlGN6EZtCO-l8Gdt1ygfD0rUtD-cRWrdlFQbH7id5G9coim8QR4jEHj8JlIANo1FWYMLwfbMPPUg/s484/FreeSpeech1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="484" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcXjPc0E510RpvakAxLPIRaIRV3LR11BpvDbuAYhK0Y8oY1yGGs_AxPwG-u36oFeZtt5lZ3cnjfx9XL91o8diKk2fRzXuHwP-MG1VN9bgwIwtBlGN6EZtCO-l8Gdt1ygfD0rUtD-cRWrdlFQbH7id5G9coim8QR4jEHj8JlIANo1FWYMLwfbMPPUg/w400-h272/FreeSpeech1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Photo by Colin Smith. Speaker at Hyde Park Corner. February 1998</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Speaker%27s_Corner_-_geograph.org.uk_-_240724.jpg" style="color: #751f04;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Speaker%27s_Corner_-_geograph.org.uk_-_240724.jpg</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Is Free Speech Dead?</strong></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We are seeing much more censorship as Big Tech protects and pushes its desired viewpoints and algorithmically and with “false news” detectors deletes, lambastes and/or bans contrary viewpoints. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In South Africa legislation was introduced to discourage and threaten any who might speak out against how they handle the covid-19 ‘disaster situation’, and controversial hate speech legislation is being promulgated. Peaceful protests are curtailed and carefully watched by the police.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And there is a rising tendency for people with a differing viewpoint to hastily and aggressively label others as conspiracy theorists, climate change deniers, pro-vaxers, leftists, right-wingers, Nazi sympathisers, activists and a host of derogatory and demeaning verbiage.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In the process intelligent exchanges of differing viewpoints in debate, conversation or news articles are being curtailed. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Free speech is under threat and may be dying.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And not because as one wag says, “Without freedom of speech we wouldn’t know who the idiots are!”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>I was delighted to spend time at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, London when living in London some years ago. For me it was an experience of democracy, tolerance, learning (and also fun, banter and heckling and pantomime) in community.</em></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Vincent McNabb used to walk miles to speak there and drew big crowds. He was a gentle activist who fought for opposition to what has now come to be the norm in our hurting societies, economies and environment. Unrestrained and irresponsible big business, unbridled use of technology, a rich and self-appointed “elite” and a decline of worthwhile values.</em></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Church-Land-Fr-Vincent-McNabb/dp/0971489467?asin=0971489467&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.amazon.com/Church-Land-Fr-Vincent-McNabb/dp/0971489467?asin=0971489467&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1</a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Why counter this slow death of free speech?</strong></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We need to defend what remains of participative democracy and against a clear trend towards totalitarian dictatorship in nations and in organisations they work with like the World Economic Forum, The World Health Organisation and the United Nations. Formed for laudable, worthy reasons, they have plunged into a sorry state.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We need to do this by talking! By speaking out and not shutting up. This might or might not mean avoiding the usual protest and legal routes (both increasingly powerless or under the control of the power-holders) as far as is possible. By overcoming our listlessness, our fears, and tendency to sit on the fence.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We need to keep talking out against the fast emerging new world order characterised by a dictatorship style adopted by the self-appointed "elite" (although it might be too late). So we need to become aware of what has or is being done - much earlier. Artificial Intelligence is only one of the tools to be aware of. (Bio intelligence is also referred to - linked to digitization and vaccinations, or is this really too far a mental leap to make?) Elon Musk has more knowledge and insight and credibility than I have, and says:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI7xZDo0LCE" style="color: #751f04;">www.youtube.com/watch</a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Only we can be the antidote to false news, misinformation, menticide, narcissistic conversationalists.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>How to retaliate?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></strong></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We need to do it in love, as gently as we are able- because love is what counters anger, fear. Our true nature, as all wisdom traditions teach us, is love, after all.</div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spiritual-guidelines-social-activism-graham-williams/" style="color: #751f04;">www.linkedin.com</a></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><div>So often actions speak louder than words. A favourite story for me is that of Woodbine Willy’s life. He both spoke out and behaved what he espoused:</div><div> </div><div><em>Studdert Kennedy was an army chaplain who bucked the incompetent bureaucracy that resulted in so many unnecessary First World War casualties. He refused to give safe, cosy, sermons behind the lines, and chose instead to spend his time with the common soldiers in horrific conditions in the trenches, not preaching, but just being with them, coming alongside them in their need. He’d often hand out a Woodbine cigarette and became known as Woodbine Willy. Years later when he died, his simple funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. A single packet of Woodbines was placed on top of the coffin.</em></div><div> </div><div>Mark Nepos adds his wisdom:</div><div><a href="http://%20https//www.patheos.com/blogs/fieldnotesonliving/2022/04/18/speaking-what-we-know-to-be-true" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/fieldnotesonliving/2022/04/18/speaking-what-we-know-to-be-true</a><a href="http://%20https//www.patheos.com/blogs/fieldnotesonliving/2022/04/18/speaking-what-we-know-to-be-true" style="color: #751f04;"> </a></div><div> </div><div>Campaigning for freedom of speech as an individual right, fighting against the constraints and obstacles being applied, and speaking out against what is happening to humanity, is an imperative even though there are consequences to those who do this.</div><div>However, whatever the cost, the benefits of both listening and speaking out in love – at the individual, group, community, organisation and societal levels – are greater. </div><div>As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who was executed for his beliefs and opposition to Hitler’s regime, warns:</div><div><em>“Not to speak is to speak”.</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em>A FEW QUOTES TO REFLECT ON:</em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly” - Mahatma Gandhi</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">“We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It's overrun with sheep and conformists” - Bill Maher, contemporary comedian and political commentator</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">“There is only one duty, only one safe course, and that is to try to be right and not to fear to do or say what you believe to be right” - Winston Churchill</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">“Freedom is not a passive state, it’s an active state; freedom is not a privilege, it’s an obligation; freedom is not an end but a means to an end. Freedom is not just something we demand only of the government, but also something we must actively create within and around ourselves. Freedom is not an ornament, but a set of tools to go about building a fairer, safer and sustainable society” - Mark Heywood (Daily Maverick Editorial 26th April, 2022: South Africa, use freedom now or lose freedom tomorrow)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">“The brutality of war is literally unutterable. There are no words foul and filthy enough to describe it” - Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (Woodbine Willy)</span></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div><em><br /></em></div><div> </div></div></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-58195070819289120142022-04-25T07:40:00.001-07:002022-04-25T07:42:25.621-07:00NEAR AND FAR<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ7lvuKAfImGPpJhObMYqlTYXSmoD5Tj2vWiiINjuiAqBDVZOBxirRO9qvG0ls9IZVx_pqPQGlJHgdEtxaKapEVv3WHLlRcrf8bm7D466OqOKUl9lGq5ohGpNwYX7Yp7NX-C8OA9bqlcTaUjPUQOhfhzsbJGQWzyr8jl_0GiT5af0aTmQ2xKfumGO/s708/Proximity1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="708" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ7lvuKAfImGPpJhObMYqlTYXSmoD5Tj2vWiiINjuiAqBDVZOBxirRO9qvG0ls9IZVx_pqPQGlJHgdEtxaKapEVv3WHLlRcrf8bm7D466OqOKUl9lGq5ohGpNwYX7Yp7NX-C8OA9bqlcTaUjPUQOhfhzsbJGQWzyr8jl_0GiT5af0aTmQ2xKfumGO/w400-h276/Proximity1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">“(Astronomer Sir William) <em>Herschel removed the speckled tent-roof from the world and exposed the immeasurable deeps of space, dim-flecked with fleets of colossal suns sailing their billion-leagued remoteness</em>” - Mark Twain</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: purple;">The Reality of Isolation, Separation, Connection?</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler explains that their song <em>So Far Away</em> is about distances that have opened up between people, separated families and loved ones. Telephone (or these days, Internet) relationships were seen by him to be a joke because “<em>they can’t work in the long term”.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> An African refugee in Sweden, in Henning Mankell’s novel <em>The Shadow Girls</em>: “<em>As long as she kept her eyes closed she could imagine that she was still back in the village by the cold, clear river that spilled down the side of the mountain. But as soon as she opened her eyes she was thrown out into an empty ad unfathomable world, one in which nothing of her past remained except disjointed images of her escape</em>”. (Mankell, H. 2012) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Our dog Popcorn was badly abused, injured and abandoned as a pup. She is now settled in and is friendly to everyone. She tries always to be close to and rest her paw or head on one of us, a sort of dog-attachment-complex. And she definitely shows separation - anxiety if she is left behind when both Lynette and I go out.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Distance may be real or imagined, physical, relational, social, spiritual. All of these dimensions have manifested as we’ve seen the manipulation of information to create division and polarisation, connections between people broken. My co-authored, soon to be released booklet on using story-bridging to build bridges and not walls aims at teaching a process that fosters proximity instead of distance. The serious harm caused by a Draconian political imposition of masks and social distancing regulations without any valid scientific basis, in order to ‘combat’ the ‘pandemic’ prevents the closeness and touch that humans so need. It’s in our DNA. (Williams, G. 2020)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In South Africa, shamefully, the government excels at building walls and creating distance and enmity between racial and ethnic groups, in the process doing huge social and economic harm. After over a quarter of a century in power they are ratcheting up the legislation of quotas in business, sports, schooling, university and other arenas! A newly released article by former CEO of the Institute of Race Relations in South Africa, John Kane-Berman, addresses a March 2022 paper by our Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) - a government/ statutory research agency that <em>“advances social sciences and humanities for public use”</em>. Their paper promotes a <em>“view that the more a school’s racial demographics deviated from the demographic make-up of the country’s population, the more “segregated” it was. On this yardstick, even former white schools that were now predominantly black African were still “segregated”, as the desired norm for white pupils was 3.8% (their share of the total school-going population). Any excess was a case of the “hoarding of educational opportunities by the white minority and other socio-economically advantaged groups”. </em>Kane-B<em>e</em>rman relates a number of other shocking narratives about this sort of control of ‘overrepresentation’ - including how in 1930s Germany there was a concern about overrepresentation of Jews in schools and universities. (Kane-Berman, J. 2022) We know how those concerns played out.</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Starkly contrast (in quantum physics) David Bohm’s understanding of an unbroken connection between any element of the universe and every other element over space and time (an implicate order) “…<em> two subatomic particles that have once interacted can instantaneously ‘respond to each other's motions thousands of years later when they are light-years apart’</em>" (The Cosmic Plenum) A whole different concept of space and time distance.</div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>What is real for you when it com</strong></span><strong style="color: #993366;">es to this question of distance or proximity?</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Spectra along which we see meaning and make choices?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">So near and yet so far. A pipped-on-the-post photo finish. A miss is as good as a mile. A near-death experience. Last minute goals, tries, falls or runs that win or lose sporting matches, a war that seems distant and then imminent... Or the difference between real, perceived, imagined, desired “close to” or “far from”. Considerations compounded and complicated by interconnected Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social and Spiritual spectra.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tSRpbJy9ApdV3imlSbV0YzvFMHfwJ3efDg_ysK78z8ZISy8muua--iZYqwZOjaFxnUvCs5idgzBVItf-L_tZ5SEKs8MM4G5EoikU3cDVLlJ0oDtXJnMqYEuKGni1hx1zaL2DvEAYdCfksCIP0fMsSpWWgkz01mbl0SEQp65XwfWsi_Qtc5rKgA5k/s418/Proximity2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="418" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tSRpbJy9ApdV3imlSbV0YzvFMHfwJ3efDg_ysK78z8ZISy8muua--iZYqwZOjaFxnUvCs5idgzBVItf-L_tZ5SEKs8MM4G5EoikU3cDVLlJ0oDtXJnMqYEuKGni1hx1zaL2DvEAYdCfksCIP0fMsSpWWgkz01mbl0SEQp65XwfWsi_Qtc5rKgA5k/w400-h380/Proximity2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A lesson that comes to us from the diversity arena is that construal level theory, a largely ignored experiential/ behavioural difference between people – where differences manifest in how individuals relate to time and space and psychological-distance gaps arise: </p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>temporal distance (past present or future focus), </li><li>social distance (connection push or pull), </li><li>spatial distance (physical location from face to face, next door, faraway places, ‘boardroom and garden’ situations, </li><li>experiential distance (reality, perception, sensation, imagination, dreams, reverie). </li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We could add more: emotional closeness to our possessions, positions, means of power, religion, friends and family... separating and distancing resulting from language - diversity and babbling… Overcoming these gaps and enabling belonging requires us to become far more prosocial, and are complicated and magnified these days by misinformation, division, new existential threats, fragmentation and severed connections on many fronts. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">My perception of the importance of nature and beauty within nature has changed recently since moving from city to village. My awareness has been raised by ‘in your face’ nearby surrounding mountains, much starker season changes, and the obvious closeness of farm workers to the land… And I sometimes think that cities can act as magnets for the concentration of dangers, power, wrongdoing – result in more anonymity and social distance - are places where things spread more quickly and widely (disease, anarchy, plundering...) - and the country seems relatively free of these things and dynamics</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A number of recent conversations have highlighted how some people are shifting their thinking regarding their career prospects in this ‘pandemic’ era. Some see benefits of being in the eye, space, ear, touching distance of others (especially bosses and opinion leaders) in a physical workplace. They see working from home as a distinct disadvantage. Others have polar-opposite perceptions. (Both schools would do well to note that being closer to nature and outdoors is beneficial to physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual health. Being in nature helps relieve stress, gain perspective, counter brain fog, feel more human and alive)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In a parable loved by Polish-born philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and also Sigmund Freud (Austrian founder of psychoanalysis), in ice-cold weather some porcupines huddle together and strive to get close to each other to keep warm. But they also have to be far enough away from each other so that they don’t prick each other. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Austrian - Jewish philosopher Martin Buber pointed out the challenge of living not only next to others (<em>nebeneinander</em>) but with each other (<em>miteinander</em>). (Which incidentally raises the question of who we are when we’re alone). (Stan, C.M. 2020)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Sharyn Cooke and Bert Kling (in an Ed McBain mystery novel) who have big differences on a number of diversity spectra, work at having a close, relaxed, honest and loving relationship. Kling “<em>described intimacy as a ‘shlep’, a Yiddish word that actually meant ‘to carry, or pull, or drag, or lag behind’ but which he took to mean ‘a long haul’ as in the expression ‘Man, that was a shlep and a half!</em>’”. Sharyn has two pillows made. One white on black and the other black on white. They read: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“Share</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> Help</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> Love</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> Encourage</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> Protect”. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Not a bad acronym for relationships. Here is a relational- closeness exercise for you: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Decide where on the circles of connection you want to place the most important people in your life (past, present and future):</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiac1L30K8CUTDGGQHcMHxoRrqFbZmgqogOvQoYTZp3xUoehO1aQxFZgMSlAj5Y0fqizw5X188dS4EWsJ2DJwzr42WYkQCxp-5qDxhuWgRpkDYBet5ATOW2c87ce_I686isPtZcgu2pMOf9buUfD__8nUvXgDmxnpEtNVhQIR-hGVUaFSEx0GhijqLD/s627/Proximity3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="586" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiac1L30K8CUTDGGQHcMHxoRrqFbZmgqogOvQoYTZp3xUoehO1aQxFZgMSlAj5Y0fqizw5X188dS4EWsJ2DJwzr42WYkQCxp-5qDxhuWgRpkDYBet5ATOW2c87ce_I686isPtZcgu2pMOf9buUfD__8nUvXgDmxnpEtNVhQIR-hGVUaFSEx0GhijqLD/w374-h400/Proximity3.jpg" width="374" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">First, put a name to each of the pictures below: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ih4AtyY7ptEiRnDol8MnwRRi6oPBRfQ_cGRbPQE8LMLlXczxobnU5gSmdJP8tBpUkGFB0dbvzy3kghTRFj-NaUHfmF6PeD57VnGuyTPhvaCN2hYssV2VbsApCBgLIdeH9g_8wj1YEKw48ddjAQRS-k_IBRLiA0RUgulT5ZRsQUBbc_1cQhFxTaDh/s616/Proximity4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="616" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ih4AtyY7ptEiRnDol8MnwRRi6oPBRfQ_cGRbPQE8LMLlXczxobnU5gSmdJP8tBpUkGFB0dbvzy3kghTRFj-NaUHfmF6PeD57VnGuyTPhvaCN2hYssV2VbsApCBgLIdeH9g_8wj1YEKw48ddjAQRS-k_IBRLiA0RUgulT5ZRsQUBbc_1cQhFxTaDh/w400-h249/Proximity4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(Add workplace colleagues, subordinates, contacts, spiritual relationships if you wish. I have known people to include God in the exercise they do and often this is because of some sort of disaster that has occurred. When disaster strikes people either curse or call on God, whose relationship positioning changes - <em>in their perspective</em>).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Then think about why you placed these people where you have on the circles diagram. What are the elements that have made for good or bad, close or distant relationships and connections? What has been your 'complicity' in making them work or fail? What values have determined your placement of each person? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And then, answer ‘Where to now?’ Think about where on your circles you would want these relationships to be in future. Which relationships do you wish to deepen or to cool? And what is your plan (thinking, feeling, acting) in each case? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(This might mean writing a letter to a relative or child you have lost touch with, making a point of going for a walk with a subordinate who you have been taking for granted, inviting a colleague to breakfast, allocating less time to unnecessary meetings, email and social media chat groups and narcissistic conversationalists – and more time to forging meaningful one on one connections chosen by you, finding out more about another’s expertise, interests and cultural rules-of-engagement, deciding to forge a strategic connection that will be good for cooperative business, examining your own hesitancies, fears, stereotyping .... )</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Collective Aspects of Distance and Proximity?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The collective behaviour of a crowd is said to be contagious, even hypnotic and thus able to overcome individual independence and self-control, so the individual adopts the (closely-knitted) crowd’s behaviour instead of being driven by his/her own values, constraints and taking of responsibility. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Closely related to this is the group pathology called ‘fragmentation of conscious’ (which usually applies to more drastic, extreme behaviour – as in times of war, but can be read into the positions adopted by big pharma employees, health workers, politicians and others during the ‘pandemic’).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> In his book <em>People of the Lie</em>, M.Scott Peck relays the My Lai incident in South Vietnam in 1968, where members of the United States Army killed 500 to 600 unarmed villagers. Years later, he was appointed by the Army Surgeon General as chairman of a committee given the task of making recommendations about undertaking psychological research–to understand and help prevent such incidents in future. The committee’s recommendations were rejected for fear of embarrassing the status quo. The organisation, the US Army, protected itself. Scott Peck explains lucidly that group pathology was at play even though each killing was an individual act. He points out that different levels, as well as different departments within a hierarchy, can experience a <em>‘fragmentation of conscience’</em>, especially under conditions of stress. This ‘fragmentation of conscience’ may be motivated by fear and self-preservation and the group thinking can result in:</p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>avoiding taking responsibility for what the wider organisation is doing </li><li>blaming other departments, or overall policies, or ‘management’ for what is happening (Scott Peck, M. 1998)</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">On the other hand, convergence theory says that like-minded individuals coming together will inform and direct crowd behaviour.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It’s a sort of chicken and egg situation – what occurs first (the individual or crowd status) may not be relevant. In both positive and negative developments. And as individuals form crowds, new behaviour norms may emerge.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I’ve come to believe that coherent small - groups (for example in the social construct of circles) have the highest chance of becoming a force for wide change as the results and energy within their circle radiates or ripples outwards. Being closer to a small community is one way of being a force for good in our broken world.</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <strong style="color: #993366;">Simultaneous Proximity and Distance?</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGGQFvuCE3QvYuxJEI9IYoliSNxdjcu3xzbjYkDYrD20Zwwi6OAU8b763Fq-cIEGQym8FfMPh0hWuYqO2yT_7ATdMSMLScLo0TFnwno9WSb9bJK-LufABKvM5b2S79dgdlTVlYENiz-0_VS5gIld8ces5dWCnclw2_VBziogz5OB6pF3QMPJ9q01d/s869/Proximity5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="694" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGGQFvuCE3QvYuxJEI9IYoliSNxdjcu3xzbjYkDYrD20Zwwi6OAU8b763Fq-cIEGQym8FfMPh0hWuYqO2yT_7ATdMSMLScLo0TFnwno9WSb9bJK-LufABKvM5b2S79dgdlTVlYENiz-0_VS5gIld8ces5dWCnclw2_VBziogz5OB6pF3QMPJ9q01d/w320-h400/Proximity5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Clown fish always remain completely separate from the anemone, but a mucus on their skin prevents them being affected by the anemone’s poison. Being close physically they are protected from predators, feed off anemone food. The anemone is kept clean as the clown fish remove and eat parasites. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Team members at work may not like each other, may not be close to each other, but by not distancing themselves are able to jointly get results to mutual benefit – as is the case of a machine gunner and ammunition belt feeder who together face a common enemy.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Relational/ ego boundaries although variable, are necessary in all relationships – close or distant.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>The Art of Life?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Accomplished mathematician Michael (from the Hebrew ‘who is like God’ or ‘gift from God') Behrens (of medieval origin - comprised of ‘bear’ plus ‘resilient’ plus ‘strong and brave’) lives in the Hawaiian jungle. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What ideas do you glean from his story (<em>The Art of Life</em>) with regard to distance and proximity (place, things, people, nature, being…) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gUh8j5ui0o" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gUh8j5ui0o</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">For many it may be the realisation that much of what we might wish to be in terms of living a simple, purer life could be (to borrow from the Roger Daltry song) <em>Just A Dream Away.</em> And for some it may come down to that line from a challenging hymn that flies in the face of Arthur Scopenhauer’s thinking: “<em>Nearer my God to thee</em>” no matter what?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #993366;"><strong>References</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Cosmic Plenim, The <em>Bohm’s Gnosis: The Implicate Order </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.bizint.com/stoa_del_sol/plenum/plenum_3.html" style="color: #751f04;">http://www.bizint.com/stoa_del_sol/plenum/plenum_3.html</a><a href="http://www.bizint.com/stoa_del_sol/plenum/plenum_3.html" style="color: #751f04;"> </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Hamilton, Rebecca (2015) <em>Bridging Psychological distance</em> March 2015 HBR <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/03/bridging-psychological-distance?cm_sp=Magazine%20Archive-_-Links---current%20Issue" style="color: #751f04;">https://hbr.org/2015/03/bridging-psychological-distance?cm_sp=Magazine%20Archive-_-Links---current%20Issue</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Kane – Berman, John (2022) <em>The anti-semitic origins of diversity and racial “representation”</em> Daily Friend 25 April, 2022 <a href="https://dailyfriend.co.za/2022/04/25/the-anti-semitic-origins-of-diversity-and-racial-representation/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dailyfriend.co.za/2022/04/25/the-anti-semitic-origins-of-diversity-and-racial-representation/</a></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Mankell, Henning (2012) <em>The Shadow Girls</em> Harvill Secker, London</div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Scott Peck, Morgan M.D. (1998) <em>People of the Lie: the hope for healing human evil</em> Touchstone</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Stan, Corina M. (2020) <em>Philosophies of Distance and Proximity: Who Are We When We’re Alone?</em> July 9th, 2020 <a href="https://lithub.com/philosophies-of-distance-and-proximity-who-are-we-when-were-alone/" style="color: #751f04;">https://lithub.com/philosophies-of-distance-and-proximity-who-are-we-when-were-alone/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham (2020) <em>Are we losing touch?</em> Storytelling in Business Blog, 15th July, 2020</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/07/touch.html" style="color: #751f04;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/07/touch.html</a></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-51200638385535232112022-04-01T23:47:00.001-07:002022-04-01T23:47:47.155-07:00YOU GOTTA HAVE HOPE (AND HELP)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZH114Ouv4DwZ8iBsx6XQtAitbTID7o2WBf6jwDl6Xw28q8HE48-DrJcFKFlCg7v-tmlbqnhjimvKeXZzZg5ms_-yY-t7COJvhizFT4hiJUTPrg_Uyd0DchOeuNgoFokiGM_u8O7-02skU8LHfd69736gOslThxprvDne3Ab6clO4ee6SdPRgkInE/s450/Rainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZH114Ouv4DwZ8iBsx6XQtAitbTID7o2WBf6jwDl6Xw28q8HE48-DrJcFKFlCg7v-tmlbqnhjimvKeXZzZg5ms_-yY-t7COJvhizFT4hiJUTPrg_Uyd0DchOeuNgoFokiGM_u8O7-02skU8LHfd69736gOslThxprvDne3Ab6clO4ee6SdPRgkInE/s16000/Rainbow.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">File:2013 <em>Rainbow over Washfold.jpg</em> In the public domain (Wikipedia Commons Images) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>THERE IS SOME DANGER IN UNBRIDLED POSITIVE THINKING</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We tend to magnify threats and to underestimate our coping mechanisms, resources, ability to innovate when faced with obstacles, and our ability to see opportunity in crises. So, we need to balance our proclivity for negativity with a habitual leaning towards positivity – and see both the stars and the bars as we look at a reality beyond our confined space and place, and reframe our thoughts accordingly. But not to the point that we wear rose-tinted glasses no matter what the circumstances. A healthy, realistic balance should be maintained.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Positive psychology which can be traced to the likes of Lao Tzu, Buddha and in modern times to William James - and developed or punted by Abraham Maslow, Norman Vincent Peale, Martin Seligman and others - has become very popular. Positivity is a factor in a number of resilience models and has become a desirable leadership and life-style trait. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">At the intersection of psychology and theology we have seen misunderstandings, and the adoption of dangerously applied misinterpretations such as ‘the law of attraction’ – a magical direction of one’s thoughts to manifest what one desires, that is, to bring about a self-serving outcome. Worse still, is to try and foist ‘positive thinking’ on others. For example, it is not helpful but potentially harmful to tell someone who is suffering from depression (an illness, not a poor choice) to ‘think more positively’. (Andrée-Ann Labranche, a doctoral student in psychology, describes this as “<em>emotional invalidation</em>” which “<em>involves ignoring, denying, criticizing or rejecting another person’s feelings</em>”. Undermining their right to have, understand, accept, validate, own and work through their own feelings and behaviours. Her research shows that it is harmful to invalidate another’s emotions, and likely to invoke depressive symptoms or exacerbate existing depression, especially if this is done repeatedly.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://%28https//theconversation.com/toxic-positivity-why-it-is-important-to-live-with-negative-emotions-166008" style="color: #751f04;">(https://theconversation.com/toxic-positivity-why-it-is-important-to-live-with-negative-emotions-166008</a>) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Emotional invalidation takes away hope.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Blind optimism, irrational faith in positive thinking needs to be tempered, or it leads quickly to unwarranted belief in self (My will be done, not thine or yours). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In seeking balance, we should heed what German psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm said, that (extreme or ‘toxic’) optimists and pessimists are both lazy opt-outs. Nothing needs to be done, they imply or believe – either because all will be fine, or because nothing can be done. So, <em>“Optimism is an alienated form of faith, pessimism an alienated form of despair… To have faith means to dare, to think the unthinkable, yet to act within the limits of the realistically possible”. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">HOPE</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And false or wrongly placed hope leads nowhere. A key bridge to acceptance of and working towards a future that is meant to be, is well-founded hope.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Fromm once more: <em>“Hope is a decisive element in any attempt to bring about social change in the direction of greater aliveness, awareness, and reason. But the nature of hope is often misunderstood and confused with attitudes that have nothing to do with hope and in fact are the very opposite”.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The mystery of hope placed in a divine Creator plays a wonderful role in sound mind-positioning, and in the generation of effective, empowered action arising out of facing situations and threats realistically. Out of this process something beautiful emerges from the dark (as a lotus flower rises out of murky depths).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvq3GBbfRVN1mF5JK-0RKeiyUmtmLGz9Sjs0VeSPf3KIuR70ejutfxNeWOlzr_MVURWGJSD4MpXvrzrK27EqW36AIm8Yhr6UgYQm8HOztwE35mvlZjItHzAc89qnPsRXEsZ0BimQFsh-sszHiPNacRLMsHmIRuTe_wjdYANJm_NohuIA8XJgHkKtd/s251/lotus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="251" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvq3GBbfRVN1mF5JK-0RKeiyUmtmLGz9Sjs0VeSPf3KIuR70ejutfxNeWOlzr_MVURWGJSD4MpXvrzrK27EqW36AIm8Yhr6UgYQm8HOztwE35mvlZjItHzAc89qnPsRXEsZ0BimQFsh-sszHiPNacRLMsHmIRuTe_wjdYANJm_NohuIA8XJgHkKtd/w400-h320/lotus2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">HOPEFUL LEADERSHIP</span></strong></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I love Winston Churchill’s balanced acknowledgement of a dire threat as well as his encouragement of a determined response during the early part of World War II, after the fall of France: <em>“It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage... In that supreme emergency we shall not hesitate to take every step - even the most drastic - to call forth from our people the last ounce and inch of effort of what they are capable</em> … (and drawing on an injunction from a book of the Apocrypha that is echoed in The Lord’s Prayer) … <em>As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em> </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">HELP</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Having lived in Rawsonville in the Cape for 4 months now, I’ve been able to observe a small -town culture of inquisitiveness about others, sometimes leading to a helping hand and at other times to critique but without getting involved, and using the excuse, ‘I’m minding my own business’. (This doesn’t exclude gossiping though: starting fires and spreading the flames without helping). At least there is more involvement here than one typically finds in cities.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Of course, ‘helping’ when it is not required or desired by the object of that help is usually not helpful. Even parents seeing their adult children going wrong, making mistakes, approaching disaster and hurt, may need to hold back and patiently wait with 'the bandages and ointment' until asked to help.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And when asked for help it’s best to weigh up the provision of our help on the asker’s best interests. (‘Yes’ isn’t always the best answer)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Nor is it helpful to tell anyone who is suffering or in difficulty simply to ‘think positive’. That’s an implied judgement that changes nothing except impose guilt or a feeling of inadequacy. But kindling hope in a realistically understood situation is helpful. Especially in this crisis-laden age of every ‘man’ for himself. And this kindling of hope may also kindle felt - love, and healing.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Helping instead of crossing to the other side of the street is what we could be more ready, willing and able to do. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Most times the situations in which we may be in a position to give or receive help and hope is when we are off-line, away from isolating technology, and not distanced from others. In such a social context we are far more able to be open and available to sounder sensing, engaging, and responding. Neurosurgeon Ian Weinberg puts it this way: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“I would suggest that it is long overdue that we re-connect and re-engage in the flesh and with the natural environment so that we ensure a continual flow of healthy authenticity into our existence. This I believe is our birth-right and the solution to many of the current emerging maladies of mind and body”.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Let’s get out there, be of help, spread hope.</p></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-46241830517250526142022-03-25T00:16:00.005-07:002022-03-25T02:14:34.299-07:00BRAIN FOG<p> <span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">BRAIN FOG: </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A mental illness crisis is looming as millions of people worldwide are surrounded by death and disease and forced into isolation, poverty and anxiety by the pandemic of COVID-19, United Nations health experts said on Thursday 14th May, 2020</em></p><p><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></em></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjavXZn_eFDJ2lRoOVKvjGPF7MV9owDPKORLXjEPIn35qxwv_Xm6zT2aB2qqgkqz_nZYS2yvR9NpoviaPQY8tzYZv5UWHOmYuDm8T7qcHsihzqEKleLZyqP4unWiCVAIQC-XfpTSYCnMB4p9-aDVT_OsmGZxND9CCfrWSfc8-XCK0DVu5ywECZClz/s956/brainfog1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="717" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjavXZn_eFDJ2lRoOVKvjGPF7MV9owDPKORLXjEPIn35qxwv_Xm6zT2aB2qqgkqz_nZYS2yvR9NpoviaPQY8tzYZv5UWHOmYuDm8T7qcHsihzqEKleLZyqP4unWiCVAIQC-XfpTSYCnMB4p9-aDVT_OsmGZxND9CCfrWSfc8-XCK0DVu5ywECZClz/w300-h400/brainfog1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFYEGjNjgvSMclg8heLG8gwO4w3DWdiqR8YZO2H_2KCIEPcu39JttNkz1N58hL1WGGg1CLzdZ1ZYxEMtb-B46r75h8j_HaHgMTq1R1iVKgKPxist-YaaN8xvfDqrms14y-AX_1YIMAvgEJ2Nju-dCjOB0YWnxunQ84ld_1SfuG8Wiy3lFqOQMlr4E/s543/brainfog2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="543" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFYEGjNjgvSMclg8heLG8gwO4w3DWdiqR8YZO2H_2KCIEPcu39JttNkz1N58hL1WGGg1CLzdZ1ZYxEMtb-B46r75h8j_HaHgMTq1R1iVKgKPxist-YaaN8xvfDqrms14y-AX_1YIMAvgEJ2Nju-dCjOB0YWnxunQ84ld_1SfuG8Wiy3lFqOQMlr4E/s320/brainfog2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Versions of <em>The Scream</em> (1893). Norwegian artist Edvard Munch </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: red;">INTRODUCTION</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A very real, creeping, cancerous, insidious dystopia, accompanied by financial pressures, isolation, related stress and anxiety is yielding a symptom that has been termed ‘brain fog’, and may well lead to burnout or suicidal tendencies. It is becoming widespread. It is occurring as puppet governments and 'expedient' business continue to apply senseless covid-19 regulations, impositions, threats, fear- mongering and division. A division that polarizes, suppresses empathy, unleashes naming and blaming, anger, even hate towards others.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">“<em>The term</em> (brain fog) <em>is used to describe the feeling of disorientation, or difficulty thinking and concentrating. Sufferers feel mentally sluggish and struggle to recall things. And being mentally slower than normal has an impact on everyday life, increasing feelings of anxiety and depression</em>”. (Ebrahim, Z. 2022)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Millions suffer needlessly from mental fatigue, memory problems, becoming easily distracted, and having difficulty concentrating, solving problems or making plans and decisions. A state that leads to us becoming insensitive to the feelings and viewpoints of others (an insiduous form of distancing). Brain fog is now endemic. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Although it might take time before comprehensive research into covid-19 brain fog yields answers as to how to combat it, common-sense indicates that it has major, negative impacts on our ability to think and respond clearly in everyday life, on our learning capacity, and on our relationships. Brain fog directly harms our mental, physical and social well-being.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: red;">HOW SERIOUS IS IT?</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Stress, dystopia, anxiety, depression, and eventual burnout and suicide are so deeply interconnected that it is sometimes difficult to separate one from another. Brain fog can accompany them all. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Indications are that the symptom, left untreated, can cause serious suffering. Last year KPMG research revealed that “… <em>94% of workers are stressed. While this isn’t surprising – Oracle concluded 2020 was the most stressful year ever - people are now at breaking point. Some 78% believe the coronavirus pandemic has severely affected their mental health; 40% are making more flawed decisions, and 90% conclude that newfound work-related stress affects their home lives. The culmination of which is causing unprecedented levels of depression (up 53%), anxiety (up 55%), and even PTSD (up 32%), which is further exacerbated by a growing backlash against employee surveillance”</em>. (Laker, B. 2021) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(Those who work from home also feel stressed and disoriented – although the causative factors may differ).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Pieper calls burnout “<em>a condition of the soul</em>”. (Pieper, J. 1963) (It happens when we find ourselves in a wilderness bereft of resources, clear thinking, good feelings, love and comfort. We are lost and powerless).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>WHAT DO WE EXPERIENCE? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Our poor people!</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Biological, psychological, and social systems interconnect. As do different aspects of our lives – work, play, home. Attempted compartmentalisation doesn’t help!</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What adds to our dystopia and stress are general stressors such as uncertainty overwhelm, containment of freedoms and previously-taken-for-granted rights, the physical and psychological impacts of mask wearing, unnatural social distancing and isolation, feelings of being constantly watched and monitored, coping with conflicting messages and information, constant fatigue (physical and mental), and deliberate division by the ‘powers-that-be’</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">("<em>Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd</em>" - Bertrand Russell) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Without realizing it our anxieties increase, our ‘fuses shorten’ and tempers fuel further division and polarization, more concentration lapses occur. We feel listless, unmotivated, deep down angry and sad - without knowing why … </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>HOW SUSCEPTABLE ARE WE?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Very.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Given what we are actually contending with we should be surprised if we DON’T have stress and brain fog, and we are NOT approaching burnout!</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In many cases we are:</p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Working much longer hours from home than we did at work in the old days – certainly spending too much time on our computers and cell phones</li><li>Less in touch with the informal grapevine at work and unsure about how we are doing or what might happen</li><li>Still conditioned to being perfect or excellent but nowadays far less able to measure our performance (or how it is seen by others)</li><li>At the office, shop, factory we are having to deal with new protocols, different issues, shifted relationships, ethical disconnection from our employers </li><li>In fear for our careers, finances, families - We sense a ‘sword of Damacles’ always hanging over our heads</li><li>Dealing with our changing perceptions of life, family, work – and perhaps seeking different work or a new company to work for …</li><li>Thrown by how covid regulations have disrupted or restricted our hobbies, pastimes, interests, social lives, worldviews … </li><li>Coping with how our proximity and involvement with different family members and friends has dramatically changed – and with loss of loved ones, freedoms, pastimes, and a sense of well-being</li><li>More aware that ‘big brother’ (government, institution, corporation) is watching us (on and offline)</li><li>Aware of the growing number of issues increasingly separating us from others, and the growing number of events (resource shortages, responses to mandates and pending or threatened legislation, war …) posing threats to our existence</li><li>Wearing masks which may have physical effects that translate into some brain fog symptoms</li><li>In need of a caring, touchable, trusted support person or group</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In certain countries, the collapse or decline of economies, sudden and unnecessary increased in poverty, tearing of the social fabric, and failure of infrastructure - has brought us to the brink of anarchy - which of course does little to reduce stress, disorientation, fear, numbness, brain fog …</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">On a broader front it is becoming increasingly clear that the self-appointed “elite” who are assuming control (Schwab and his minions, the WHO, Gates, Musk, Big Pharma and others), is moving to become the centralised arbiter and point for managing all “health” matters (regulations, restrictions, digitisation and data base records of individual’s medical and immunisation status, etc. etc.) as a wedge to ruling over and exploiting every aspect of our lives (for our benefit! The biggest lie ever by these people of the lie)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In South Africa we’ve experienced massive state capture, which pales into insignificance alongside the world - capture and rule that we’re about to see. We are in for a helluva ride and a huge spiritual battle.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Perhaps in these circumstances, people are more prone to overwork as a means of ‘escape’, and potential workaholics are even more prone to addiction, and more likely to suffer from burnout?</p></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAqfUQEI2xUf7FdwQdGcCInHtff98Iso4rgDojQ5zv4qFOPMurFT95dcmuGOTKXLz6cW8tAY2c6-hJ4XVVSv67NYffLRFfGQ7HNs9jPhCKDoo71gxopYuFolaY6vI98Oal_7qq8vIo1oKHO32v1eF4pWdc3npo1d5pppv9HWGEDlTo2VvW2NMHKWP/s703/brainfrog3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="703" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAqfUQEI2xUf7FdwQdGcCInHtff98Iso4rgDojQ5zv4qFOPMurFT95dcmuGOTKXLz6cW8tAY2c6-hJ4XVVSv67NYffLRFfGQ7HNs9jPhCKDoo71gxopYuFolaY6vI98Oal_7qq8vIo1oKHO32v1eF4pWdc3npo1d5pppv9HWGEDlTo2VvW2NMHKWP/w640-h360/brainfrog3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This work addiction behaviour scale was developed by clinical psychologist Dr Cecilie Andreassen and her University of Bergen team. (Further addiction behaviour scales have been developed at Bergen, including ones addressing social media usage and compulsive shopping. You may wish to Google these for your own edification).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The brain fog pandemic is in its infancy and will grow quickly and exponentially.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>WHAT CAN WE DO TO AVOID OR OVERCOME STRESS, LIFT BRAIN FOG?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Under so much pressure, insecurity, uncertainty and weariness, how do we continue to be possibilists, empathise with others, reimagine a wonderful new future and work towards a meaningful purpose, develop a growth mindset? Are such attitudes and characteristics all ‘pie in the sky’ now? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What to do?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Recognise the 'Whole Person'</strong></span>. We could begin by recognising that the physical, mental, social and spiritual are connected. Having a headache can be frustrating and annoying, lead to short temper, trigger an argument that affects a relationship and results in guilt, that weighs heavily on us and our state of being, on our ability to be grateful and responsive … and so on …</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">David Bohm, quantum physicist, recognised this non-dual aspect of mind, body, spirit. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The physical, emotional and spiritual together drive purpose, beliefs, values and the attaining of meaning. (Bohm, D. 1987)</p></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDcZhMSvbuNvIvy9e_aDI3jPX-95NcIrH0FDgb0sEnewuI235wMQYM0DX24rxWDLUAnVYDqT5zAn2lfmUkgum4B83AfLnzzGTlWTXBr6K6JubitLqklr32e3t91kW0p5ibIKYHcBDjz7Uw_E9uAlDsSNzDOifEhiY9bTHKoAGILHSAaAr73B8lj3h/s509/brainfog4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="509" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDcZhMSvbuNvIvy9e_aDI3jPX-95NcIrH0FDgb0sEnewuI235wMQYM0DX24rxWDLUAnVYDqT5zAn2lfmUkgum4B83AfLnzzGTlWTXBr6K6JubitLqklr32e3t91kW0p5ibIKYHcBDjz7Uw_E9uAlDsSNzDOifEhiY9bTHKoAGILHSAaAr73B8lj3h/s320/brainfog4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Focus our learning and other activities.</strong></span> We could, when waking up and educating others or learning ourselves, not to overload but choose rather to focus and to learn in small manageable chunks. Prioritising and managing our energy is critical these days. Put less emphasis on content and on how to impart that content – and put more effort into understanding the learner’s state, needs and limits as the start point for our educating. We could employ self-regulating mechanisms such as self-led small group circles. We could fathom how to best leverage and combine wisdom and learning and fun, and how to best facilitate memory and recall - in short parables, imagery, metaphor, games, analogy …?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And we could move more learning experiences into a nature environment.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Develop personal hardiness.</strong></span> We could make a firm choice to improve our own bouncebackability, our stress coping resources, our brain fog management – so that we respond better to change and pressure challenges, feel more comfortable in a more stressful world and become better able to manage ourselves, build resilience and speak out against the tyranny that is happening, participate on our own chosen terms.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">At the end of this newsletter for you to visit at your leisure is a series of articles that throw light on different aspects of a well=proven, down-to-earth model for coping with change and stress, becoming more resilient:</div></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIjix80iL0GHfIkO-1LT05UCW_cMVNt0rzoDA8ayyBlySKZV0gCud8e3jAn8WK5ZvT9bkwKR0cDSZNgFJeuzVPnMJfbXJT-f52ABGzQS-m7fCwOViM0fTuGycbFSC_P-8HdOvaWbRnw3jPoQ_Xj_pfAWdVwhTFxUxwPkxKhEPJXK9VekCjRcdHoSe/s397/brainfog5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIjix80iL0GHfIkO-1LT05UCW_cMVNt0rzoDA8ayyBlySKZV0gCud8e3jAn8WK5ZvT9bkwKR0cDSZNgFJeuzVPnMJfbXJT-f52ABGzQS-m7fCwOViM0fTuGycbFSC_P-8HdOvaWbRnw3jPoQ_Xj_pfAWdVwhTFxUxwPkxKhEPJXK9VekCjRcdHoSe/w283-h400/brainfog5.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The model addresses the whole person – physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual. A start to becoming mindfully aware of serving these parts are covered in my accompanying 9M checklist: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoUe_M_Def9ymc5f0IR9RCLOh5xmKrzuDxLjxXc40fWr3Yl4alfVMq-BIcQ_YM5IBKEt4DB6mQ6v5qB4ZK5TY0E9d0l7_HsdC1ZG56XKtC8n2aK6ReX5wG2ZLR5Be2Ox1vZdV06ELZN9y8MewQb6O40JB3Jk447uGDY4L7RA9yKLu9SkUnaJqEk9T/s800/brainfog6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoUe_M_Def9ymc5f0IR9RCLOh5xmKrzuDxLjxXc40fWr3Yl4alfVMq-BIcQ_YM5IBKEt4DB6mQ6v5qB4ZK5TY0E9d0l7_HsdC1ZG56XKtC8n2aK6ReX5wG2ZLR5Be2Ox1vZdV06ELZN9y8MewQb6O40JB3Jk447uGDY4L7RA9yKLu9SkUnaJqEk9T/w360-h640/brainfog6.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><div><span style="color: red;"><strong>Swop technology for nature and contemplation.</strong></span> We could spend less time on our computers and mobile phones and more time in nature, exercising and enjoying pastimes with friends. We could prioritise. And we could combat isolation and induce relaxation, calm, focus and well-being through meditation and its fruits.</div><div> </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In the experience of Archbishop Rowan Williams the spiritual is the most important part we need to serve: “<em>Contemplation is the only ultimate answer to the unreal and insane world that our financial systems and our advertising culture and our chaotic and unexamined emotions encourage us to inhabit. To learn contemplative practice is to learn what we need so as to live truthfully and honestly and lovingly. It is a deeply revolutionary matter”</em>. (Williams, R. 2012) </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Surely, in a time of lies and deception where one cannot trust a wealthy (self-appointed) ‘elite’, power- holders, vested interest businesses, big pharma, politicians, big tech and the media – and where every piece of information must be fact-checked - not by big-tech but by ourselves – we simply have to learn to rely on our intuition, our conscience …. Contemplation becomes a valuable vehicle for us to go deeper, reach out to where we can source truth and meaning, discover and begin to know the unknowable, develop the highest virtues. <em>How</em> we tap into the cloud of unknowing to find truth and comfort is of course a personal journey.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So,</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">something that stood out for me when putting this article together is the thought that if we acknowledge and understand, if we make the effort to discover resources and become disciplined in developing our resilience during troubled times (doing the ‘little things’ outlined above), if we seek deep knowing, if we give love to others - we become survivors not sinkers, and our brain fog begins to lift. We become more effective. Think more clearly. Respond more appropriately to others. As poet Emily Dickinson puts it: “<em>We grow accustomed to the Dark</em>”. And thus we become more able to combat the dark, be a better force for good, for love, position ourselves to win the war.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Do your own contemplation, draw up your own checklist of things to do, then introduce them into your life, look after your contentedness and become a contemplative in action..</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>RESOURCES FOR Dystopia, Stress, Brain Fog:</strong></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Shifting to JOMO </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2021/05/shifting-to-jomo.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2021/05/shifting-to-jomo.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Read right </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/03/pura-vida-read-right.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/03/pura-vida-read-right.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Values and practices part 1 </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/03/pura-vida-2-values-and-practices-part-1.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/03/pura-vida-2-values-and-practices-part-1.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Values and Practices: Part 2 </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/pura-vida-3-values-and-practices-part-2.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">pura-vida-3-values-and-practices-part-2.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">STRESS MANAGEMENT DURING LOCK-DOWNS (The 9M framework) </span><br /><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/pura-vida-4-stress-management-during.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/pura-vida-4-stress-management-during.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Be still </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/be-still-pura-vida-6.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/be-still-pura-vida-6.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Snap out of it </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/snap-out-of-it.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/04/snap-out-of-it.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Personal Pandemic Engagement: a FREE Assessment for individuals </span><br /><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/06/personal-pandemic-engagement-free.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/06/personal-pandemic-engagement-free.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">RESOURCE: WHY A MOTIVATIONAL FINGERPRINT IS NOW MORE ESSENTIAL THAN EVER BEFORE </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/07/resource-why-motivational-fingerprint.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/07/resource-why-motivational-fingerprint.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To hear is to see – personal visioning </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-hear-is-to-see-personal-visioning.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-hear-is-to-see-personal-visioning.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Building your bouncebackability </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/04/building-your-bouncebackability.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/04/building-your-bouncebackability.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Looking after brain-heart-mind-body </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/10/looking-after-brain-heart-mind-body.htm" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/10/looking-after-brain-heart-mind-body.htm</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">l</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Making space for the unknown </span><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/10/blog-post.html" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2019/10/blog-post.html</a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Norwegian Business consultant Wenche Fredriksen shares her symptoms, experiences, and resources discovered during her own burnout. A story that holds wisdom for all of us in these times. (Fredriksen, W. 2019) </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rising-from-ashes-story-burnout-way-back-life-wenche-fredriksen/" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rising-from-ashes-story-burnout-way-back-life-wenche-fredriksen/</a><br /><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For a confidential assessment of your personal hardiness quotient, contact <a href="http://centserv@iafrica.com/" style="color: #751f04;">centserv@iafrica.com</a> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong style="color: red;">REFERENCES</strong></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Bohm, David (1987) <em>Unfolding Meaning: a weekend of dialogue with David Bohm</em> Routledge</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ebrahim, Zakiyah (2022) <em>Hope for Covid long haulers with brain fog as researchers identify potential treatment </em>Health 24 24th February, 2022</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/long-covid/hope-for-covid-long-haulers-with-brain-fog-as-researchers-identify-potential-treatment-20220224-2" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/long-covid/hope-for-covid-long-haulers-with-brain-fog-as-researchers-identify-potential-treatment-20220224-2 </a></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Fredriksen, Wenche (2019) <em>RISING FROM THE ASHES - A story about burnout and the way back to life</em></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rising-from-ashes-story-burnout-way-back-life-wenche-fredriksen/" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rising-from-ashes-story-burnout-way-back-life-wenche-fredriksen/</a></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Laker, Benjamin (2021) <em>94% Of Workers Are Stressed: KPMG Research Reveals Covid-19’s Lingering Effects On Employees</em> Forbes. 4th May, 2021 </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminlaker/2021/05/04/the-future-world-of-work-is-fascinating-reveals-new-research-from-kpmg/?sh=78ccb7c26865" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminlaker/2021/05/04/the-future-world-of-work-is-fascinating-reveals-new-research-from-kpmg/?sh=78ccb7c26865</a></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Pieper, Josef (1963) <em>Leisure - The Basis of Culture</em> Pantheon Books Inc, Random House </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Williams, Archbishop Rowan (2012) <em>Address to the Synod of Bishops in Rome on October 10, 2012</em> cited by Richard Rohr (Richard Rohr’s Meditation: Contemplation and Action Monday, August 17, 2015)</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </div></div></div><p><br /><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></em></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-60343603867582034242021-08-22T21:46:00.004-07:002021-08-22T21:54:57.394-07:00Bluebeard Lives Again<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMUviduSh8tJlFGPmseMIiLBNEcDOqLKpoNahkLGjYCkfJMaiTMIxJXqtUrY_YSPoCa3P9Uo2pNesV0SZzXDCUTNfrB1MiQdaVRd0mXPNk3KJDV5i3W6zZcs-x7lobCNS4IpOmZ0fARw/s401/Bluebeard1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMUviduSh8tJlFGPmseMIiLBNEcDOqLKpoNahkLGjYCkfJMaiTMIxJXqtUrY_YSPoCa3P9Uo2pNesV0SZzXDCUTNfrB1MiQdaVRd0mXPNk3KJDV5i3W6zZcs-x7lobCNS4IpOmZ0fARw/w324-h400/Bluebeard1.jpg" width="324" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Bluebeard illustration by Edmund Dulac</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Narcissism and its effects are on the rise - a clear and present danger</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Here is another angle on the decline of humanity:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Everyone knows the story of Narcissus at the pond, who when cursed by Nemesis, falls completely in love with his own image (without knowing it is his own image). And so, he loses the ability to love anyone else. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This ability to love, be compassionate, empathise, is killed off in extreme narcissists. Automatically accompanying this is loss of any moral compass. It becomes all about ‘me’ and never about ‘we’ no matter how well and how often they pretend at and project learned behaviours. Theirs and the true self of those close to them is diminished, destroyed and consumed. (Jarrett, C. 2019) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Narcissistic traits have become embedded in modern culture on a large scale. Overcoming narcissism is a psychological and spiritual imperative for our times. It is a terminal situation and must be overcome. The true self is the most endangere<em>d of all species. </em>Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés has asserted that<em> </em><em>"Never has the true self been as endangered as it is now in human beings</em>" , while pointing out the far-reaching effects of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) in our current culture. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Her rendition of the lesser-known Bluebeard story (Estés, C.P. 1992) offers a pathway to freedom and how to rise above oppression:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Bluebeard the archetype of evil and of malignant narcissism, is part of a self-appointed “elite”, has power and wealth (a castle in the forest) - lures, enchants and seduces others (a gullible group of sisters and their mother) with promises/ falsehoods, downright blatant lies (They see someone who will look after their interests, take care of them, give them the means to protect themselves and be safe. They </em><em>believe what they are fed</em><em>). Bluebeard has killed others and would kill anyone who looked into a forbidden room in his dark castle, and see/ discern his secret (One of murderous intent, a self-serving, sick, dictatorial, destructive, suffocating, hateful and devious nature, one who practices menticide, and has a driving need to be in control, worshipped) and thus discover his lack of true self. And you can’t un-see what you have seen. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>They group together, pray, call to their brothers/ warriors, are rescued. Bluebeard is killed and his blood waters the roses (When narcissism is killed, something beautiful emerges in its wake). They recover their true selves. New life happens.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEu9qtKtP2Tq0YorX24s7gX717Akqg9jj-lk7lIq6Pxb7ul-F8S6899XyZc8L0NKnIzsL1PZA7VK9YeNivhBK8agqkvrU5hwZET-zs1S9oPqWboOGXwTMoMRtF3S-CioVT8CYi5vE9cM/s350/Bluebeard2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="350" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEu9qtKtP2Tq0YorX24s7gX717Akqg9jj-lk7lIq6Pxb7ul-F8S6899XyZc8L0NKnIzsL1PZA7VK9YeNivhBK8agqkvrU5hwZET-zs1S9oPqWboOGXwTMoMRtF3S-CioVT8CYi5vE9cM/w400-h398/Bluebeard2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Narcissus plant, part of the daffodil family</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Understanding the 'enemy' (known and unseen and unknown) in the current situation, the means they use and the damage they do, and winning the spiritual battle</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The key to winning the present spiritual battle is to question, seek the truth, become aware, pray, inform others, call on the help of others and on the warrior part of self, act in whatever ways you can (compassionately and wisely), protest, dissent, find a safe place/ space/ base, defend, resist, regroup, move forward.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Narcissists proclaim and portray false empathy and can convey charisma and promise but are figuratively vampires and prey on and suck the blood out of others. They cannot be mediated – they are serial killers (in current times on a huge, unprecedented scale). We must acknowledge that we are prey to narcissists. At the national level, group level and individual level. (Class, gender, religion, and racial take - downs. From spousal abuse to genocide) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">So, at every level we must recover our true selves and humanity by removing the nooses they have used on us and put on liberating haloes. Recognise that there are some extreme situations where opposing forces cannot be bridged.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money … abusive … Without love … without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good … Have nothing to do with them”</em> (2 Timothy 3; 1-5)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Only towards the end of 1991 did free elections take place in Poland following their communist era. I did some consulting work there over a year or two in the later 1990s, and was aghast at the extent to which communistic rule had introduced amongst the populace a meek obedience to authority, many fears, and resulted in lost abilities to think independently and make decisions. I am not sure how quickly these capacities can be regained once diminished. I visited the Berlin wall before it fell and communist East Berlin became incorporated. The difference between the two Berlins was mind-boggling.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The seriousness of what awaits non-ANC, non-EFF, non-Marxist-oriented South Africans is not understood by most. And (as a non-racist statement of fact) the tiny, white, dwindling 5% minority has been the subject of ongoing discrimination (supported by legislation) and vitriolic hate-speech by these groups. The danger that this minority is endangered should not be underestimated. There are two huge threats, possibly interlinked. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: blue;">Totalitarianism</span></em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">An Academy of Ideas explanation of the menticide process that brings totalitarianism into being should be widely viewed. How many times have we said “Never again”? Yet totalitarianism continues to happen, this time on a world-wide scale. In looking at the recent history of what we have been living through, we see:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">An ugly new style of leadership is fast emerging – narcissistic, deceptive and domineering. Under the guise of being there for the people, these leaders have fed their own self-interest and megalomania. A domineering authority: obedient subject/ wounded parent: wounded child relationship has been ushered in. (A narcissistic symbiosis). At some point participative democracy was replaced by dictatorship. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A psychic epidemic where delusions are induced deeply and widely, a mass psychosis, has happened with the advent of “covid-19”. Carl Jung warned against such psychosis. Fear mongering has been the huge psychogenic trigger to bring about collective trauma and the diminishment of individuals; and provided pathological power for the self-chosen “elite”. In a very real sense, for both power holder and the enslaved, our intellectual, emotional, social, ethical/ moral and spiritual maturities have all taken a severe beating and been relegated to history. Watch:<a href="http://%20https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M" style="color: #751f04;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M</a> (Academy of Ideas. 2021)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: blue;">The Covid-19 Campaign</span></em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dedicated to healing, Dr Susan Vosloo (South Africa’s first female heart surgeon who did her first transplant at age 33) was wonderfully clear and straightforward when asked about the gene-therapy ‘vaccine’, adopting the belief that: <em>”The vaccine was not brought in because of covid but covid was brought in for the vaccine”</em> and providing perspective on the grand-scale deception being carried out, and also on the lack of proper, unbiased medical science to support what is being perpetrated.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And, of course, she has since been vilified by the media and medical puppets. Here is what she said about gene-therapy disguised as vaccinations: <a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/RxlhN8OcQqBn/" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.bitchute.com/video/RxlhN8OcQqBn/</a> (Bitchute. 2021)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Everything else about the covid campaign also raises huge questions that the authorities (supported by big pharma, the WHO and others) refuse to answer - for those who wish to make independent, informed decisions (including the way testing is carried out, the way statistics are calculated, presented, reported and predictions made, the experimental nature of the vaccines, their ingredients and their potential ‘side effects’, how effective they are; the suppression of proven treatments other than vaccinations, and so on and so on … Professor of Medicine Peter McCullough is another who is silenced by the ‘authorities’. (McCullough. 2021) See: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1eXkeW444w" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1eXkeW444w </a> In similar vein, the upholding of crucial theological, medical ethical and legal tenets seems to have been violated to an alarming extent. See Anna De Buisseret's informative and lucid explanations here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9qzoqC-AU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9qzoqC-AU</a> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">There is mounting evidence to show that contrary views and findings are suppressed. Many don’t speak out for fear of being labelled conspiracy theorists, ridiculed and punished. And increasingly those who have been vaxxed are demanding that all others get vaxxed as well. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>How</em> the covid-19 pandemic has been handled by those who exhibit no concern for the citizenry is the epitomy of narcissistic behaviour (by governments, big tech, big pharma and other administering stakeholders) and has reeked of totalitarianism. How many lies? How much physical, psychological, social and spiritual damage?</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">So what now?</span></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">To repeat the lessons from Bluebeard, the key to winning this spiritual battle, is to question bravely, seek and discern the truth, become aware, pray, spread the truth as effectively and responsibly as possible, call on the help of and associate with like-minded others and on the warrior part of self, and act by dissenting, protesting, and not wavering when persecuted. (In this respect small-group circles have merit for what they offer in terms of participatory thinking and support)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">While remaining compassionate, dissociate from and avoid those who exhibit the characteristics and behaviours outlined above in order to achieve their goals.. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The bluebeards in our midst must not be allowed to rob us of our freedoms, values, ethics, morality. Our very humanity. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>References</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Academy of Ideas (2021) <em>MASS PSYCHOSIS - How an Entire Population Becomes mentally ill </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M </a></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 13px;">AJ Roberts (2021) I</span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">nterview of Anna De Buisseret: So many laws broken on so many levels </i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9qzoqC-AU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9qzoqC-AU</a></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px;">Bitchute (2021)</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px;"> </span><em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This is what Dr Susan Vosloo said when asked about the Covid-19 Gene Therapy disguised as vaccinations.</em><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px;"> </span><a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/RxlhN8OcQqBn/" style="color: #751f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">https://www.bitchute.com/video/RxlhN8OcQqBn/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dulac, Edmond – Illustrator (1910) "<em>Bluebeard" from 'Perrault's Fairy Tales</em> In the Public Domain <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Bluebeard%22.jpg" style="color: #751f04;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Bluebeard%22.jpg</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Estés, Clarissa Pinkola, Dr (1992) <em>Women Who Run With the Wolves: myths and stories of the wild woman archetype</em> Ballantine Books</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Jarrett, Christian (2019) <em>Psychopaths and Narcissists Have Hogged the Limelight, Now It’s Time to Explore the Saintlier Side of Human Personality, Say Researchers, as They Announce a Test of The “Light Triad” Traits</em> British Psychological Society, Research Digest 22nd March, 2019 <a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/" style="color: #751f04;">https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">McCullough, Peter (2021) <em>Sky News interview </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1eXkeW444w" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1eXkeW444w </a></p></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-449335434893947042021-08-10T09:18:00.002-07:002021-08-10T23:46:34.410-07:00The Fall of Humanity<p> <strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: maroon;">Context</span></strong></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I like you am fearfully and wonderfully made (Brand, P and Yancey, P. 1981), literally awesome and unique. We were made to laugh and cry and sing. Born to hug and dance and touch. Destined to be free and to love being in close community with others. Interconnected. And blessed with a natural immunity to disease that has evolved and strengthened over millions of years. We have a built-in capacity to wrestle with issues, discern truth, and make sense of things – to see what we see.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: maroon;">A prophecy come true?</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We should look for truth and wisdom in a myriad of sources - people, disciplines, information channels. Science and the arts. As widely as possible (Narrow-view peer reviews toe the party line and often distort and compromise the truth). Adopt left and right brain wisdom.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This pearl is from the New Testament, a mentoring letter written by Paul while in jail in Rome to Timothy in Ephesus (Turkey). It is in four sections that cover looking after what you believe in, suffering hardship for that if necessary, staying true to what you believe in and being inclusive – sharing with others. Staying true was the bit that captured my attention.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Paul’s prophesied context is that people will become <em>“lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive… without love, unforgiving, slanderous, brutal… treacherous, rash, conceited …</em>” (2 Tim 3: 2 – 4) </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">All of what was predicted can be verified by recent sound, valid and reliable research and reasoning and captured in previous newsletters. In summary, the following trends and conditions have been exposed:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Narcissism, boastfulness, being better than, arrogance are all on the rise (Jarrett, C. 2019)</li><li>Love of wealth, power and control of others prevails (from big corporate to individual levels)</li><li>Compassion, empathy, gratefulness and forgiveness are all on the decline (Williams, G. 2020)</li><li>Divisiveness and polarisation is spreading rampantly</li><li>Deceit, treacherous manipulation by fear and falsehoods, divide and rule, and the coercive employment of propaganda characterises government's imposition of Draconian societal controls (Robinson, P. Dr 2021) - especially now under the guise of a covid-19 “pandemic”.</li></ul><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Humanity has been slowly drifting into World where “winners” take all; capitalism is often irresponsible; the power - holders and wealthy “elites” exhibit a MacBeth-type, falling-over-itself, “<em>vaulting ambition</em>”; fake news, lies and deception are the order of the day; faith is placed exclusively in the rational, scientific, the military and the technological - for the determination of humanity’s sense-making, direction and values. The puppet masters are busy engineering and bringing into being a new world that remodels who we are, how we live and relate to each other, and become pawns in the hands of the wealthy elite and political power-holders. A dramatically different new model is urgently needed. (Williams, G et al. 2021)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(20 years ago, Peter Senge pointed out the dangers of a “<em>shifting the burden</em>” dynamic becoming imbedded in our culture. Instead of addressing human development as whole persons we have increased our reliance on science and technology for solutions to symptomatic problems, all the while suppressing our poetic, artistic, nature-inspired and spiritual natures and other human qualities and capacities. A trap we have fallen into. (Senge, P. et al. 2004) This had led to widespread individual and collective trauma and to the very real danger of “augmented” humanism. A new narrative is now an absolute imperative).</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: maroon;">A road to recovery?</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We have lost a great deal of our social conscience, sense of justice, ‘old’ community values, care for the planet, a sense of meaning based on higher purpose, our very humanity. In our efforts to recapture this we could heed Paul’s charge to Timothy to live a life of good conduct characterised by the virtues of “<em>purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance…”</em>. For me, a part of his exhortation at the individual level is to shift away from the small p’s (increasingly driven by our addiction to information and communication technologies and algorithmic manipulation and peer pressure arising from that addiction) - to the BIG P’s as humanitarian drivers of our individual character, values and behaviours, and our interconnectedness and belonging:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-GMJn1d2xkoJ6BHzDEVnxiDHCqC368PNsRfhQ5HcdJAMSLrcAgJ1GjZlEbtHJHPIG7OpejVPgz9Q2yM6uNzk63b7CTmo4rsHkFAghgABHXmV-TFW9tmksUgsAd20gDV4d9V-l9iDIk8/s480/10P2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-GMJn1d2xkoJ6BHzDEVnxiDHCqC368PNsRfhQ5HcdJAMSLrcAgJ1GjZlEbtHJHPIG7OpejVPgz9Q2yM6uNzk63b7CTmo4rsHkFAghgABHXmV-TFW9tmksUgsAd20gDV4d9V-l9iDIk8/w300-h400/10P2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Regarding this values-shift, a good start-point may be to contemplate, in order to discern:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>where and how we have gone wrong <em>personally</em>, </li><li>what keeps us locked into values, habits and behaviours that become harmful if not balanced (the small p’s) by the higher values and virtues (the Big P’s), </li><li>what makes us susceptible to authoritarian (even totalitarian) and societal pressures and conditioning (Luke Andreski’s clear analyses , moral compass and unique expression have been of great value. (Andreski, L. 2021)), </li><li>how to regain and reinforce our interconnectedness and togetherness and escape what the puppet masters would have: separation, division, distancing and isolation for their control purposes. What Brand and Yancey say about moral and ethical laws, using the analogy of the human body, applies also to our need for interconnectivity and community as we share the web of life. <em>“If you examine one law, like a random bone plucked from a pile, it may seem strangely shaped and illogical because laws, like bones, are designed for the complex, connected needs of a whole body”</em>. (Brand, P and Yancey, P. 1984) We need each other in order to be fully human. Remember this?!: <a _fcksavedurl="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8</a></li><li>what concerns us most of the time and where our perspectives, world views and resultant behaviours have become swamped and skewed</li></ul><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Here is a depiction of where a lot of us might be in our thinking patterns at the present time:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaByEZQiQxqMKfUrDGy_CATmoxBspwkXhwICyKsgMWYATObIiLDv3DkPTZnZHxBusbT3yWHyhQeOUuhfq_68heDgFf_OvoQAFHBKDFZM8iGjRBlRqbL3nKg9tIXUXoTVzQLyymQJY6_0/s698/wrong+focus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="698" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaByEZQiQxqMKfUrDGy_CATmoxBspwkXhwICyKsgMWYATObIiLDv3DkPTZnZHxBusbT3yWHyhQeOUuhfq_68heDgFf_OvoQAFHBKDFZM8iGjRBlRqbL3nKg9tIXUXoTVzQLyymQJY6_0/w400-h225/wrong+focus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><div>I believe that a refocus:</div><div> </div><ul><li>on humanity’s awesome potential, freedom and equality</li><li>on what could be put right again, </li><li>and on an unselfish giving to and compassionate sharing with our wider family (community and society), the home which we inhabit (the environment, nature, the planet) and how we subsist by contributing and earning, bartering, giving (the economy)</li></ul><div> </div><div>could surely lead to humanity recovering and rising once more (as Buddhism explains) like a bird using two wings to fly – the wings of Wisdom and Compassion? </div><div>And then we will sing and hug and trust and cry, commune and be human, be who we are.</div><div> </div><div><strong><span style="color: maroon;">References</span></strong></div><div>Andreski, Luke (2021):</div><div><em>The 21st Century lies pandemic</em></div><div><a href="https://dangerousglobe.com/news/the-21st-century-lies-pandemic/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dangerousglobe.com/news/the-21st-century-lies-pandemic/ </a></div><div><em>A shield of values</em></div><div><a href="https://dangerousglobe.com/news/everyone-needs-a-shield-of-values/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dangerousglobe.com/news/everyone-needs-a-shield-of-values/ </a></div><div><em>A wall of truth</em></div><div><a href="https://dangerousglobe.com/news/politics/the-wall-of-truth/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dangerousglobe.com/news/politics/the-wall-of-truth/ </a></div><div>The Socrates Bomb</div><div><a href="https://dangerousglobe.com/news/politics/the-socrates-bomb/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dangerousglobe.com/news/politics/the-socrates-bomb/ </a></div><div><em>Chaplin’s Stiletto</em></div><div><a href="https://dorseteye.com/chaplins-stiletto/" style="color: #751f04;">https://dorseteye.com/chaplins-stiletto/ </a></div><div>Brand, Paul Dr and Yancey, Philip (1984) <em>Fearfully and Wonderfully Made</em> Hodder and Stoughton</div><div>Jarrett, Christian (2019) <em>Psychopaths and Narcissists Have Hogged the Limelight, Now It’s Time to Explore the Saintlier Side of Human Personality, Say Researchers, as They Announce a Test of The “Light Triad” Traits</em> British Psychological Society, Research Digest 22nd March, 2019 </div><div><a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/" style="color: #751f04;">https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/03/22/psychopaths-and-narcissists-have-hogged-the-limelight-now-its-time-to-explore-the-saintlier-side-of-human-personality-say-researchers-as-they-announce-a-test-of-the-light-triad-traits/</a></div><div>Robinson, Piers, Dr (2021)<em> Propoganda Allowed Extraordinary Measures </em>Interviewed on Asia Pacific Today 4th August, 2021</div><div><a href="https://rumble.com/vkppo0-covid-is-a-global-propaganda-operation.html" style="color: #751f04;">https://rumble.com/vkppo0-covid-is-a-global-propaganda-operation.html</a></div><div>Senge, Peter; Scharmer, C. Otto; Jaworski, Joseph and Flowers, Betty Sue (2004) <em>Presence: exploring profound change in people, organizations and society</em> Society for Organizational Learning</div><div>Williams, Graham; Gargiulo, Terrence and Bánhegyi, Stévé (2021) <em>Story-Bridging: from walls to bridges with story - exploring ways of countering the societal, economic and environmental impacts of negative, belittling, divisive, harmful and false narratives.</em> Unpublished manuscript</div><div>Williams, Graham (2020) <em>Are We Becoming Less Compassionate, Less Fully Human? How Might We Return To What We May Be</em>? </div><div><a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/defining-and-understanding-compassion/are-we-becoming-less-compassionate-less-fully-human" style="color: #751f04;">https://charterforcompassion.org/defining-and-understanding-compassion/are-we-becoming-less-compassionate-less-fully-human </a></div><div> </div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-10645253882370797712021-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:002021-08-10T09:13:13.754-07:00We like sheep...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9M7cK40CEdYb9f2hDO1LPVv_8KA0maNDiJrSQEsWFDBU1LRBrkwAU_kQjVaLBDNEFKbLWTXaVQURb4rLtt9-ZiiJQps_ghWCSVGFYqnE9-RLJDErvKSILzi_rpJ2NdFmU9FLRv2MljSw/s480/sheep1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="316" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9M7cK40CEdYb9f2hDO1LPVv_8KA0maNDiJrSQEsWFDBU1LRBrkwAU_kQjVaLBDNEFKbLWTXaVQURb4rLtt9-ZiiJQps_ghWCSVGFYqnE9-RLJDErvKSILzi_rpJ2NdFmU9FLRv2MljSw/w264-h400/sheep1.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> (Weller, K. 2007)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>WE LIKE SHEEP</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">To misquote the Bible, <em>“We, all like sheep, have been led astray …” </em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">That’s what authoritarian, fascist, technocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian regimes do to the people. Working from a basis of arrogance, a belief in their own superiority because of position, power or wealth, these self-appointed ‘elite’ antagonists believe that they have the right to dominate and control the rest of us. Lead us astray, like sheep.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This is not conspiracy thinking. It is plain to see that a new, evil, military-like oppression of people and suppression of information has been imposed around the World. Why have we had a lockdown, curfews and compliance regulations in South Africa that go on and on and on. Some of our 'unalienable' individual rights that have been threatened impacted, abused, or withdrawn partially or fully during this ongoing lockdown period, include rights to work, life, equality of relief and policing, dignity, absence of discrimination including on the grounds of age), freedom of movement and travel, freedom from degrading treatment, freedom of thought, expression, criticism, protest and association, unhampered freedom of worship, of privacy including protection against search and seizure of home, person, and correspondence, ownership of property with the State legislating its 'custodianship' of all property and expropriation without compensation, the right to information held by the government, to being able to make properly informed choices, to unimpeded education, to self-defense … Participative democracy is long gone.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I never thought I’d witness the army in Sydney, Australia patrolling the streets to enforce “precautions” such as social distancing, the wearing of masks, and adherence to curfew rules. And similar crackdowns and forced compliance around the World.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I never thought I would ever see a world in which leaders of nearly all countries, and those behind the scenes, furiously pushing experimental big-pharma vaccinations, having mobilised their media lackeys, and aided in some instances by big business - like a prominent private sector financial/ health organisation in South Africa that has stepped in to promote and administer experimental vaccinations - in order to achieve a numerical target that they wrongly term “herd immunity”. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I never thought I would ever see fearful people so subjected to a deliberate campaign to these ends that they are meekly accepting drastic curtailment of their freedoms, and clamouring to be vaxxed in order to ‘protect themselves’ against a variant of the SARS flu. And in the process turning hostile towards those who are unvaccinated.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>HOW DOES SUCH A TOTALITARIAN SITUATION COME ABOUT?</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">'Totalitarian' fits closely with other descriptive terms such as fascist, technocratic, authoritarian, dictatorship, communist … the finer points of difference are unimportant here. We have had many lessons from a human history of power abuse. Think Hitler, Mussolini, Chairman Mao. Think slavery in many forms. Think total control by a small, arrogant ruling elite; insidious and deceitful propaganda; deceit; divide, separate, isolate and rule tactics. Fear, falsehoods and coercion. Demonisation of non-adherents, and censorship and punishment of dissidents. What amounts to psychological and even biological warfare supported these days by information and censorship algorithms, behavioural economic techniques, wave after wave of conditioning campaigns. The removal of individual rights, the manufacturing of mass psychosis and wildfire-like spreading of pathological fear and attendant beliefs. And a populace defeated by fragmentation of conscience, individual and collective trauma. Think about the lives we are now being forced to live.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">MUST WATCH informative videos are: </p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li> Academy of Ideas (2021) <em>The Manufacturing of a Mass Psychosis - Can Sanity Return to an Insane World?</em> Apr 24, 2021</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdzW-S8Mwbl" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdzW-S8Mwbl </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">An informative, reasoned explanation of totalitarian strategies and tactics. And:</p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Hudson, Nick (2021) <em>The Ugly Truth About the Covid-19 Lockdowns</em> (Inaugural BizNews Investment Conference)</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.pandata.org/time-to-reopen-society" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.pandata.org/time-to-reopen-society </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">PANDA aims to “<em>promote open science, human agency and courageous societies, empowering the public with accurate information thereby enabling individuals to exercise freedom of choice and preserve human liberties and free societies</em>”.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(This is not a case for capitalism, especially the rampant, destructive kind driven by a thirst for the egoic externals of power, wealth, status, being superior and winning, controlling and manipulating others, striving for hedonistic pleasure and perfection, exploiting to have and not share. And it seems to me that this is the great reset that governments, politicians and the wealthy ‘elite’ are feverishly chasing. That’s such a pathetic example for humanity. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The virtues of caring for, serving and being the best that we can be for others who share the interconnected web of life with us (our family), looking after the planet, the environment, nature (our home), subsisting through purposeful, honest endeavour, earning, bartering and giving wherever possible (our means) - and all the while relishing the beauty of our imperfection and appreciating the implicate, never-fully-understood reality that interacts with and holds up the explicate reality that we see and know - surely deserve far greater emphasis in how we should all live our lives… And are aligned with the PANDA aims)</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>OUT OF AFRICA</strong></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In South Africa, Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who heads the National Coronavirus Disaster Management Council appears at times to have a focus on political matters quite far removed from managing the response to the pandemic. A leading advocate and commentator points out that she <em>“… sees the pandemic as a pretext for pursuing pet projects of hers that are both unconstitutional and questionable …</em>” and she said at a press conference on 25th April, 2020 that the pandemic <em>“… also offers us an opportunity to accelerate the implementation of some long agreed upon structural changes … These opportunities call for more sacrifice and – if needs be – what Amilcar Cabral called “class suicide” </em>….’. (Marxist Cabral led the revolutionary guerrilla war for independence against Portuguese Guinea, West Africa. His solution requires, inter alia, doing away with capitalism and adopting the non-colonial values of the masses. (Hoffman, P. 2020)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">She is the ex-wife of ex-president Zuma (the man responsible for huge scale state capture, state creep, corruption … whose supporters were recently responsible for hugely damaging acts of anarchy and looting)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dlamini-Zuma endorsed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as Director-General of the World Health Organisation. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A member of her committee was Salim Karim, who was at the same time Head of the Scientific and Advisory Board of the Gates Foundation! He still is. And was recently appointed to a key post in the WHO! </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">There are other interesting connections and cooperations in this circle or den of friends.</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqGVwvCK5yL1HteU4F7BPTgSHRZO6i8GoYFz6snrTf1h44PKRNa7ESR-o0qnGhFqDOLDS_7hOXOsZKiSXqyePT1Dzk2Wb5PXqURzNCHZUDxv70QUA8OD6jNCjlB3McVZt7Zuxw89sKQk/s698/sheep2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="698" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqGVwvCK5yL1HteU4F7BPTgSHRZO6i8GoYFz6snrTf1h44PKRNa7ESR-o0qnGhFqDOLDS_7hOXOsZKiSXqyePT1Dzk2Wb5PXqURzNCHZUDxv70QUA8OD6jNCjlB3McVZt7Zuxw89sKQk/w400-h300/sheep2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>BACK TO OUR SHEEP METAPHOR</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Sheep are generally seen to be innocent, defenceless. Followers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Batswana (said to be the most competent sheep farmers in southern Africa) word for sheep is <em>nku</em> and it means “<em>the dumb or voiceless animal”.</em> Even when slaughtered “t<em>he sheep dies quietly”</em>. The sheep metaphor is used in the Bible: “<em>He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice”.</em></p><p style="text-align: justify;">(Interestingly, Dolly the famous sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell towards the close of the 20th century - was the first known example of man manipulating the code of life).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We must not be shepherded like sheep to the slaughter in a 21st century agenda of sinister human devising. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Instead, we have reason to respect and rely on our wonderful natural immunity and better natures, a need to stay alert, a duty to discern. and read the signs, a powerful motivation to think for ourselves and to ally with likeminded souls so that we can see each other through And joyfully practice the peaceful sharing of hope and compassion in a society where we want to belong. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>REFERENCES</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hoffman, Paul. Advocate. (2020) <em>Survival of the nation trumps the revolutionary transformation of the economy</em> PoliticsWeb 2 May 2020) <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/survival-of-the-nation-trumps-the-revolutionary-tr" style="color: #751f04;">https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/survival-of-the-nation-trumps-the-revolutionary-tr</a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mutwa, Credo (2007) <em>Isilwane: The Animal </em>Struik Publishers</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Weller, Keith (2007) <em>These particular sheep belong to a research flock at the US Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, Idaho, USA</em> In the public domain.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flock_of_sheep.jpg/316px-Flock_of_sheep.jpg" style="color: #751f04;">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Flock_of_sheep.jpg/316px-Flock_of_sheep.jpg</a></p></div><br /></div></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-65848540497393041852021-07-24T03:16:00.003-07:002021-07-24T03:21:12.531-07:00A TIME TO DISCERN<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_CnQqYFgHjgzy6BKOVo1akEgRaxgT1GV63eBbzAce-VAoUlgoFrvkG9D9jbK2ghbfZdElkEiYk40D55zA-QgHTNErZzc74SVaDFHPmw5K-ZJPNcNxyYuCiKlpVSP-2xK0pZ4uxtF-Zc/s458/Discern.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="458" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_CnQqYFgHjgzy6BKOVo1akEgRaxgT1GV63eBbzAce-VAoUlgoFrvkG9D9jbK2ghbfZdElkEiYk40D55zA-QgHTNErZzc74SVaDFHPmw5K-ZJPNcNxyYuCiKlpVSP-2xK0pZ4uxtF-Zc/w400-h300/Discern.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: left;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"> Perilous times<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In a 2019 Halo and Noose newsletter (From Walls to Bridges
with Story}: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Growing threats include global warming, degradation,
destruction, pollution, conflict, the decline of scarce resources, shrinking
economies, the rise of ‘we first’ patriotism relative to cooperative
globalisation, and shrinking personal freedom</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
tandem with these threats, we see a disquieting development - the emergence, in
politics and in the business world, of story that misinforms, manipulates,
coerces, divides, demeans, ostracizes and deceives. Witness fake news,
astroturfing, Brand stories that pretend at values and principles that are not
practised, and downright lies. Web content creators manage to slip past
gatekeepers and spread misinformation and lies. They succeed in these
manipulations, and in pushing for and finding fertile ground for the establishment
and reinforcement of their agendas. Some politicians deviously manage their
desired outcomes by preying on fears, promoting 'alternative realities',
presenting factoids based on false assumptions, resorting to propaganda. They
blur the truth and bolster their own position and interests. (Curtis, A. 2016).</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">This
fudging of truth spreads and goes hand in hand with a rise in ever-increasing
narcissistic attitudes and behaviours, and consequently we are seeing a drop in
trust, civility, respect, compassion, and attempts to bridge differences. And
we are seeing more ‘you-owe-me’ behaviour, naming and blaming, imposing of
shame and guilt on others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
this ‘distancing’ trend, politicians have used fear, falsehoods and coercion to
impose physical social distancing (along with many other measures, and while at
the same time not providing people with the information needed to make informed
decisions of their own). They have done this ostensibly because of the
coronavirus threat. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
the local South African situation, we have suddenly experienced extensive,
localised, sporadic anarchy – perhaps opportunistic, perhaps born out of
frustration and dire need, but perhaps also strategically orchestrated. There
is a chance that more anarchy will follow and lead to a total destruction of
our economy, environment and society. Without miraculous intervention, given
the current government ideology, aims, levels of corruption, incompetence, and
a penchant for deceit and creating divisions, the cracks in the dam wall will
continue to rapidly widen. The dam is nearly about to burst.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">And yet the vast majority prefer to not see and
they turn a blind eye.</span></p>
</div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There exists a mega - need in these times for
those who can, to discern the truth, in every situation that arises.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">So that we can shift the societal narrative
positively.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What is discernment?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It is </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">not</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, in the context of this
newsletter, about interpreting of social nuances or cross-cultural engagement
cues in order to discern differences and then alter one’s communication and
behaviour accordingly. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nor anything
other than discerning the truth about what is happening around us and to us as
a society under threat.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Discernment is not cognitive brilliance, or
emotional and social acuity, but a soul thing. A heart-informed thing. An
aspect of an agent-based (that is, person-based and not rules-based) spiritual maturity.
It is not about power, but about acting upon, and appropriately alerting, influencing
and guiding others according to truth received.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i>W</i></span><em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">e
have a ‘heart brain’ with a vast array of neurons that are processing sensory
information on their own and communicating that information to our brain,
nervous system and other organ systems. This means the heart is able to learn,
remember, and make decisions independent of the brain</span></em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">” (Tafler, A.
2019)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">is</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> about seeing what is hidden from most. It
</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">is</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> about recognising that even in the depths of darkness and despair,
the soul yearns for and responds to kindness and love. Discerning the truth in
matters of great importance to our well-being as whole people – physically,
mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt;">(Without limiting
the number of senses that we have and the ways we can sense, to six only), the
term “sixth sense” is generally understood as an indefinable. Something beyond
the other senses, beyond instinct and intuition. An extra faculty that allows for
the obtaining of an awareness and insight that is not explained in terms of our
normal perception). Discernment relies on a tapping into an implicate reality.
A reality that is deeper than and upholds and feeds the explicate reality that
we are able to observe. My word for this implicate reality that we don’t know, cannot
fathom nor explain, is ‘God’.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEju1uUIB_NGnb6B0CuOPHT9XUxsVs8oL2vDIXVexS8_YbDofwVUBNjKF_OHNU9ahIytHFIqwBRkz7CY7ciG-H-2RDX7xknL5Uelgr97xKqn6Ilv5mDkKqTWHgrSJt302RIT0UxhusAEY/s826/discern2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="714" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEju1uUIB_NGnb6B0CuOPHT9XUxsVs8oL2vDIXVexS8_YbDofwVUBNjKF_OHNU9ahIytHFIqwBRkz7CY7ciG-H-2RDX7xknL5Uelgr97xKqn6Ilv5mDkKqTWHgrSJt302RIT0UxhusAEY/w346-h400/discern2.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In my icon collection, the Apostle John is depicted
listening to the whispers of an angel. I
love that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">image.</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Discernment is fed by wisdom and love and
leads to wise, loving and congruent thinking, feeling, behaving (morally and
ethically) and knowing. It is hearing that still small voice by a readied-to-receive
person.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Individuals stand watch but discernment,
formulation of ways to guide and influence may also be an aspect of small - group
dynamics.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Since ancient
times, First Nations and a number of other indigenous peoples have burned sage
for centuries as part of a spiritual ritual to bring about healing and
wisdom. When we speak of sage advice (advice from a discerning Sage) we
acknowledge truth, wisdom and the opportunity for sound, pure healing. A Seer
or Prophetess is a see-er - one who has insight into what we shall all see
externally in future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why is discernment so necessary?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">During and after times of twisted
truth, confusion and fear-mongering, we must go against the odds and be a part
of reconstructing compassionate communities. In order to do so we must first
see what is wrong and how to put it right. This requires that we avoid self-deception.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4 songs have helped me to understand: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">The political
system <i>is </i>broken. There are lies and people-of-the-lie, psychological
stress, dysphoria. Foresight trumps hindsight as we’ve learned from our
mistakes in the Hitler, apartheid and other eras). Leonard Cohen from <i>Everybody
Knows</i>:</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: #fff9ee;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Everybody knows that the boat is
leaking. </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: #fff9ee;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><span style="background: white;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Everybody knows that the captain lied.</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white;"><span> </span> Everybody got this broken feeling. </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Like their father or their dog just died</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s up to us. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Bob Marley’s <i>Redemption Song</i> speaks of our
inner work being the route</span></li></ul><span style="color: #222222;"><i><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery</span></i></div></i></span><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>None but ourselves can free our minds</span></i></div><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;">
</p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Normally we see
dimly, defend the limited truth we think we have to avoid mental stress
(cognitive dissonance). Discernment is not only the weighing up of argument in
a left-brain manner but comes from the inner realm and a pure heart. This enables
true interpretation of the external. Another Jamaican musician, Jimmy Cliff:</span></li></ul><i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"I can see clearly now …</span></i></div></i><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span>Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind”</span></i></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">And Neil Diamond (from his 12 Songs
Album, singing We) reminds us;</span></li></ul><i style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>"It’s not about you.</span></i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> It’s not about Me.</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> It’s about We”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">So, these 4 songs teach that we could
seriously deliberate on and discuss:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- the discernment of lies and deceit, hidden
agendas, subtle propaganda, the use of psychology and behavioural economics to
influence covertly and even subliminally, the seeding of collective trauma, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">- discernment of how we fit and connect with
nature and others. Do what is best for our environment, our interconnectedness,
our interactions and transactions. Our home (the planet), our family (society)
and our subsistence (economy).</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- and discernment of how to bridge the gap between
what is and what should be. Our opportunities for truth, peace, compassion,
hope, love.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thus<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In these times of fake news, lies and
deception let’s strive to be accurate and informed in our evaluations and
judgements – and learn and work at discerning the truth and then to alert,
influence and guide those who would hear. Theologian Richard Rohr speaks of <i>“the demonic legitimization of oppressive and destructive
power by governments and institutions”.</i> He
speaks too of the benefit of spiritual discernment: <i>“… you can
understand on a whole new level… because now you see with wisdom and truth. It
is the birth of subtlety, discrimination, and compassionate seeing”. </i>(Rohr,
R. 2013)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If the world is potentially being subjected to
a campaign of fear, falsehood, coercion and force towards a new normal that is
against the best interests of the majority of humanity, then it is critical
that this evil be fully discerned, bravely exposed, and confronted in whatever
ways are left open to us, for as long as we are able – and whatever labelling,
abuse and persecution may transpire for us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Practicing discernment, as uncomfortable,
challenging and as dangerous as it may be, falls under the umbrella of how we
live our lives, and is an act of love, especially during times such as these.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom, a
‘non-believer’ and in many ways a maverick (being against how the profession
subscribes unnecessary medication, how psychiatrists keep ‘objectively’ aloof
instead of practicing self-revelation with their patients. And who pioneered
small patient-led circles/ groups long b</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">efore the official medical profession
was ready) explains beautifully in this anecdote:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Jill, I said, ‘You have a young daughter
who’s about nine. Imagine that she asked, ‘If we are (all) going to die, then why
or how should I live?’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How would you answer?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unhesitatingly she replied, ‘I’d tell her
about the joys of living, the beauty of the forests, the pleasure of being with
friends and family, the bliss of spreading love to others and of leaving the world
a better place’”. </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Yalom, I. 2009)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">REFERENCES<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Curtis,
Adam (2016) <i>HyperNormalization: a different experience of reality</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2cDKyFdyU"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2cDKyFdyU</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Rohr,
Richard (2013) Daily Meditation 18 of 52: <i>Calling Evil Good and Good Evil</i>,
adapted from Spiral of Violence: the world, the flesh and the devil<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Calling-Evil-Good-and-Good-Evil.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=1TLbC3YW5Sc"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Calling-Evil-Good-and-Good-Evil.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=1TLbC3YW5Sc</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Tafler,
Afshan (2019) <i>How Your Heart May Be Your Wisest Brain</i> June
27, 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://unyte.com/blogs/news/how-your-heart-may-be-your-wisest-brain"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">https://unyte.com/blogs/news/how-your-heart-may-be-your-wisest-brain</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yalom, Irvin D. (2009)<i> Staring at the sun:
overcoming the terror of death </i>Jossey-Bass<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bob Marley live in concert in Zurich,
Switzerland on 30 May, 1980 at the Hallenstadium. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Wiki Commons Free File: Bob-Marley-in-Concert Zurich 05-30-80 cropped.jpg</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jimmy Cliff
en concert sur la scène Landaoudec lors du festival du bout du Monde à Crozon
dans le Finistère (France). 4<sup>th</sup> August, 2012. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Wiki Commons Free File: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">File:Jimmy Cliff - Festival du Bout du Monde 2012 -
008.jpg</span></p><div style="border-bottom: solid #A2A9B1 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A2A9B1 .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm;"><div style="border: none; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Neil Diamond 29<sup>th</sup> September, 1977. </span>Wiki Commons Free File: Neil Diamond 2.jpg</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Leonard Cohen 27<sup>th</sup> October, 2008. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Wiki Commons Free File: File:Leonard Cohen 2143.jpg</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p></div><p><br /> </p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-43813810829541556822021-05-13T04:44:00.003-07:002021-05-13T04:44:50.716-07:00WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST. EVERYBODY KNOWS. A LEONARD COHEN AND SHARON ROBINSON SONG FOR OUR TIMES<p> </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> To watch and reflect upon:</o:p></span></b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IfmiKnZi3E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IfmiKnZi3E</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQQFviAhK8v65Aifp89wPYAgMhrxgSMlvWMH-5M6CD5408x13TgXPw8XNtq_d0z84tsqPk8fbWKwiGMMMyFBVJjwJtNOuqFKk21eC3QSmtLjI4vCk23EO5aL78094IyBmKBjBSZGXio0/s329/Cohen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="329" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQQFviAhK8v65Aifp89wPYAgMhrxgSMlvWMH-5M6CD5408x13TgXPw8XNtq_d0z84tsqPk8fbWKwiGMMMyFBVJjwJtNOuqFKk21eC3QSmtLjI4vCk23EO5aL78094IyBmKBjBSZGXio0/w384-h338/Cohen.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">THE WAY IT IS.
WHERE WE STAND. THE EVIL ELITE RIGGED THINGS THEIR WAY. THE RICH-POOR GAPS
WIDEN<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody knows
that the dice are loaded</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody knows the war is over</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody knows that the good guys lost</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody knows the fight was fixed</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">The poor stay poor, the rich get rich</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">That's how it goes</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Everybody knows</span></div><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
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<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<span style="text-align: start;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">THINGS, THE
SYSTEM IS BROKEN. LIES, FALSE AND FAKE REIGN. DYSPHORIA<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everybody knows
that the boat is leaking</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody knows that the captain lied</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody got this broken feeling</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Like their father or their dog just died</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
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<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">GREED AND
SELF-INTEREST ARE PERVASIVE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everybody's
talking to their pockets</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody wants a box of chocolates</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">And a long-stem rose</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody knows<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">IN WHAT WAYS ARE
WE CHEATED? IN WHAT DO WE TRUST?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everybody knows
that you love me baby</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody knows that you really do</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody knows that you've been faithful</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Give or take a night or two</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Everybody knows you've been discreet</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">But there were so many people you just had to meet</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">Without your clothes</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />
<span style="background: white;">And everybody knows<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">WHO SURVIVES, AND HOW? POLARIZATION AND SELF THE
NAME OF THE GAME<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And everybody knows that it's now or never<br />
Everybody knows that it's me or you<br />
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<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">DRUGS. BIG PHARMA PROMISES</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And everybody knows that you live forever<br />
When you've done a line or two<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">RACISM. POWER<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everybody knows the deal is rotten<br />
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton<br />
For your ribbons and bows<br />
And everybody knows<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">APOCALYPSE NOW. COVID <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And everybody knows that the Plague is coming<br />
Everybody knows that it's moving fast<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">EVERY INTIMACY LOST. AND MEASURED<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everybody knows that the naked man and woman<br />
Are just a shining artifact of the past<br />
Everybody knows the scene is dead<br />
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed<br />
That will disclose<br />
What everybody knows<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">HOPE ALL GONE?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And everybody knows that you're in trouble<br />
Everybody knows what you've been through<br />
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary<br />
To the beach of Malibu<br />
Everybody knows it's coming apart<br />
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart<br />
Before it blows<br />
And everybody knows<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /><b><br /></b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-22971448722184672802021-05-12T06:16:00.001-07:002021-05-12T06:16:22.963-07:00FREEDOM: Stay Woke<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_l-WPOZgeEMri_jFVxwdlNp85n90QUJCGIHtT0I7GHGMTpf-6BUWBFuMuclOoO4EOg-W_gt4OAIaM-jBe0KhQBe3n_lTyEZY2lYUDIoWiYNpyez_hu2O_Gchxq2ZV_STXLmmuePmYTrE/s240/prison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="180" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_l-WPOZgeEMri_jFVxwdlNp85n90QUJCGIHtT0I7GHGMTpf-6BUWBFuMuclOoO4EOg-W_gt4OAIaM-jBe0KhQBe3n_lTyEZY2lYUDIoWiYNpyez_hu2O_Gchxq2ZV_STXLmmuePmYTrE/w291-h388/prison.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>(This piece first appeared as a Halo & Noose newsletter. Free subscription to the monthly newsletter is at http://www.haloandnoose.com ) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><br /></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>Goodbye freedom? A sad tale</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Freedom Day in South Africa fell on April 27th this year.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We live in a beautiful country but lack many freedoms. The security industry is pretty big relative to our GDP - both private and corporate security – with about 10, 500 registered security businesses and 2.5 million registered security officers in play.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In an adjacent suburb to ours, Joe Slovo, two young men were stoned to death by a mob on Freedom Day. A video of them lying in their own blood did the rounds. Witnesses have avoided coming forward for fear of retribution. Similar stories are emerging more and more frequently. Anger seems to be moving from sporadic to pervasive.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Freedom - of life, thought, speech, association, movement, opportunity to become educated, work and earn, privacy - has been long valued as a fundamental human right. It is what confers on us our humanity, gives us our dignity, contributes to what makes us able to interact as equals and to care for our communities, environment and endeavours. Rumi, Jesus, Leroy Little Bear, Buddha would all agree. And they would agree that being set free also brings with it an existential responsibility to make moral, informed choices.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Smooth-talking President Ramaphosa pays lip service to the value of freedom for all, yet remains stuck in an ideological mindset that denies these freedoms to most of our citizens. (Incidentally, the Dalai Lama is still banned from and is not free to visit South Africa) </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Around the World, Governments and Big Pharma have hijacked their citizens, using Covid-19 lockdowns and regulations and fear tactics under the thin veneer of “<em>scientifically fighting the pandemic to save lives</em>”, in order to institute Draconian command, control and wicked coercion aimed at removing people’s basic human right to freedom as a valued value. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Looking ahead, it seems that nothing is set to change nor improve in the foreseeable future.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">An experienced and sound journalist reports, “<em>This makes the recommendations of Fauci – and by implication every expert around the world – in favour of universal, state-mandated lockdowns in response to Covid-19 both flummoxing and dangerous…</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>By making recommendations for universal lockdowns, Fauci and many like him across the world have defiled science. They have tacitly lied, abusing the implication that, as scientists, they have considered all issues necessary to reasonably consider. They have claimed mastery in realms where they cannot possibly have more than foolery. They have played politician, thereby damaging science</em>”. (Macleod, I. 2021)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>Hello lost human-ness</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It can be argued that love and compassion are the highest human values. If that holds sway, then de-humanisation (one form being the deliberate taking away of freedoms as described above) is the very opposite - or the lowest, most evil of human vices.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It is thus a great pity that Freedom is a value scarcely mentioned in the lexicon of business and organisational values. People have started to talk about being able to speak out in psychologically safe workplaces, about smoothing the way for diverse peoples to associate and belong together freely, to live and work where they desire. But we are a long, long, long way from all people everywhere becoming truly free.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Isn’t it time that we in the South African business world placed far more attention on fighting for valid, basic human rights in the country in which we operate? I fear that big business has been infected by state creep, state capture, endemic corruption and public/ private sector partnering - and may have been rendered unable to act. But smaller businesses still have the capacity to speak out and to do the right things within their own organisations, communities and spheres of influence. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Isn’t it time that we taught our workforces how to become workforces-for-good, and how to develop their ethical maturity and moral backbone.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And taught them to teach their children about the sacred right of every individual to benefit from things such as:</p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><li>Playing sport or seeking work on merit</li><li>Feeling safe without fear of their homes, possessions, and even ideas expropriated without compensation – that is, stolen by the government</li><li>Expecting that their hard - earned taxes and pensions are not stolen and misused - and instead being able to access electricity, clean water, an efficient intermodal transportation system, efficiently run and honest municipal services, a high standard of education, a police force on the side of decency and good, who serve the people</li><li>Making informed, independent choices about their associations, occupations, and care and well-being of their families and communities</li><li>Having their privacy respected </li><li>Expecting unbiased, high quality education</li><li>Freely visiting and attending the death beds and funerals of their families and friends</li><li>(Based on factual information) being able to decide for themselves on matters of social distancing, wearing of masks, receiving vaccinations (all of which are experimental and have no scientific basis) Why doesn't government provide logical, full answers to questions like: if well over 90% of those who contract covid-19 recover because of their natural immunity system then why vaccinate everyone repeatedly for the rest of their lives?... and... if masks don't prevent the transmission of nano particles, then what is the point of wearing them?</li><li>Not being subject to hate-based speech emanating from government and parliamentary figures in authority (which inevitably cascade down to grass roots level)</li><li>Not having their compassionate urges impeded by “higher” authorities</li><li>Being free to walk on the beach without interference </li><li>Living in a culture where the norm of hate-based communication is replaced by the bridging of differences between people</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">In South Africa, instead of this being advocated and nurtured, more and more legislation keeps eating away at these basic human rights, and there is more and more state interference with what should remain independent (for example the judiciary, the reserve bank)...</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Years ago the musical group Creedence Clearwater Revival had a hit song whose title captures the current situation well: <em>Bad Moon Rising</em> (Fogerty, John C. 1969)</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>How do we begin to fix what is so badly wrong? And begin to tell a new story?</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We are in the lion's den with all the fear and hopelessness that this brings. My wish is that many discover the capacity to discern truth, to see through deceptions and arrogant, bad intent of the global goliaths, and learn how to act accordingly – and move beyond empty words, lip service, and meaningless gestures, to loving deeds that count. I advocate that each of us relies on the source that sustains and upholds them; becomes calm; does what they can in any small way to reach out; and to continues to stay woke (in the right way).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Calming.</em> In our last Halo and Noose newsletter Nnaumrata Arora Singh spoke to us eloquently about freeing ourselves from FOMO and moving to the peaceful, productive, present state of JOMO. The joy of escaping from all the overwhelming “noise” (including false stories and fake news) that we are subjected to constantly by the various media channels. (Her powerful piece has been posted at:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2021/05/shifting-to-jomo.html" style="color: #751f04;">http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2021/05/shifting-to-jomo.html </a>). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This step may at first read seem quite insignificant, like starting far too small to make any meaningful difference, but in fact will be a huge state to attain – especially at a time when in South Africa many are fearing a failed State, ever-tightening control and coercion, and inevitable anarchy. And many are feeling listless, defeated. The attaining of any form of meaningful freedom seems impossible.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Reaching in and out. </em>Becoming still facilitates the consequent flow of compassionate action (and this implies being present to self, our motives, values, world views, and our willingness and ability to shake loose those internal negative beliefs and biases. And to be fully present for, and ready to serve, others).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>Beng watchful.</em> It might require a great deal of ongoing inner work and prayer to break free from the new form of slavery being imposed on us by Government agendas. "<em>Stay Woke</em>", in contemporary parlance, means to be alert to those paradigms dominating society, communities and self; the inherent and perhaps hidden injustices and biases contained within those paradigms; and to seek to put them right. (Politicians and self-interest groups are distorting its meaning). Staying woke, as is always the case, requires starting with self. This is beginning a revolution from the inside- out. You see, as the wise conclusion of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard teaches us, “<em>The unhappy man is always absent from himself, never present to himself</em>”. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">And perhaps Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German pastor imprisoned and executed in 1945 for his opposition to the Nazi regime, best stated (and reminds us of) the need to 'stay woke' and not give up our freedoms so gullibly and mindlessly:</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><em>“Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. It would even seem that this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances. The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings.”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong>References </strong></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (1997) <em>Letters and Papers from Prison</em> (New Greatly Enlarged Edition) Touchstone </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Macleod, Ian (2021) <em>I Fool – but not a Fauci</em> Daily Friend 4th May, 2021</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/05/04/i-fool-but-not-a-fauci/?ml_subscriber=1678028427447244117&ml_subscriber_hash=a0n6" style="color: #751f04;">https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/05/04/i-fool-but-not-a-fauci/?ml_subscriber=1678028427447244117&ml_subscriber_hash=a0n6</a></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/05/04/i-fool-but-not-a-fauci/?ml_subscriber=1678028427447244117&ml_subscriber_hash=a0n6" style="color: #751f04;"> </a></div>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-71277421095177300522021-05-08T04:00:00.003-07:002021-05-08T04:00:50.310-07:00Shifting to JOMO<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333399; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">This Halo and Noose newsletter was guested by Nnaumrata Arora Singh who shared her FOMO to JOMO journey and the wisdom gained along the way. It is reproduced here in order that it be available to a larger audience.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">Listen as she shares with us her FOMO to JOMO journey and the wisdom gained along the way.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">For me it is a story of moving from being in a maze to being in a labyrinth. </span><span style="color: #333399;">From being overwhelmed, lost, fearful, confronted by obstacles and dead ends, no escape …</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi5zR0q3ZNu8HyYuxSikVRZ_D-CPfS9S1D45wPjj-2kpn4JBn5ssvAyoi2RoPVZHiVNji1S-bKXmgn_SLCquZYSyuwB7HUcSyUmD2vCXrEi3dbqiqrxH0shXbiFIRybPtE8jRhRV55Bg/s435/fear1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi5zR0q3ZNu8HyYuxSikVRZ_D-CPfS9S1D45wPjj-2kpn4JBn5ssvAyoi2RoPVZHiVNji1S-bKXmgn_SLCquZYSyuwB7HUcSyUmD2vCXrEi3dbqiqrxH0shXbiFIRybPtE8jRhRV55Bg/s320/fear1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">… </span> <span style="color: #333399;">to being free to journey to centre, to being aware, </span><span style="color: #333399;"> unstressed, being present, calm, relating with meaning and becoming more fully human again. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ORsQ7hit3HxGTgn8C4BY0M7DR2YYxoH4_kNhhIbKwtOiPES-dKAuX7FmDq32a59k4BzERsbTdhMBTFyMwX3kBgJAy7M3l4UtGoHx3LJkVhXoA-OkQhb5QPjUr7CT4cuBbKmuihsWgrU/s480/9Rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ORsQ7hit3HxGTgn8C4BY0M7DR2YYxoH4_kNhhIbKwtOiPES-dKAuX7FmDq32a59k4BzERsbTdhMBTFyMwX3kBgJAy7M3l4UtGoHx3LJkVhXoA-OkQhb5QPjUr7CT4cuBbKmuihsWgrU/s320/9Rose.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">There is silence now….</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I can finally listen to my own voice…</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Over five months have lapsed since I deleted my instant messaging account (the App name is immaterial because this is not about the App – it is about who we become because of it). </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">My deep reflection on this mode of communication, that we have come to know as ‘instant messaging’ started a few years ago when my mindfulness practices led me to start observing the interactions that took place amongst people. I started to notice how some people chose to stay silent, how some let their emotions loose and how some were indifferent; perhaps using that as a strategy to block themselves from the overload of words and emotions, many times convoluted with bad grammar and confusing emoticons.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">It was not easy. I knew letting go of this one App would mean my going off the grid, disconnecting, in a sense, from all those who were spoilt with easy access to my attention – and it did. It meant a lot more - it was almost like a renunciation - letting go of control, to not be able to direct conversations in the groups I had started and was managing. Letting go of threads that kept me connected to various parts of my fragmented world: my residential community, the school community, alumni groups and many more groups. It also meant distancing myself from individuals who had been liberally finding their way into my day, with my ‘unsaid consent’, assumed by virtue of my being present on an App, irrespective of the time of day, or my availability, or my willingness or state of mind to engage with them. It is to be noted that this distancing was mostly technological for me, but I was surprised to see how it also became about a distancing from my energetic field.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I had become numb to the intrusions, letting it all continue…for years…till I finally came to realize that it had resulted in my developing this insatiable need to know, kind of like a sticky addiction that I could not let go of. I wanted to know everything (because I had the tool that allowed me to). I wanted to know who had said what, what the other person had said in response, how my response was perceived - which words invoked a positive response and which ones did not…and so on. All this was contributing to heaps of information and data points about my perceived behavior of people but more than that, it was invoking this monstrous cloud of ‘word noise’, without really resulting in a rain shower of wisdom.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I could not point to anything that could be construed as substance. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Sure, I had become very knowledgeable in so many aspects, thinking I had a psychological insight into people - who thinks what, who likes to be silent, what is the general view of people on certain things (owing to the response of a few individuals, which in retrospect, seemed to have been a lopsided as a representation of the group at best); what triggers people, what brands or teachers do people support. But at the end of it all, I had started to experience a deep sense of void, which I only recently understood as lack of quality personal connections. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Communication, you see, is like a dance. We need to be in it. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Each person needs to be present with themselves and with the other to allow for magic to unfold in the space that holds them. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Instant messaging, however, seems to provide somewhat of a rocky dance floor in a dark room, where we can barely see the other. The only way to construe the movements of the other is to imagine as we struggle to steady our own movements. And in the end, this form of dancing does not remain the beautiful experience that it was intended to be. If anything, it becomes cumbersome and snatches the joy out of this divine dialogue of rhythmic human motions, which we call dance.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I have, on the other hand, often, experienced deep connection in moments of silence, with myself and with those who have been in my field of awareness. Words do help, sometimes, to fill in the gaps where the connection seems to break or becomes contiguous.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Over the years, I longed to find that connection with myself all over again. No matter what I tried, it was not be possible to continue to hold that connection if I continued to dive into a sea of updates and information, most of which were not relevant to me. I started to wonder what it might be like to experience a withdrawal from the news, from what is going on in the world, the ‘vox populi’, just so that for some time, I could be present to my own inner voice for a longer period of time. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">My scientific bent of mind prodded me to do a test run, which led me to delete the App from my phone for a few days. With my account still operational, I knew I could login anytime and ‘catch up’ with whatever I had missed. As time passed, I learnt to not pay attention to that in me which wanted to know, and instead I started to relish the ‘not knowing’. I had unknowingly missed this so much! It felt like an ecstatic reclamation of my spirit. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Much to the dismay of many people in my network, I had finally disengaged myself from all that was going on and found my peace. It seemed that my time, my attention, my voice and my feelings, had all been wrapped and delivered to me in the precious packaging of silence. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">There was no fear and the accompanying list of ‘What Ifs’ that usually came with missing events or chats That seemed to fly away like the ashes from the fireplace which has spent its wood and has no warmth left to offer. I felt an unmistakable sense of joy. I was experiencing JOMO: the Joy of Missing Out. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I was so grateful to not know so many things in the world and still am. I started to trust the universe more, knowing that it would bring to me the messages that were meant for my highest good and find a way of enabling those who truly value my connection, to reach out to me. I am happy not knowing the latest products that fellow residents are buying, I am happy not having to catch up on what I missed on an important topic of discussion, I am happy not knowing what the school moms think about the homework or about the situation of the coronavirus in our city. I am grateful to have the contacts and resources to be able to access this information should I need to.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I have had reactions from people ranging from shock (on how I was able to survive without an Instant Messaging App), to suspicion (with people beginning to doubt my intention to keep in touch with them), to complaints (about how I have become so inaccessible, to even being labeled as selfish and unconcerned). To each, their own. I have offered no explanation nor apology. I am being me.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Life has been so generous with the dollops of time that I have gained as a result of this one choice. As a result of the extra time on my hands, I have been able to make the time and space to write again (this write up is one result of that), to learn a musical instrument (Ukulele, if you must know!), to sit back and wonder whom do I really want to spend my time with now? I am very present with my daughter and I have seen how she has flourished as a result of that.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Yes, time and space are constructs of the mind but the one undisputed way of measuring our human life on this Earth is to count the number of breaths we were allocated. If we take a look at the time that we had and what we have chosen to do with till now, it is a good indicator of how we value our life. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Wealth, health, social relations, all aside, the currency we have been endowed with for this life, is this finite number of breaths. What would we like to spend our waking moments on today? </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">If we were to bring this awareness to our daily lives, to be able to spend our moments purposefully, from a space of joy, we would living in ‘abundance’ in its purest sense. Scarcity of time comes from the unconscious splurging of moments through our day. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Every time we say ‘Yes’ to something that our heart does not want but we believe we must have - because that is what most people do or because we think saying ‘No’ will make us seem this or that - we are operating from a space of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). We believe we will miss out on something and be left behind and will forever be unable to catch up with the rest. Catch up with what? Catch up for what? To go where? As Ram Dass said, “We are all walking each other home”.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I invite us all to reclaim the remaining breaths we have on this planet, remembering that death is the only thing that is certain. The next time you realize you missed an important meeting or a wedding or reading that popular book - make a conscious effort to move into a space of JOMO. Open up to the wonders of life that open up for you as a result of this missing out. </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Being able to apply JOMO makes for a blissful life. You’ll see!</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(This article is dedicated to my spiritual teacher Nithya Shanti, who introduced me to this concept of JOMO. I first experienced JOMO when I had to drop out of his spiritual retreat for the second time in a row. I learnt what I had to learn by not being a part of the retreat. How wonderful!).</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6KLPyE4PhGlu67L76QeNQggaCqJFouzjoZmo3A5Dlx9U5HWoiNGynKHsCiWxfQMEAocpwQBMRyBaYT_AqA7GhHNTcKM95t_Aksrb5d1zpBC_5gdVzwD3W61udjWjlUuiHNKOWaptCSE/s302/Nnaumrata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6KLPyE4PhGlu67L76QeNQggaCqJFouzjoZmo3A5Dlx9U5HWoiNGynKHsCiWxfQMEAocpwQBMRyBaYT_AqA7GhHNTcKM95t_Aksrb5d1zpBC_5gdVzwD3W61udjWjlUuiHNKOWaptCSE/s0/Nnaumrata.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">Nnaumrata Arora Singh is a Writer, Changemaker, Social Artist, Conscious Living Coach, Workshop Facilitator, Circle Convenor, Systems Thinking Researcher.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">Nnaumrata holds the vision of awakening and galvanizing the feminine spirit for a planetary transformation of consciousness. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">She has leaned from over 21 years of work experience, including a 14 - year corporate tenure with leading MNCs, is the Founder of Life Beyond Motherhood, Zemyna Foundation, and co-leads the RISE (Religion, Interfaith and Spirituality for our Earth) sector for the Charter for Compassion. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">Nnaumrata lives in India with her husband and 12 - year - old daughter.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333399;">If you feel called to be in touch with Nnaumrata, her email address is: </span><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333399;"><a href="http://Nnaumrata%20Arora%20Singh%20is%20a%20Writer,%20Changemaker,%20Social%20Artist,%20Conscious%20Living%20Coach,%20Workshop%20Facilitator,%20Circle%20Convenor,%20Systems%20Thinking%20Researcher.%20Nnaumrata%20holds%20the%20vision%20of%20awakening%20and%20galvanizing%20the%20feminine%20spirit%20for%20a%20planetary%20transformation%20of%20consciousness.%20%20She%20has%20leaned%20from%20over%2021%20years%20of%20work%20experience,%20including%20a%2014%20-%20year%20corporate%20tenure%20with%20leading%20MNCs,%20is%20the%20Founder%20of%20Life%20Beyond%20Motherhood,%20Zemyna%20Foundation,%20and%20co-leads%20the%20RISE%20(Religion,%20Interfaith%20and%20Spirituality%20for%20our%20Earth)%20sector%20for%20the%20Charter%20for%20Compassion.%20%20Nnaumrata%20lives%20in%20India%20with%20her%20husband%20and%2012%20-%20year%20-%20old%20daughter.%20%20If%20you%20feel%20that%20you%20wish%20to%20be%20in%20touch%20with%20Nnaumrata,%20her%20email%20address%20is:%20%20%20%20%20namrata.arora.singh@gmail.com/" style="color: #751f04;">namrata.arora.singh@gmail.com</a></span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </p></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="color: #333399;"><br /></span></div>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-46466052817094327982021-01-24T00:57:00.001-08:002021-01-24T00:57:55.948-08:00TO HEAR IS TO SEE: 2020 vision for 2021<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><a name="_Hlk53145581"></a><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A version of
this article first appeared in SA Coaching News, Vol.3 Issue 1. January 2021<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Everyone
has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been
put in every heart”- </span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rumi.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: red; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Coaches have an important role to play as we
move into 2021. It’s a good time to try and make sense of 2020 and where we
stand now (and story can contribute to sense-making), to contemplate
alternative possible futures and a preferred future (stories) and develop our
individual story and images of the future: our vision. The topic of a <i>personal vision</i> - one
that provides meaning and purpose, ensures that we know why we exist and
therefore are not steered off course by every new wind that blows as we move
forward, but instead are sure and resilient – seemed right for this edition of
SA Coaching News.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But here’s the rub: we live at a time where existential
psychiatrist Irvin Yalom’s four givens of life seem more present than ever: the
scary aspects and developmental appeal of meaninglessness, freedom, death and
alone-ness or isolation. Also, in</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> these unprecedented times there seems to be little room for
those who know a lot about a little, less room for those who know a little
about a lot, and an increasing call for those who know lots about lots. Trouble
is – even if we fit the last-mentioned category, then we still <i>don’t</i>
know a lot – which is far more than what we <i>do</i> know (or think we know)! Sure, the amount of data we can access is
growing, as is information - albeit to a lesser extent. Even less available is
practical knowledge and real understanding. And wisdom is in short supply. We just
don’t know the unknown, the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So how to proceed?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As a starting point we need to see that
vision is vital</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alice asked:
“Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?” <o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“That depends
a great deal on where you want to get to” said the cat. <o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“I don’t know
where” said Alice. <o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then it
doesn’t matter which way you go” said the cat. (Carroll, L. 1977)</span></em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0tSafczTKbwN-BLCdVYfwE0gSH95JLfEFpSWpJwdtty1guTcuyw9PngqHhjP5HPIzZJMDfI2TYfHQDd4kAmU9tfLiOw7zBWvkFcTdIeDj7B_1bQGZxQpPywPRf-7r7xPC_j_9KXzSao/s432/Alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0tSafczTKbwN-BLCdVYfwE0gSH95JLfEFpSWpJwdtty1guTcuyw9PngqHhjP5HPIzZJMDfI2TYfHQDd4kAmU9tfLiOw7zBWvkFcTdIeDj7B_1bQGZxQpPywPRf-7r7xPC_j_9KXzSao/s320/Alice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Without a
vision we are lost, lose direction and focus… <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Leave blow
pipes (pea - shooters), paper balls, sponges in a conference room, during a tea
or lunch break. When the participants return, in the absence of any other
instruction, it will not be too long before these objects are thrown around, or
at other people - with increasing intensity and hilarity. No matter how senior the
participants.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After a
while, without saying a word, place a picture of a target on a wall and
immediately attention and energy is directed at it - in the form of the pea
shooters, the balls and sponges, of course!
As soon as a single, clear target is shown and seen, there is a firm,
definite focus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Try to put
together a jigsaw puzzle without looking at the picture (the end result that
you are trying to achieve). Difficult. We need to picture where we are going. Frankl
draws on his Oswieciem (Auschwitz) concentration camp experiences during the
2nd world war to explain that people need meaning and a future to hang on to (especially
when the going is tough): <em>"Any attempt to restore a man's inner strength in the camp
had first to succeed in showing him some future goal”.</em> (Frankl, V. 1985) <sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ex World
heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali put it this way (The second line of
his couplet is seldom quoted and speaks of the veracity of vision): <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Float like a
butterfly, sting like a bee.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Your hands
can’t hit what your eyes can’t see”.</span></em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Recognise that true vision for many follows
hearing the ‘Divine’ (however you understand or experience this)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Studdert Kennedy was an army chaplain and
poet who bucked the incompetent bureaucracy that resulted in so many First
World War casualties and wasted lives. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He refused to give safe, cosy, sermons
behind the lines, and heard a call and chose instead to spend his time with the
soldiers, in horrific conditions in the trenches. Not preaching, but being with
them, coming alongside in their time of need. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He’d often hand out a Woodbine cigarette
and became known to the soldiers as Woodbine Willy. Years later when he died,
his simple funeral was attended by thousands, and a single packet of Woodbines
was placed on top of his coffin. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kennedy gave the precious gift of being
present for the other person and listening with unconditional, positive regard
in their time of confusion, fear, and existential loneliness. (Target, G. 1987)</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p></div><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahaNQ4m2dJHF3iUJuMgO7_qyktTXxasWK9G4CFcJMDMFM93GhRhHwcKNOCitjfAWQsYwYdV89wBTVLcCM3NLiDvZQWl4A-Ou_QJWF8MAmkLlY8E6pC43I5dPIapp7pd94KMe1u3plLxg/s426/Woodbine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahaNQ4m2dJHF3iUJuMgO7_qyktTXxasWK9G4CFcJMDMFM93GhRhHwcKNOCitjfAWQsYwYdV89wBTVLcCM3NLiDvZQWl4A-Ou_QJWF8MAmkLlY8E6pC43I5dPIapp7pd94KMe1u3plLxg/s320/Woodbine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: rgb(241, 241, 239); font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother (Saint) Teresa heard a still, small voice within speak
gently to her in a dream on a train ride, and her vision from that day forward
was to serve the poorest of the poor. This led to her setting up the
Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. As
Rumi puts it, she heard from “<i>the one who talks to the deep ear in your
chest</i>”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">“</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">When you are inspired by some great
purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your
mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and
you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces,
faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater
person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">”. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">(Rutte, M. 2006) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vision gives purpose. Without it we face
ennui. If we think our work and our life has no meaning, feel jaded, nothing
new and exciting ever happens, we are dissatisfied, unfulfilled, aimless,
listless... If ourlives are swamped by burdens, responsibilities, chores that
are mundane and routine, and we stay in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in the drone zone… then the
dis-ease we’re suffering from is the absence of purpose.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Establishing our deep inner reason for
existing is the most important work any of us can do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: #F1F1EF; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="background: rgb(241, 241, 239); font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">How can we hear better in order to see more clearly?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="background: #F1F1EF; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: #f1f1ef; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Things that you may wish to weigh up:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background: rgb(241, 241, 239); font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">In </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">this
age of electronic interactions, it seems that our attention-spans and
retention-spans are reducing. Perhaps we can become more open to listening and
hearing by spending more time in nature, more time in reflective mode. At such
times listening blockages within are more likely to reveal themselves so that
we can bypass or remove them: they may be hurts, resentments, blind spots,
self-defeating attitudes, limiting beliefs and unconscious biases.</span></li></ul><div style="text-indent: -24px;"><br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Avoid being too
cerebral and analytical. Allow for and explore the possibility of
heart-knowing. “<i>Research in the new discipline of neuro-cardiology shows
that we have a “heart brain” with a vast array of neurons that are processing
sensory information on their own and communicating that information to our
brain, nervous system and other organ systems. This means the heart is able to
learn, remember, and make decisions independent of the brain</i>”. (Tafler, A.
2019) Physicist and philosopher David
Bohm’s notion of a deep, invisible “<i>implicate</i>” order (which we will
never fully comprehend and understand) and which lies below and beyond our
observed “<i>explicate</i>” reality, makes sense to me. (Horgan, J. 2018)
We can learn from the vision quest rite of passage practice, associated rituals
and <span style="background: #FCFCFC; color: #333333; letter-spacing: .1pt;">“<i>crying
for a vision</i>” ceremonies </span>that is a part of Native American Indian
culture – and learn to hear from a wider reality than that which is confined to
our conscious awareness.</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">Be patient. Having a clear vision – purpose - calling
is as much about <i>being</i> as it is about doing. If you haven't yet figured
it out, don't become frenetic and anxious. There is no quick fix: “<i>The supreme achievement of the self is to
find an insight that connects together the events, dreams, and relationships
that make up our existence</i>".</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">(Baillas, L. 1986) We are
spoken to at different times in our lives, and in many different ways. (And if we hear we will see): </span><br /><br /><span style="text-align: left;">SOME OF THESE WAYS MIGHT BE:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><strong><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">§</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span> </span></span></strong><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Consider if
what you are doing right now is your purpose (calling) but you are </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">not seeing it.
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Elle Luna</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> explores the differences between a job (<em>"something
typically done from 9 to 5 for pay"</em>), a career (<em>"a
system of advancements and promotions over time where rewards are used to
optimize behavior"</em>), and a calling (<em>"something
that we feel compelled to do regardless of fame or fortune"</em>).
(Luna, E. 2015)<sup> <o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></sup><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A man questions three workers at a building
site. “What are you doing?”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
first answers, “I’m laying bricks”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
second, “We’re building a wall”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The
third, “We’re creating a wonderful cathedral to the glory of God”. </span></i><strong><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><strong><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></i></strong></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Some may wake up after a
dream, suddenly aware of their life purpose, and of the legacy they would like
to leave. Others undergo a life crisis or an experience (physical, intellectual,
emotional, social, spiritual) which confronts them with a need or cause that
they were not previously aware of and triggers their now-uncovered purpose.
Their own trauma, addiction, life-threatening illness, event or status-change
(for example motherhood, redundancy, crippling accident) gives rise to a
conviction to reach out, assist and support others who are in the same boat. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yet others have their purpose
gradually unfold over the course of their life as they mature. Sometimes our giftedness
or calling is pointed out by someone else: they see what we don’t yet see. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">§<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">And for some, when the time
is right, an exercise to determine an embedded motivational pattern, conducted
by someone competent in this area, may be worthwhile. Elements may include a
recurring motivational thrust, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">preferred subject matter, abilities usually brought
to bear, relating preferences, typical trigger circumstances, driving values. (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Dr Martin Luther King’s familiar and inspiring
speech, given nearly 50 years ago, “<em>painted the picture of a new, more just and loving society
scarcely imagined by the American people at that time”</em> and enabled
listeners to visualise these values. <em>“Visions themselves are based on deep values”.</em> (Zohar,
D. and Marshall, I. 2004)</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tDXpQEImO-FsGBehBIroCsLumYM3JGi7tX-Anx-JsezK5FeZwvpGkWxpZdYNvGfL49I5Ltndrw359kOpfq8glFzSnkqAnOm0g3YKdOMd4GCOwAKGB89GcJ-dIwY1bJiTOGZIdiyUxvU/s632/VISIONking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tDXpQEImO-FsGBehBIroCsLumYM3JGi7tX-Anx-JsezK5FeZwvpGkWxpZdYNvGfL49I5Ltndrw359kOpfq8glFzSnkqAnOm0g3YKdOMd4GCOwAKGB89GcJ-dIwY1bJiTOGZIdiyUxvU/s320/VISIONking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">In 1972 Trina
Paulus wrote and illustrated the parable </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Hope for the Flowers, </i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">which
beautifully illustrates how values may lead us to discovering our purpose and
meaning in life. Two caterpillars, Stripe and Yellow, in their striving for
success, climb a kind of corporate “</span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">caterpillar pillar</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">” to find that
there is nothing at the top. In the end, surrendering to the cocoon, they
finally fly, and become what they were meant to be. (Paulus, T. 1972</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Good
luck as you reflect, listen, hear and see as you move into 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxrHxxtfU0-z2AxfdH5db-L_J0GLOqNHvxRpE9LcAV8cCX6ItGKJHEDj-vY358bypTC8CXtxNXE3XhQGLvakzF041efhQVRhbsyCYZY030W29dZrx8eJxvJXz2fvcmHJtfr5RTVzqlus/s602/still+small+voice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxrHxxtfU0-z2AxfdH5db-L_J0GLOqNHvxRpE9LcAV8cCX6ItGKJHEDj-vY358bypTC8CXtxNXE3XhQGLvakzF041efhQVRhbsyCYZY030W29dZrx8eJxvJXz2fvcmHJtfr5RTVzqlus/s320/still+small+voice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bibliography </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Baillas, Leonard J. (1986) <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Myths, Gods, Heroes, and Saviors</span></em> Twenty-Third
Publications<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Carroll,
Lewis (Rev. Charles Dodgson) (1977) <i>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</i>
MacMillan</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Frankl,
Viktor E. (1985) <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Man’s
Search for Meaning</span></em> Basic Books NY </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Horgan,
John (2018)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">David
Bohm, Quantum Mechanics and Enlightenment </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Scientific American.
Cross-Check</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/david-bohm-quantum-mechanics-and-enlightenment/"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/david-bohm-quantum-mechanics-and-enlightenment/</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Luna,
Ella (2015) <a href="http://brainpickings.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&id=30ae02a9f0&e=b2f7677108"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your
Passion</span></em></a> Workman Publishing Co. Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NY<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Paulus,
Trina (1972) <i>Hope for the Flowers, </i>A Newman Book, Paulist Press, NY </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rutte,
Martin (2006) <i>The Work of Humanity: project heaven on earth</i> citing
Patanjali (in Seeking the Sacred: leading a spiritual life in a secular world.
(ed Mary Joseph) ECW Press, Toronto, Canada</span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Tafler, Afshan (2019) <i>How Your Heart May Be Your
Wisest Brain</i><b> </b><span class="articledate"><span style="background: white;">June
27, 2019</span></span></span><span class="articledate"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://unyte.com/blogs/news/how-your-heart-may-be-your-wisest-brain"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">https://unyte.com/blogs/news/how-your-heart-may-be-your-wisest-brain</span></a>
</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Target, George (1987) <i>Words that have Moved the
World</i> Bishopsgate Press, London </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tillich,
Paul (2000) <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
Courage to Be</span></em>, Yale University Press, New Haven</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Zohar,
Danah & Marshall, Ian (2004) <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spiritual Capital</span></em> Bloomsbury </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Illustrations</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alice and the Cheshire Cat <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tony Grogan</span><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Flooded Communication Trench</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
Public Domain</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Trenches_and_fortifications_of_World_WarI#/media/File:Flooded_communication_trench_(4688581846).jpg"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Trenches_and_fortifications_of_World_WarI#/media/File:Flooded_communication_trench_(4688581846).jpg</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Martin
Luther King<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tony Grogan</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Singing
bird<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Photograph by Jacques Myburgh, SA
Coaching News</span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462262043216864444.post-69531910113203262102021-01-01T04:33:00.002-08:002021-01-01T04:38:31.001-08:00Counter Intuitive Leadership 2021<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4h4Kq_LDNjymr_m-V_IQ6VkrapUUkhauELLDbZTqhknNC9TIm9QVrFLI7HsylLu1M0mrAZ5z93C9pZXq1HQ8T3UV-jST_FxCZAcSFkTUyd3RSH9TP9BDvtGxpBio4LzQYEU346SyH-i4/s546/fishboat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="546" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4h4Kq_LDNjymr_m-V_IQ6VkrapUUkhauELLDbZTqhknNC9TIm9QVrFLI7HsylLu1M0mrAZ5z93C9pZXq1HQ8T3UV-jST_FxCZAcSFkTUyd3RSH9TP9BDvtGxpBio4LzQYEU346SyH-i4/w540-h238/fishboat.jpg" width="540" /></a></div><br /><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Pixabay. License Free for commercial use. No attribution required</span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">COUNTER INTUITIVE LEADERSHIP IN POLITICS, INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANISATIONS. THE CASE FOR LEADERS WHO ARE FULLY MATURE, CHARACTER-LED, PARTICIPATIVE, AND HAVE AN ACCENT ON BUILDING BRIDGES AND RELATIONSHIPS.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">LEADERSHIP KEEPS CHANGING</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Leadership theories, models, styles and fads change often – sometimes radically. The following theories emerged in the last century or so and provided a wide range of lenses to examine the study and practice of leadership.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Great Man theories: mid-19th century</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Trait theories: 1930–1940s</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Behavioural theories: 1940s–1950s</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Contingency theories: 1960s onwards</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Transactional/transformational leadership: 1970s onwards</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Implicit leadership theories: 1970s onwards</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charismatic leadership: 1980s</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Contemporary theories (which included values-based leadership, authentic leadership, servant leadership, spiritual or ‘conscious’ leadership, positive leadership, dispersed or distributed leadership, adaptive leadership, agile and resilient leadership, mindful leadership from the inside-out). </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We saw shifts from command, coercion and control, to an accent on influence and persuasion. An increasing focus on environmental sustainability, social responsibility, good corporate governance and ethics, engaging employees via principles and purpose, meaning and values, and harnessing of the power of diverse ‘work-forces’. Most recently the call has arisen for digitally savvy leaders who are adept at managing remote workforces.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">COVID -19 HAS USHERED IN NEW DRAMATIC CHANGES TO</span></strong> <strong><span style="color: blue;">AN ALREADY FAST-CHANGING WORLD</span></strong><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">We have witnessed a political and societal trend towards a widespread polarisation and separation of groups and individuals (for example, identity politics characterised by extreme, aggressive argument and assertions, and an intent to dominate) and ‘we-first’/ ‘me-first’ and ‘we only’/ ‘me only’ positioning accompanied by fake news and false stories, cleverly spread. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The Covid-19 pandemic has and will continue to impact on relationships at all levels. One manifestation has been how those in power exercise their authority to further their own interests at the expense of others. Another is the short and long term disorientation, dysphoria, uncertainty and fear introduced by insensitive communication and inept governance.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">All in all, we are likely to witness further dramatic declines in civility, respect and trust. And we need to re-imagine participative democracy at all levels of governance in institutions and organisations.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">A shift from distancing to compassionate connection calls for the utilization of bridging story (stories that build bridges not walls) at all levels. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced the need for bridging stories in fast polarizing societies. As- yet- unknown impacts on the nature of humanity and our well-being may be drastic, and increasingly severe in the longer term. Whatever the public health intent and efficacy of lockdown curfews, quarantining, social distancing, the compulsory wearing of masks and coercion to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the coronavirus - adverse and unintended separation-effects<em> will </em>result. To a greater or lesser degree these will include:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The new (ab)normal of (un)social distancing is teaching people to see each other as carriers of life-threatening disease, threatening strangers to be feared and avoided . Distrust, alienation and a tendency to detach clearly have the potential to work against a sense of ‘we are in this together’, connection and compassion for the other, and against warm relationships in general. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Masks distort verbal communication (clarity, volume, tone, pitch) and hide facial expression. ‘Face-to-face’ communication becomes less effective than using Zoom or telephone. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Resentment by certain members of the population due to their loss of freedom of choice (mask-wearing, vaccination, mobility and other measures) whether real or perceived. This may result in friction with those who feel differently. Such polarization may be exacerbated by the way in which governments impose regulations – for example, thoughtless command and control and enforcement without proper education campaigns nor the display of psychological sensitivity </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Effective management of the spread of the virus, ensuring availability of medical facilities and equipment, nurturing the economy and social fabric, and taking care of the all-too-often neglected psychological impacts (uncertainty, anxiety, loneliness, dysphoria, fatigue, stress, confusion, numbness) and paying ttention to the likely consequences on well-being (physical, social, emotional and spiritual) – calls for caring and savvy governance. Savvy governance in turn demands a holistic, inter-disciplinary, common-interest, systemic-knowing approach and citizen-participation. Participatory governance in turn requires positive bridging between medical, political, economic, legal, social, psychological, actuarial, epidemiological and other players in the wider community</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">(The principles and process of bridging story sharing (a project I am working on with close colleagues for a World Scientific Publishers encyclopedia to be released in 2021) will assist in some way to addressing these enormous challenges to our very humanity). </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><div><strong><span style="color: blue;">WHY DO DEMOCRACIES FAIL AND NATIONS DECLINE?</span></strong></div><div> </div><div>Cicero’s statesmanlike analyses and reflections led him to conclude that the Roman Republic’s decline was the result of a decline of morality and ethics, beginning with leadership. Extravagant spending, a lust for wealth, abuses of power by corrupt officials at all levels of government, as self-interest overrode public interest, and individual rights were trampled upon - fuelled the moral decline. Tinkering (too little too late) happened instead of the radical transformation that was needed. </div><div>French historian Alexis de Tocqueville’s 19th century assessment of democracy (which he favoured) included an honest assessment of its shortcomings – inefficient, incompetent and corrupt public officials, wealth and power elitism. He also pointed out the potential ‘<em>tyranny of the majority</em>’. </div><div> </div><div>Déjà Vu?</div><div>(Certainly in South Africa the conditions that now exist are a Government that has lost its moral compass and been exposed to deep and wide corruption, a malfunctioning economy on the point of collapse and with dangerously high unemployment and under-employment, a badly torn social fabric with racism being advanced by the ANC and EFF in many statements and actions (and sometimes ominous silence), a relishing of control, command and coerce with little sensitivity for the plight of millions who suffer - financially, physically and psychologically, and a frenetic attempt to introduce unconstitutional legislation in a number of areas. There are far too many signs that our "democracy" has failed) </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><strong><span style="color: blue;">WHAT ACTIONS CAN WE TAKE – WHAT STICKS AND CARROTS CAN WE LEVERAGE?</span></strong></div><div> </div><div>When power, wealth, education and wellbeing imbalances between population groups or individuals become too wide, we face big trouble as a collective. </div><div> </div><div><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Sticks.</strong></span> It would be good to see parliamentarians, politicians, public officials, institutional and organisational leaders:</div><div> </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Run for office on the basis of what and educated and informed electorate prescribe </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Directly, consistently and properly held to account and taken to task for their failure to deliver on campaign promises or mandates, and on delivery of results expected by their electorate </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Forced to immediately resign and pay their debt to society when caught in misdemeanours, corruption, falsehoods and other unethical behaviour </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Shamed and castigated for focusing on their personal careers and self-interest at the expense of serving the interests of citizens/ followers </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Prohibited from taking certain decisions on behalf of the citizenry or being allowed to tamper with national constitutions or principles, even under emergency conditions, without prior sanctioning by those who elected them </div><div> </div><div><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Carrots.</strong></span> It would also be good to see the application of a consultative, systemic-knowing tapproach to important challenges and issues. In an increasingly complex world, full citizen and employee engagement, and the mobilising of a range of expertise, knowledge and wisdom, is becoming iimperative. </div><div>(Such a participative approach will be easier to implement in institutions and organisations than at the nation-state level - where any determined effort by government and influential power-holders to hang onto their power, existing wealth and vested interes will make it extremely challenging to achieve the required wide representation, and collective participation. But ways can be found once the right will, intent and determination exists).</div><div> </div><div>Such a truly democratic approach promises a diversity of viewpoints from informed sources, a holistic consideration of pertinent factors, less emphasis on adding rafts of legislation, and more accent on measured decision-making for the common good. Power and responsibility is shared</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span style="color: blue;"><strong>SO - WHAT ARE THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES THAT WE FACE?</strong></span></div><div> </div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A flawed democracy where power shifts from the electorate to politicians, and which results in a command-and-control way of operating, largely devoid of citizen engagement. We must replace this with a collaborative, unified collective approach where sensitivity and compassion are valued. And the common good is pursued.</div><div> </div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Continued separation and polarisation fuelled by self-interest and false narratives. A counter to this will be narratives and practices of inclusion and belonging that build bridges instead of walls. </div><div> </div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deep and lasting fatigue, hurts, loneliness and trauma of individuals and the collective - which result from lack of attention by authorities to psychological well-being. A grass-roots swell of community - building based on values that count, will show the way. </div><div> </div><div>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Continuous and radical change calls for reinvention at every level. (Here, we should avoid knee-jerk reaction to unrestrained technological development and reactive reinvention. And instead apply thoughtful, proactive actions that are determined by the values and needs of a civilised humanity. This calls for a paradigm of technology as enabler not leader, ethical constraints on potentially harmful development in the hands of a few wealthy individuals for manipulative profit motive or where militarisation is likely, and the restraining of development where humanity is threatened (for example, by a result that would mean wide-spread unemployment and under-employment. German philosopher Martin Heidegger warned that the consequence of continuous, fast - paced science and technology development is that we begin to see ourselves and the world we inhabit in scientific and technological terms. It then becomes more about doing than about being - although of course technology carries the promise of many benefits for humanity - and puts us in danger of losing the high-touch that is vitally needed to balance high-tech.</div><div> </div><div>If we fail here, then we will continue to follow a selfish, anthropocentric narrative of exploitation, growth, wealth, ‘progress’ and separation.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I<strong><span style="color: blue;">N ORDER TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, WHAT LEADERSHIP IS NOW NEEDED?</span></strong></div><div> </div><div>Given the context above, we urgently need:</div><div> </div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A leadership that is mature (cognitively, emotionally, socially, ethically and spiritually); that continually works at waking up, growing up, cleaning up and showing up; that operates from the inside out. Anaïs Nin’s sentiment applies here, <em>“I believe the lasting revolution comes from deep changes in ourselves which influence our collective life”.</em></div><div> </div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A leadership that is primarily based on character. (Gender, race, age, charisma - while important - become secondary considerations). One obvious outcome will be the exercise of compassion in a society beset by fear, dysphoria, uncertainty, fatigue and mistrust </div><div> </div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A leadership style and structure that is participatory, consultative, distributed and dispersed. This facilitates the re-establishment of trust, belonging, a diversity of viewpoints (This will add quality and capacity, and impact favourably on culture).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9R1V6u0JhExvs25U1smqWwgnMDeitTOs-5fqjzVo3WsuB4TxEbEA_MMP4LpRmppR-Q8b4oyIBuhs0IF0JwHm9pJQTwtUbng_MZoYE4QfVwwym6wTl1hyLEUPFDOwCBHPzZRrqwq90qTM/s267/baker+ej.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="267" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9R1V6u0JhExvs25U1smqWwgnMDeitTOs-5fqjzVo3WsuB4TxEbEA_MMP4LpRmppR-Q8b4oyIBuhs0IF0JwHm9pJQTwtUbng_MZoYE4QfVwwym6wTl1hyLEUPFDOwCBHPzZRrqwq90qTM/w346-h338/baker+ej.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Wisdom from African-American activist Ella Josephine Baker, an advocate of participatory democracy: <em>“The emphasis on participation had many implications, but three have been primary: (1) an appeal for grassroots involvement of people throughout society in the decisions that control their lives; (2) the minimization of hierarchy and the associated emphasis on expertise and professionalism as a basis for leadership; and (3) a call for direct action as an answer to fear, alienation, and intellectual detachment”</em> (Mueller, C. 2004). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A leadership with an accent on building relationships. This means consistently behaving in a way that encourages and builds as well as sanctions, and corrects when required. This means setting up arrangements and mechanisms to facilitate wide-spread relationship-building – for example formalising far more informal one on one conversations, setting up buddy systems whether on or offline, and establishing informal circles that allow connection and confidential conversation to happen in small groups. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">(Yuimaru ゆいまる is Okinawan for ‘connecting circles’ of warm-hearted co-operation, underpinned by a feeling of spiritual connectedness. The overall impact can be very powerful) </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Using trained “spotters” to identify, reach out to and then come alongside the isolated and suffering will achieve much more than an army of ‘‘enforcers’’ of rules and regulations. Slowly this wil create a culture of people who see each other through. Pope Francis says it is always possible to ‘<em>add more water to the beans’</em> – to share not only food but space, know-how, and love.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">This essence is captured by Daniel Bonnell’s <em>Road to Emmaus</em>. (Bonnell, D. 2011) ; a coming alongside, going through despair and joy together, and jointly facing both a warm embracing and hostile destination while travelling together.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAWkinLSH4kqxDq6hlYksqJkRBY4kDBIOSOLgVolCBsQkCBHr6nwRpvFZOTRkhOlpfcK1Ov-_HqJzwcZKjiqqFVLYVtyVrM-WaPR2KlC27U5Ra29AKI-xvSMVZDPA24oi1xTVzSBz3FI/s691/emmaus-2-daniel-bonnell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="691" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAWkinLSH4kqxDq6hlYksqJkRBY4kDBIOSOLgVolCBsQkCBHr6nwRpvFZOTRkhOlpfcK1Ov-_HqJzwcZKjiqqFVLYVtyVrM-WaPR2KlC27U5Ra29AKI-xvSMVZDPA24oi1xTVzSBz3FI/w517-h357/emmaus-2-daniel-bonnell.jpg" width="517" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Pie in the sky? A mature, character-driven, participatory leadership with an accent on relationship has been demonstrated before. It is the practice in precious - few corporations (about which I've written before now) and hardly in national government that I am aware of. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Desirable? Yes</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Feasible? Maybe ............. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>A REFLECTION ON HANNIBAL OF CARTHAGE </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhdQcfO9NlCy22oXQkE6-RD85gxBbH5vGJqGoeFrfr8eKpyzicen4A5OAA_f6fVrdXmP5aDR0Cfj63MYE8quQWBYru6uim97UJ0hDdoVHc5ZR-DVHLI4KzYi_dir76oUuVSMO05-628U/s640/Hannibal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="640" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhdQcfO9NlCy22oXQkE6-RD85gxBbH5vGJqGoeFrfr8eKpyzicen4A5OAA_f6fVrdXmP5aDR0Cfj63MYE8quQWBYru6uim97UJ0hDdoVHc5ZR-DVHLI4KzYi_dir76oUuVSMO05-628U/w545-h201/Hannibal.jpg" width="545" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"><em>2 millenniums ago (round about 220 BC), in a time of uncertainty about the future of the Mediterranean world, Hannibal of Carthage (present day Tunisia) led an army from Spain, across the Pyrenees, across the Alps, in order to invade Rome. Possibly the greatest military undertaking ever, his contingent of 30 000 or more men and about 40 elephants had to contend with landslides, snow storms, hostile barbarian attacks, intense hardship. On the 4 - month journey, some 15 000 men and many of the elephants were lost.</em></div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"><em>The Romans, expecting a Sicilian invasion, were caught totally off-guard by the overland invasion. The surprise effect, together with their unfamiliarity with elephants, put them at a tactical disadvantage. During his subsequent 15 - year occupation of Roman territory, Hannibal mustered more followers, destroyed over 400 towns, and at least 30 000 Romans were killed in battle. He was eventually defeated when reinforcements failed to arrive.</em></div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">How did Hannibal mobilize his very diverse followership? How did he retain their loyalty and commitment during this ‘mission – impossible’, during which not a single mutiny took place? What were the leadership secrets that might apply today?</div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Head attributes such as strategizing, problem solving, thinking laterally were clearly evident.</div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">He possessed strong, practical ‘hands’ competencies such as achievement through results-based leadership, being hands-on or hands-off as appropriate. He practiced cat-napping to maintain his energy levels. </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">But it is his two ‘heart’ competencies that stand out: </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>being socially intelligent (empathizing by sharing on an equals basis, listening deeply to his advisers, refusing any special physical comforts, eating only when he absolutely had to, commanding attention when required); and </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>being values-driven. The times were hard and cruel, but we can deduce that Hannibal placed great importance on forging alliances, being daring and innovative, respecting viewpoints, reasoning, treating his followers with respect. As Chief Magistrate of the Carthaginians, after the wars, Hannibal is remembered for the steps he took to eliminate corruption. These are prime competencies for modern leaders. (Williams, G. 2001)</div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>REFERENCES</strong></span></div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Bonnell, Daniel (uploaded 2011) <em>The Road to Emmaus</em> <a href="https://bonnellart.com/" style="color: #751f04;">https://bonnellart.com/ </a> (All digital images are offered free by the artist)</div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Mueller, Carol (2004) <em>Ella Baker and the origins of “participatory democracy” </em></div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">The Black Studies Reader, Ed. Jacqueline Bobo, Cynthia Hudley and Claudine Michel. Routledge, New York and London</div><div style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Williams, Graham (2001) <em>Learning Reflections for the 3H Leader: the new millennium imperative for activating followership </em><a href="http://www.haloandnoose.com/content.asp?PageID=105" style="color: #751f04;">http://www.haloandnoose.com/content.asp?PageID=105</a></div></div><br /><strong><br /></strong></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Graham Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325805932813980680noreply@blogger.com0