I’ve been struggling with “movement space.” It feels like the people who are devoting our lives to social transformation are also burdened by an unconscious shadow. This shadow takes the form of judgement and self-righteousness.
The rush to indict and exile is not exclusively applied to “the other.” It’s not just the bad guys who are wrong. The whip of self-righteousness is increasingly applied to those who are in movement with us.
Read MoreThe traditional activist tends to come at you. It is a straightforward charge backed up by righteousness and facts. It is a worthy passionate stance. And it has its limitations.
The artist comes at you sideways. Good art sneaks up on you. You feel it before you think it.
Read MoreI’m just getting back from two weeks at Sundance. I just facilitated two very different gatherings at the intersection of culture, art and justice. There is such a thing as a creative impulse. It is the driving force of evolution itself. It moves through us.
This creative impulse is your desire for purpose and significance. It is the eros that defines your subconscious. It is the thread of all good stories. It is why we thirst for meaning. It is what makes you want to grow, and what allows you to not know.
The creative impulse holds the magic of our aliveness.
Read More“Humans are killing the planet.”
How many times have you heard that? How many times have you said it?
I know that I often have.
I was recently struck by a powerful challenge to that assertion. Who exactly is killing the planet and why are we all taking the blame for it?
Read MoreI teared up this morning when I saw clips of Hillary’s nomination. We made herstory last night. And IT MATTERS. Every time a glass ceiling is broken it matters. Every time women or people of color can see themselves reflected in a position of influence and power it matters. Patriarchy is real. Racism is real. Breaking through is something that matters.
Read MoreHere is my original Brexit Facebook post:
Make no mistake about it. There is a link between yesterday's devastating Supreme Court non-decision - the one that will tear apart immigrant families and destroy their livelihood, Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and the rise of Donald Trump.
Nationalist voices are on the rise. They are winning BIG victories. The reactionaries have momentum and this is not good for the world.
Beautiful, glorious, radiant queer and trans Latinx siblings. You are my people. I love you. I welcome you. This cis-hetero-Latino man is here to hold you, to cry with you, to lay with you and spoon you. I am not complete without you. We are a people, we are us only with you.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every school yard joke, the stupidity of dorm rooms and locker rooms, every disparaging word, every expression of derision and fear that permeates this culture when it comes to the beauty that is you.
I'm sorry that you have been listening to this, feeling this, hiding from this, seeking haven from this for all of your precious and glorious life. I'm sorry for the times I played a role, I'm sorry for the times I played along, I'm sorry for the many times that I didn't ask them to stop.
Evolutionary Leaders reflect on challenges, the Self AND the Emerging Self. They reflect on their sense of frustration, their sources of energy and inner resistance. They name their own voices of judgment and fear. And they also reflect on this moment, their community and their future. Together we look at what we need to let go of, at the seeds that are present and at that which can be tested. We look at who is with us and what action needs to be taken.
The 2016 Evolutionary Leadership Workshop launches tonight at Hollyhock, Cortes Island, British Columbia. And we thought we’d give you a taste of what we will be doing together. Our leadership reflection will rely on a great tool for guided journaling that we borrowed from the Presencing Institute. We invite you to answer these for yourself!
Find the questions below.
Read MoreI dropped offline for about 10 days and I’m just making my way back. I find myself in a flow of open hearted gratitude. This morning I woke up to a thread of e-mails of Evolutionary Leaders introducing themselves to each other. Participants in last year’s workshop and those who will be coming together in just about a week. Forgive the dramatic intensity but I literally fell to my knees with gratitude. I was bowled over by the abundance of generosity and mutual care. And I was overcome by a sense of being fully in service of the creative impulse, the evolutionary thrust that propels us forward towards a future that is ceaselessly beckoning, tugging at our hearts, desiring of our participation.
Read MoreToday I launch facilitation of a year-long leadership and network development process for young climate leaders (between 25 and 40 years of age). The process will be anchored by three intensive retreats between now and March 2017. The work aims to build leadership capacity and support the development of trust and authentic collaborative relationships among leaders of this most important of movements.
This sort of year-long development process, with multiple touch points taking place over time, is my preferred method for leadership and network development. I find it to be truly transformational work, it changes lives and has lasting impact. It was during the fall of 2007 that I first participated in a year-long process. Rockwood’s Leading from the Inside Out Fellowship, facilitated by Robert Gass, who would become a most important mentor. I knew right away that this was the work I was here to do.
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