Women and Emerging Futures

The next wave of my own evolution lies in exploring the potential of women to profoundly shape our world. Not only if women can but if women will...do what is required to make the difference. This demands redefining our notions of 'leadership' and reclaiming meaningful expression for women. To progress beyond historical notions of evolution through incremental change, we must redefine what it is to be human - and women are the key.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Culture of coma

Today was a dense day. But then, any day filled with the conversations about early family systems' experiences is bound to be dense.

We went through what are typically referred to as family systems 'roles' and recognized that they are strategies - and that they are a choice. These are not our identities. They are not who we are. They are choices we make to keep ourselves safe at a time in our lives when we are tender and vulnerable and indeed, legitimately at the mercy of our environment. Unless we take the time to notice, these habits gain such momentum over time that we think they define who we are. And yet, in any moment, we can stand in the 'now' and choose to engage otherwise.

By the end of this day, it became very clear to us all that the only way to move through the thick, apparently impenatrable shield that both surrounds and makes up our cultural habits of body, behaviour and thought, is authenticity. One second of authentic presence can shatter what has been held in place through decades of deceit, self-betrayal, glancing away and silencing ourselves. The challenge is: to be authentic, we must be willing to show up for our own life.

Breathing is good.....

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Diving deep and surfacing

It occurred to me that it's been a while since I've shared my thoughts here. It certainly isn't because I'm not having them!

I'm in Halifax for two weeks, spending this first week with a small group of courageous and compelling women who are determined to live their lives more fully - and meaningfully. In this five-day 'Engaging...and awakening others' experience, we are doing just that: engaging what comes up as we share our lives with each other. Inevitably, we discover that 'engaging' a life when we are cloaked or inauthentic, will produce a very different result in our world than engaging when decloaked...able to be seen in the magnificence of our imperfection...and willing to be the creators of our own experience.

It's not always easy, and it's always worth it. Sometimes, the tears are from laughter and sometimes they just flow to make room for a new way of considering the world. But always, they are an essential expression of a life transforming itself into a more authentic one.

There is not a day that goes by that I am not deeply grateful for my life. My days are filled with the promise of a better world and the evidence that it's on its way. As my day comes to an end, I am aware that I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. As I choose to trust myself, what emerges effortlessly will guide me to the next step.

Breathing is good.....

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Sizzling thoughts

Have you ever noticed what happens when you drop water onto the surface of a hot frying pan? There is a distinct sound...bouncing droplets...and then they become one with the surface of the pan. Activity and then absorption.

For the last few days, my thoughts have been doing that. Something comes to mind...I hear that sound and notice the thought relative to the context that it is calling up and then the thought is absorbed/integrated into the background of the context it fits into.

My thoughts are moving faster than my ability to track them and make sense of them. And yet, every time I allow one to just simply move, there is a flood....a tsunami...and new thoughts that come behind it. I've given up trying to make sense of them; or put any order to them. I just trust their flow and I know that it will all fall into place.

I know the direction that I'm going in. No surprises there! It has to do with women. Women being well...being enlivened...and being willing to emerge from the shadows and bring strength of definition to who they/we are in the world. Being willing to be seen and heard. Women willing to have edges. Women willing to walk away from being 'the power behind the throne' - being invisible in their challenges and burdens - and claiming the force that they/we already are in the world. Noreen (Sekhmet Rising) comes to mind. Unleashed!

It has to do with women no longer being willing to be silent and sick. They go together. And in that order.

It has to do with letting go of all that is familiar to me. As much as it all has been, I know there is more - and that 'more' will not be contained in the box of what has been.

I remind myself, daily....breathing is good.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Pregnant with potential

We cannot evoke potential in others when we are unwilling to claim it in ourselves. Potential is not a thing - it is a vibration that awakens to the presence of itself. When I honour it in me, it calls to itself in you.

Women have the capacity to be pregnant. Our bodies are designed for it - whether we use it or not.

At at an Environment level of thinking, we become pregnant with a child - with another living being that is taking shape inside us, with nothing for us to do but let go and trust the natural process that our body is designed to engage. We are not required to engage any other way.

At higher levels of thinking, we can become pregnant with other expressions of life. A willingness to explore and engage an Emerging Future is just such a force of life.

There is much for us to discover - and the time is now.

Breathing is good.....

Soul Searching

Today was an interesting mix of Jennifer Lopez and Ghost Rider - both soul-searching in their own unique way. Leaves me thinking how my soul searching is unique to me.

JoLo (do they still call her that???) was being interviewed and mentioned that she pulled back from her career about four years ago to ponder the important things in her life. Things like: why am I in this business? What do I love about this business? What do I want to accomplish in my life with this business?

Good questions, I thought - and applicable to my life, too. I think I'll ponder those for a bit.

'Ghost Rider' capped my day, yet another thing to cause me to ponder: do we ever really make a difference if we're not willing to look a little weird to everyone else?

Tomorrow is another day of synchronicities, metaphors and enquiries that edge me toward the deep end of the pool. Lucky for me, I'm amphibious.

Breathing is good.....

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Pondering the intelligence of magic

In this moment, there is a lull in the storm of potential. And given the density and intensity of what is occurring in the world, it will take a storm of potential to make a difference.

Long gone is the moment for incremental change. It’s time has come and gone, leaving us wondering: how do we redirect a force that has now begun to shape itself?

What makes any organic system interesting is the fact that it is not predictable. Its probabilities can be estimated but the specifics of its outcomes cannot. And maybe that’s the good news. In the intelligent, living organic systems that I am/you are/the world is, what appears probable need not necessarily be so.

This is the domain of magic. What appears probable – or even impossible! – need not necessarily be so. In order for magic to occur, we must first consider that we are magical, or at least capable of magic as an outcome. Without our willingness to consider that (as a probability), we are left with logic and reason. And we already know that’s what got us all here in the first place.

Breathing is good...

Thursday, February 15, 2007

One more thought...

One more thought for today, and then I'm done.

It's never life - it's always how we live it. Does it come in chocolate?

Breathing is good....

Transformation: safety, science and a touch of the sacred

I am gaining clarity on what I’m doing here…in this world, in this time and space.

The task is a simple one: what we call transformation is about waking up. Waking up is not just about my own awakening, but is also about staying awake and awakening others. The alternative is to roam awake in a world asleep – and wander alone – or in despair, to allow myself to go back to sleep.

I know how to wake up and awaken others so that not only do they wake up, they discover how to stay awake and awaken others - and so does anyone else who has experienced the WEL-Systems intensives. In my time, I have created a world that has become large enough not only to be able to invite others in to play, but ever-expanding to make room for those awakening to awaken their others and invite THEM in to play! In this way, my world – the world – expands.

I am learning and gaining clarity of what the message is, within this purpose.

Transformation has, for generations, been sought through the process of the intellect managing and guiding and controlling the body. What I have come to know as my truth is that transformation can only occur when I free my body from the constraints of my intellect. In that moment, the full power of my body is accessed and released to engage rapidly, profoundly and meta-physically to manifest MORE of who I am!

Transformation has three essentials: safety, science and a touch of the sacred. Without all three present at the same time, the result is incremental change. Safety is an inside job – and only my body knows how to create and manifest that experience for me. Unless and until I become willing and able to LIVE that, I am incapable of engaging. And without my ability to ENGAGE, it’s just empty blah-blah-blah. Like moving through the world wrapped in saran wrap, being able to see and be seen, and yet never touch or be touched. Experience demands engaging.

When I free my body of being hostage to my intellect, I free my Self to enliven the tissue. The tissue opens, expands and becomes enlivened with the potential of the essence of who I am – of the Signal from Self – and my world changes in an instant. One breath to the next. Transformation is about profound, generative and instant change – in a breath.

I know there is more to come. Where it will take me I have no idea. What I do know is that I’m ready.

Breathing is good…..

Awake!

Today - in this moment - I am aware of how alive I am! If I notice that, then I MUST be awake. Waking up is the key to it all.

Waking up from what? The need to wake up presupposes that I am somehow asleep. Deep sleep equals coma. Coma is not flatline - it is motionless chaos.

I remember that dream from long ago. The one about meeting the goddess walking along the beach, and as the conversation unfolds she morphs into me. I am, already, that which I seek.

In the dream, being reminded of having chosen to forget so that I might become willing to engage. As I ENGAGE in awakening others to remember who they are, I will remember who I am.

In this moment, I become aware of this thought: the goddess awakens to awaken other goddesses and in doing so, awakens to more of who she is. The next thought: as the goddesses awaken, the collective awakening awakens the goddess in us all. The goddess in the women and the men - and things shift.

It is never about gender - it is about Essential Being of us all.

I am surrounded by goddesses awake and awakening. Goddesses in both the women and the men in my life. In this moment, I know that I am not alone.

Today, I read the blog of the goddess that lives in Ray Landry (see WEL-Systems Blogging Community link). I am moved and feel greater strenght in myself, knowing that he is here. The voice of the goddess that Ray is, speaks with a different resonnance. I am further awakened. It takes great courage and in-sight....'seeing into' Self...for this vibration of voice to carry this message.

Waking up. Knowing that I'm safe in being awake. And knowing that I am never alone.

Breathing is good....

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Ramblings of an ugly duckling....

I was in the shower this morning, thinking about stuff. I recalled my experience of the week-end and of how we’re really not separate; and of how we are in each other’s lives not to judge or fix or rescue each other but to be the invitations for us to discover more about ourselves, to be the opportunity for us to see in another that which we have not yet noticed in ourselves. My life and its challenges, trials and triumphs is never about anyone but me. When I remember that, my life expands.

Listening to the morning news, I was reminded yet again of what I notice as this spiral of increasing density and intensity that is forming itself around me. The world…the climate….the conflict….and I became aware of a flood of thoughts and sensations that feel like a barrage of content-less information but information nonetheless. Flashes and fragments of thoughts, notions, ideas, sounds, sensations - impossible to sort them neatly into rows of what makes sense and what doesn't; into some logical, linear structured form of expression that will allow for a formula/answer to present itself. Like 'show and tell', a final product that I can hold out to others and say, "See? This is how it works!" and they will all nod and be delighted to discover their own potential.

Instead, what I am left with is the sense of chaos that comes from having far more data to process than the device is designed for or, at least, that I (in this moment) know how to surrender into; a sense of a huge wave of information trying to press its way into a channel that is far too small to manage it, like the ocean trying to make its way through a garden hose without ripping it to shreds; and an intense desire to stay with it and see if this time, some new thought may take center stage or if this time, some new sense of 'me' may emerge for me to discover. Although it feels like eons ago, I do remember the time when I did not yet know that I am a quantum biological processor. I marvel at all that I have experienced in my life since then, and I wonder: what is the 'more' that seems to be standing in the shadows, just waiting for me to be ready, willing and able to see? What else awaits my own evolution?

We seem to think that what we have in common is our humanity and our attention on knowledge and content - and my deep sense of frustration that what appears to be so evident, so simple and so real for me seems to be so impossible for so many to even consider. And I wonder....what is there for me to discover about myself within this observation? Who do I need to become that I am not yet, such that so much more would be possible? What of my own limitations am I being invited to notice?

What comes to mind for me is this hesitation I am often aware of...this sense of a voice in the wilderness, sometimes wondering: am I crazy? Am I the only one who can see this? Am I the only one for whom this is so easy, so evident and so essential to who I am? Clearly, on the holodeck of my experience, I often feel like a manifestation of the Yellow Pages commercial - the bright orange one in a sea of grey. Is it about being out of step or is it about overlapping realities...two worlds sharing the same space? But I digress, as I get caught up in the swirl of my own forgetfulness.....

What would life be like if we were to discover something else as our common denominator…as the common thread that weaves its way through us all…that we might redesign our lives?

And in that moment, I become aware of how my world view of not who but WHAT we are is so different from what I hear around me. Not so much in how the content is expressed but much more in the meaning that this content takes on in how we live, from one day to the next. I also become aware of how I sometimes tire of talking about it; writing about it; speaking about it; etc. recognizing just how terrifying it seems to be for people to even consider this as a possibility in their lives – even when their lives are miserable!

It is one thing to speak to the science of what we now know a human being to be (that is, a quantum biological processor). It is so much more to have to stop and consider: now that I know that, what does it really mean in terms of how I LIVE? It’s not enough to know it and keep living from being what I was before I knew that. It’s imperative that I stop…and consider…now that I know, what does it mean when I take my next breath? That’s not so easy. It means I have to let go of just doing/being what I know how to do/be, and become willing to test myself, my world and my ability to create it.

In this moment, the words of (I believe) Wayne Dyer drift into my awareness: we are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience. What does that mean to how we live from one day to the next? If we don’t stop and consider it – personally, each of us from the inside, where we live – it becomes just so much more blah-blah-blah that we write about and philosophize about and nothing changes. The point becomes: when I choose to live – this moment, and the next moment, and the next, etc. – as the spiritual being that I am, what do I do? What thoughts do I think? What words do I choose? What choice do I make? What life do I manifest?

The one thing that all human beings have in common is a body. Without it, we can’t exist or function in this world. Interestingly enough, as varied as this body may be in its external appearance, its form and function are identical. It is not the device that varies from one to the other – it is the information that the device processes (calibrates, gathers, stores and retrieves) that makes us unique.

The reason that I am not you is not because your nervous system is different from mine – it is because what your nervous systems processes is different from mine!

And here’s where it gets mucky for people: I am (you are) not my (your) body. The body is a quantum biological processor that is the vehicle through which the unique expression that I AM manifests in a physical world. What does that mean on a daily basis?

What it means is that I am not my body, I am the signal/vibration/essence of ‘being’ that the body makes manifest in a physical world. Although my body is mortal, the signal that I AM is immortal. If I am immortal, am I not the godforce?

Imagine if we all – every one of the soon-to-be 9 billion of us – got that! Imagine if we all ‘got’ that we are not the body, we are the signal. And imagine if we all ‘got’ that the signal that each of us is, is the godforce in expression in a physical world. How does the godforce live? My bet is, pretty differently from how we’re living now.

You can be sure that living as the godforce, there is no need to control. Nor is there scarcity, since I can manifest whatever I choose – so the need for greed and all of its sub-sets, disappears. There is no need for one godforce to hate another, since we are all from the same source, meaning I would be hating myself. And maybe that’s what it’s about: I can’t hate you unless and until I’m first committed to hating myself. My experience of working with others demonstrates this to be accurate.

I don’t have a conclusion. I’m also aware that it is not information we lack, since we have plenty of that available. Nor is it our ability to understand what we know that is compromised in some way. How many times do we need to read about quantum this and energetic that before we ‘get’ it? So, if it’s not information we lack, then what is it?

There is a disconnect between our ability to know and understand, and our ability to engage. There is a gap between philosophically choosing and engaging. To engage anything is a process of the body, and when I involve my body, I become visible for all to see. I can keep my thoughts ‘private’ but when I choose to engage, I am telling the world who I am choosing to be.

It is not a process of the intellect – so it is not dependent on knowledge or understanding. It is a process of the body – and your body and mine are deeply, profoundly, relentlessly, rigorously and collective taught….no, pummeled into knowing! … that the one thing for sure that we are NOT is the godforce. Otherwise, why would we ever just mindlessly, blindly do/think/be what someone else tells us to do/think/be? We would think, speak and choose for ourselves; and we would be the truth of who we are, no matter the environment or circumstances, knowing that we are just fine.

As much as some may think that would cause our world to fall apart, I believe it would actually cause our world to come to life.

Breathing is good……

Monday, February 12, 2007

Holographic reminders

In those moments when I begin to forget, I can trust that my world will unfold as a reminder of the “I” that I AM.

I’ve spent the last two days with an amazing woman. I could sit and write about her as if she were separate from me and yet I know that we are one and the same. In my holographic universe, all that I experience are expressions of my own creation; and all my creations are in some way an aspect of my own consciousness. Like I have conversations inside myself with ‘others’ who are not really there, those outside of me are but the projections of what moves inside me. They are no more separate from me than those voices inside my head.

On the holodeck of my experience, the ‘others’ that enter my awareness (noting that these same ‘others’ often go unnoticed by anyone else…) are intended to invite me to step into my own evolution. In a world that insists we pay homage to external references through every stage of our growth and evolution (i.e. parent, teacher, doctor, priest, boss, etc.), it is sometimes easy to forget that we create that world from the inside, out. I am learning to be gentle with myself in my moments of oversight and forgetfulness.

These last two days have taught me much about myself. As we sat and talked, I saw reflected back to me the powerful presence that I am. As this intelligent, compassionate, accomplished, visionary woman shared her life with me, I began to remember aspects of my own.

In the midst of great vision and clarity of intention, there is also chaos and uncertainty.

In the presence of great courage, there is also fear.

In the capacity for great strength and the willingness to engage, there are moments of vulnerability and fragility.

In the midst of great stamina and determination, there is also fatigue and a sense of desperation.

In the face of this truly powerful and amazing woman, I saw my own. As I looked into her eyes, I came to see myself.

If it were easy, it would be done; and if it were done, I would no longer have a reason to be here. In all that is incomplete, unsure, unspoken, unwritten and not yet manifest, there is the potential for greatness. But more than that, there is the perpetual invitation for me to live in and trust the truth of my own experience, moment to moment, that I may remember and know the godforce that I am. To live otherwise is to stay trapped in the box of my history, my cultural conditioning and my own self-imposed limitation. In the magnificence of my imperfection lies the invitation for me to find my way home.

In this moment, I see humour in the practice of my clients paying me for the results they get from spending time in conversation with me. Perhaps I should be paying them for the invitation they are for me to remember who I am. Hmmm….I think I’ll ponder that one a little longer. :)

Breathing is good…..

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

The simple things

I had lunch with a friend, today. A woman I both appreciate and admire. Intelligence, warmth, compassion, humour and a depth of careing that sometimes overwhelms even her, and space - physical, emotional, verbal, etc. - becomes the buffer that allows for a regained stabiity.

It was good. Although we don't see each other often, it's clear to me that we share something that goes beyond our histories - each our own and the one we share - and is not necessarily tied to any content. It feels more like an experience of coming together and sharing space so that we get to 'calibrate' for...."yup...I'm still here, she's still here, and life goes on in our own meaningful ways". No need for great stories or miracles of personal evolution, just good food, the warmth of the sun and knowing that we are still very much in each other's lives.

Who knows where this emerging future will take me/her/us? In a passing moment, we spoke of what it is to be drawn to someone or something - what it is to be moved by someone/something - and the degree to which we do not then move ourselves to further engage. I sometimes wonder if our experience of being moved by, and yet not moving ourselves to engage, in some way feeds our need to recreate the familiar in our lives? As an example, to reconnect with what we know inside us as a sense of longing. Perhaps being moved and not moving ourselves reminds us of what it is to long for and not have. With the longing comes the sense of possibility. If we move oursevles and engage, we may be disappointed or change our minds - and then where would possibility go?

Mutual appreciation and respect; great food; the warmth of the sun streaming through the windows as we watched skaters brave the freezing temperatures and glide along the Rideau Canal. Loving living need not be complex.

Breathing is good....and so is life.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Engaging with others

Life is good! It’s filled with opportunity, potential and the sheer joy of allowing myself to live fully in the moment of my own experience…to embrace my emerging future, wherever it may lead. Whatever unfolds in my day, I know that I am its creator and that its gift to me is my own evolution. I’ve learned that no matter what it may appear to be about, it’s always about me – and that includes the people I am drawn to and the ones that I draw to myself.

Who do I want to spend my time in conversation with? Who do I want to share ideas with…thoughts with…discovery with? Who do I want to call into my life to influence me in its shaping and design? I seek meaning, in my own life and in that of those I am drawn to. I seek adventures of thought and intention; journeys of growth, evolution and potential; and visions shared and engaged without holding back and pulling back from fear and uncertainty. My life is an invitation to others to consider my presence as a companion on their journey through life – and I seek that in those with whom connection unfolds.


My attention is drawn to things other than seeking to manifest more money, bigger house, faster car, better career. My intentions are shaped by choosing to evolve as an expression of the spiritual being that I am, in a physical world. Inside me, the question that resonates is: how does a godforce live? It's not about setting goals or holding intentions that enrich my life in terms of possessions. It's about remembering that I can and do shape my world.

For me, a meaningful life resides in finding people to play the game of life with. When I look around at those with whom co-creation looms as both a fact and a possibility, I become aware of their ways of being and the degree to which these are shared amongst them all. Were I to describe these people, I would have to conclude that:

* They laugh quickly, easily, out loud and frequently at themselves. In their way of moving through the world, they rarely forget that they are a spiritual being having a physical experience. In that, there is great joy to be found in the magnificence of our imperfection and without it, we would have no pathway back to the truth of who we are.

* They are self-starters: they have their own view of the world and they live it. They are not waiting to be fixed/saved/rescued by anyone else’s model of the world.

* They are non-groupies: they tend not to congregate in packs; tend more to have big visions that they engage on their own. When their vision overlaps with the vision of another, the fun factor increases but they are never distracted from their own creation.

* They swim upstream: often seen to be out-of-step with ‘reality’, these are the folks who are never deterred by someone else’s opinion of them, their dream/vision or their way of brining it into manifestation. Although periodically they may forget who they are and allow themselves to ponder: ‘Am I really crazy???”, it passes quickly and they get on with their lives.

* They enjoy their own company: Although they tend to easily attract large numbers of people to themselves, they are both comfortable and happy with their own company. That means that when they spend time with me, it’s because they want to, not because they don’t want to spend time with themselves. That they are loved by others is a bonus – and when they are not, their love of Self carries them through.

* Their essential nature is fueled by a huge desire to engage life! When times are good, they are clear that they have created their lives. When times appear to be not-so-good, they have even GREATER clarity that they have manifested for themselves a magnificent opportunity for Self-discovery and accelerated evolution! It is all part of who they are – and they are always welcoming of the next wave.

* They know it’s up to them. They look inside for their direction, not outside. Although they hear what others say, they recognize the contribution as some aspect of themselves playing out to draw attention to itself.

Do these people come in ‘market share’ or ‘groups’? I don’t think so. They do not homogenize easily; and they tend to appear one at a time. When I stay awake, I can see them - and they can see me.

Breathing is good…..

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Leadership, Emerging Futures and Huna

I can no longer keep them separate. For me, conversations about leadership cannot go beyond what I already know without reminding myself that all meaning is context dependent. Change the context and the meaning changes all by itself. Our existing notions of and explorations of ‘leadership’ all occur in a context set decades ago and is no longer questioned. I believe we need to question that context.

‘Evolution by Intention™ ‘(as opposed to evolution by accident or by default) sets a new context for the leadership conversation. Leadership for what purpose? Leadership as a result that is defined by what expectations? What will be required in order for us to know, express and experience ‘leadership’ within the context of evolving by intention?

And beyond even this as a shift in context, we can go further into the unknown – into the ever-present, ever-active and unfolding NOW – and consider Emerging Futures as a context for leadership. THIS presses the edges not only of the leadership conversation but begins to demand that we seek beyond what we know ourselves to BE to more fully open to trusting Emerging Futures as a way to live fully, live vibrantly and live long!

Huna and the context of the Three Selves is an essential component to understanding the notion of Emerging Futures. I am choosing to create a new blog that will make room for me to begin to express some of my experiences of Huna as a gateway to living from Evolution by Intention and to trusting my Emerging Futures. You can find it at:
Huna: Gateway to the Godforce Within

The leadership conversation is a crucial one. Not just to explore leadership as we’ve been taught to consider it; not just to look back and identify what we think leadership has been; but to stop….and consider…the profound implications of a new expression of leadership and its essential requirement in creating a world profoundly different from the one that we currently live in. Doing more of what we’ve already done won’t do it. It is no longer about trying to figure out WHAT TO DO differently. Our world demands that we begin to discover WHO ELSE WE ARE TO BECOME. We need to discover something new and more potent within ourselves that we can bring into play as we define and move forward into the world we desire. Every choice we make becomes an expression of a conscious intention to take us to who we know we are capable of becoming.

Density and intensity. Both are increasing at all levels of expression in our lives. Are we paying attention? It is no longer enough to find new ways to fix things and/or solve our problems. Not only are new problems being created at a rate that exceeds our capacity to fix the ones we already have, our problems are now creating problems of their own. In alignment with the natural expression of the organic systems that come together to create our world as we know it, these systems are 'birthing' their own offspring. Unless we find a more powerful way to BE, we may not be able to outrun what we’ve created.

Breathing is good…..

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Redefining/Redesigning Leadership

I had an amazing conversation today with a friend/colleague from another city. He’s in an MBA program and is exploring leadership and – lucky me! – I got to be on his short list of people to talk with about notions of leadership. During the hour or so that we spent in conversation, there were all kinds of notions that just popped into my awareness as we spoke. An Emerging Future, in action!

Here are some of the things that we talked about:

* Leadership is a nominalization. If we denominalize ‘leadership’, all that’s left is experience – and experience can only occur in the body. When we consider ‘leadership’ as an experience in the body, we can no longer separate the idea from our capacity to engage it.

* We have been taught to think of ‘leadership’ as a verb or a process. We explored the notion of ‘leadership’ as a result or by-product of something else. What was that ‘something else’?

* We considered the relationship between leadership and evoking potential; and the implications of time (i.e. past, present and future) to these notions. ‘Potential’ is future oriented, with potential implying what can be and does not yet exist. And yet, much of our conversation about ‘leadership’ is based on the past (i.e. seeking frameworks/templates/designs from observing/experiencing leaders; or identifying characteristics of leaders/leadership from observation of past experiences). The result is that we attempt to create the future (potential) from what we know (the past), resulting in our recreating the past over and over again. It would be a quantum leap forward if we were to find a way to stand (at least) in the present in our desire to evoke the potential (i.e. trusting emerging futures as they are in the flow of the ‘now’).

* We spoke of the recent IPCC Climate Change report – and we both acknowledged the urgency to redefine ‘leadership’. Our existing models of/thinking about leadership will not give us what we need to create a new and different future. We need to offer whole new ways of thinking about creating our future; and we need to find ways to quickly awaken those new ways of being, given the density and intensity of challenges that we face.

Those are just a few of the things we talked about. It was energizing, revitalizing – and gave me a great sense of hope for our future.

One more thing: we also had a simple and living example of the power of an emerging future and its relationship to ‘leadership’. My friend engaged in the simple act of posting some of his own thinking to his MBA group email list. Without editing himself (what would they think, how would it affect his grade, did others think like him, etc.), he shared his thoughts. His comments appeared to go into a black hole, with no comments or feedback from his colleagues. Except one woman. She got in touch with him and is now enthusiastically pursuing a new line of thought for herself. Had he not just engaged and been willing to offer what was there in the moment, she would not have had the opportunity to awaken to a new thought. It takes courage to be willing to just be ourselves - and engage!

There is much more and, no doubt, more extensive parts of that conversation will make their way here.

Another great day, just hanging out with some great people on an adventure of new ideas!

Breathing is good….

Friday, February 02, 2007

IPCC and Climate Change: Waking up fast!

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has tabled its findings. According to CNN:

“The debate on global warming is over. That's the ultimate message from the report released in Paris today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N. body of leading researchers charged with analyzing climate science and producing the final word on what is happening — and will happen — to our planet. IPCC scientists now say that it is "very likely" that global warming is chiefly driven by the buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases caused by human activity, and that dangerous levels of warming and sea rise are on the way.”

If you want to know more of the details, just Google IPCC Climate Change and read to your heart’s content.

It’s interesting to me that even when we know that something is happening, we’re not quite convinced until an ‘official’ person/group says that it is. We’ve known inside – where we live – for some time now, that we’re in trouble. We also know –inside, where we live – that we’re the only ones who can do anything about it. And I’m not talking about recycling.

For lots of reasons (some of which include things I’ve written here at other times, including thoughts from Ervin Laszlo), I am not deeply disturbed by this news. Basically, because it’s not new ‘news’.

In my world, climate is an Environment level manifestation of the higher orders of thinking of a global collective. I’ve witnessed the weather track to what was unfolding in a collective experience (at the Huna retreat, for example) far too many times not to notice the relationship. I also know that as our collective consciousness changes, so will the climate.

A shift in collective consciousness (and just how much is enough for critical mass – I have no idea but am willing to find out!) will transform all levels of thinking below it. The observer affects the outcome. My intentions shape my reality. Our collective intentions shape our collective reality. In this moment, our deeply comatose collective is creating the downward spiral, like an airplane in a nose dive because the pilot has dozed off.

Now more than ever, an acceleration in the evolution of consciousness is imperative. We can try to ‘fix’ the climate problems from the outside, yet instinctively we know that they will only be solved from the inside.

The only thing that will profoundly shift global climate responses is for us to shift the essence of who we are. And, unfortunately, no one can do that for me. I must do it for mySelf – and alone.

Breathing is good…..