Taking the power

A lot of people know I write blog posts. That's certainly true. However it's often other people - colleagues, twitter friends, work partners, the homeless and patients - who inspire them ( If I ever make any money from them I will owe a lot of royalties !) This post follows that pattern.

Roz Davies is the founder of WeLove Life and is committed to exploring the potential of citizenship and digital health to improve well-being. Roz inspired a post  on wellbeing by sharing a powerful quote with me. The post went live and was tweeted and re-tweeted. Then it happened again. Roz shared another quote that both caught my mind and challenged my imagination. That quote is the context and inspiration of this writing. Once again I am grateful to Roz for her wise sharing.

The quote is, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." It comes form Margaret Mead. Roz asked on the basis of the quote, "how we create the conditions where we feel we have agency to act together for shared purpose?" A great question. In this post I will attempt an answer. I will not look at group dynamics, how small groups can 'seize the moment and the market' or how small groups can create 'tipping points'. I want to look at something else. Something much more simple, difficult and transforming. It's how we find and hold our power. For it is when we own our power and potency that the world starts to change. That's when the magic happens! It is so tragic when we doubt our own power or give it away. I am not saying we can't do anything until we consciously own our power. It's in the doing that a lot of this will start to emerge and function.

Several months ago three things happened to me over three days. The first was that I met a well known national NHS figure in Leeds for coffee. As we sat in a coffee shop and talked the subject moved to identity. Knowing who and what we are. By this we meant really becoming aware of ourselves, our power, gifts and possibility. This wise man then said that it is only when we know ourselves that everything starts to fit. It's only when we see and own ourselves that life flows freely and beautifully ( though not without pain and difficulty). In the next two days I had discussions with two different friends who both said in effect that they didn't know who they were and were searching to try to find their true self - their authentic identity. By this these good people meant that were trying to find a life rather than an existence. They wished and were moving from existing as human doings to becoming human beings. The search for who we are is the quest for who we are at our best. This is not a new 'fangled' thing. All the great faiths talk about and use meditation. Meditation is about transformation. This transformation is becoming what we already are in the depths of our being. It is by accessing this potential and power that we become people who can make the difference in lasting and meaningful ways. It's transformed people who transform others. Its transformed people who transform situations and support others discover their power and space. It is this that ignites and fires small groups. It is when people see a vision and possibility and move to make it real that they start to challenge the status quo with a new approach. It involves a potential and energy which is both infectious and illuminating.

So how do we tap this energy? How do we become what we actually are? That's a great and deep question. I will offer here three things that can start or support the journey. They are not the destination but will certainly help us travel there. They are calls to

                                     

* Catch the Fire

* Create the Space

* Clear the Ground  

Catching the Fire means glimpsing the possibility. It means believing this is possible. It involves us internalizing a vision. We may need to read, talk to others and dream for this to happen. We have a wonderful faculty to support us in this endeavor. It's the imagination. Einstein noted that, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” We can dream about what it would be like to be empowered for service to others and ourselves. Dreaming is not meant to be only for sleep. When we try to catch the fire we may soon find it has caught us.

Creating the Space is all about realism and support. It is a realisation that this usually takes time and we will need support and sustenance for the journey. We need liminal space. The writer Richard Rohr speaks about liminal space. He writes that a liminal space is "the crucial in-between time - when everything actually happens and yet nothing appears to be happening. It is the waiting period when the cake bakes, the movement is made, the transformation takes place. One cannot just jump from Friday to Sunday in this case, there must be Saturday......Greatness does not just happen unprepared. It must be waited for, needed, desired and an inner space must be created." This means making space for the true us to appear and grow. It means waiting and not giving up. This space needs to be supported by good influences or we will give up.

Clearing the Ground is caning the rubbish. By this I mean the mental rubbish that fills our heads and aspirations so often. Lakoff and Johnson in their book on metaphors make the point that our mental and life concepts "govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people " It's fine if we have a positive supportive conceptual system. Many of us will have to do some clearing. Thoughts of negativity, self doubt, self hatred, jealousy, etc will need to be cleared away. The ground needs to be cleared for the emergence of the true us. We should seek good and wise advice as how best this process should be done.

These three are not exhaustive as transformational tools but can be very potent. These three - vision, space and  dislodging the destructive mind concepts - offer a way forward. We may need other supports. Twelve step groups, professional therapy, medication, meditation,relationships and other things may all have a role to play. Each journey is different. Yet each journey is also paradoxically the same for we discover that behind the mess and mistakes stands someone who is amazing, beautiful and good. We sense and feel this when we are at best. Becoming who and what we are is living that permanently as a condition. This is the most wondrous experience a human being can have. Then we do really feel connected not just to others but to ourselves. We then do not have to pretend or hide. And the great news is that we are already this. The challenge is to become aware in a deep way of this reality.

The most important thing we can do today is to take the next step on this path. Not the 20th step but the next. If we do that we are going in the direction of the sun away from the shadows. So to answer Roz's question. It is when we tap and release the immense good and power within and become who we are that we as individuals and in small groups can start to shake and move the world. I hope - I really hope - you take the next step today. We have nothing to lose but our chains.    

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice