Hoarding Hopes

Learnings from ALIA Europe

Posted by jamesk | Filed under Aikido, Stuff

So, time to put a voice to what I learnt during that week, which I’ve shied away from thus far.

I learned that paying whole attention to someone is giving them a huge gift; it gives them space to breath, to think, to experiment; it offers them lightness of mind to play and to wonder and to get things wrong.

I learned that we are all responsible for fixing the problems in front of us; that we all have something useful and unique to contribute; that with clear intention, we can probably find a solution to anyting.

I learned that leadership comes from within, and is a deeply personal thing; that any leader who doesn’t understand that is flawed or weakened by it; I learned that there is intelligence within the group that vastly outweighs the sum of its parts.

I learned that if we choose to honour each other, we open up a crack in our daily defences that allows our deepest selves to connect. I learned that such connection is the source from which everything else springs.

I found, too, that I’ve spent most of my working life in my head, being logical, rational, political, and hierarchical, when my heart – which offers a different wisdom – is firmly rooted in my body.

I found that there are lots of people thinking and feeling the same things as me, and wanting to do something about it, who are also taking first steps out on the ice when they don’t yet know whether it will hold.

I learned that courage isn’t something that dispells fear, it exists alongside fear – it’s the handrail for the slippery walkway. I learned that *now* is the right time for the first step; and that courage will meet me in that step even when I don’t realise it’s there. I learned that the universe is on my side when I align these different parts of me, and that it offers me support beyond anything I could organise for myself.

What is my intention after all that? I want my daughters, and other children like them, to grow up with a clear sense of centre, with a way of being that doesn’t allow others (especially those further up the hierarchy) to pigeonhole or control them.

I want organisations to re-structure to enable grown-up, respectful conversations between respectful people.

I want conflict and disagreement to be something that we all have effective tools to deal with in a functional and progressive manner.

I want to be part of making that possible.

Tags: alia

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