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Inspired News from Isabelle – July/Aug/Sept 06
In this issue:
Greetings,
As summertime is slowly drawing to a close here on the west coast, I am grateful for the blend of enjoyable and productive moments I experienced. I’m also aware of some times of anguish I felt during the weeks of war that went on this summer in the Middle East. As you will read further below, you’ll understand why that war triggered a more intense, personal concern within me. As you know, the war is said to be over for now between Israel and Lebanon. However, I have a special guest on this newsletter to help us be aware of the impact of war. This is also to remind us of the importance of nourishing the spirit of peace and hope in our heart, always. Our local and global communities need it.
Out of my ongoing quest for experiencing diverse ways of giving back and living with a heightened sense of joy which is part of the subject of my current book project, I joined a special tour in Italy in July. It was a clowning tour, lead by colleagues of Patch Adams.
 Alongside 22 clowning folks with mixed professional background, originating from 7 countries, I spent 10 days in Sicily that were filled with magic moments. Together we brought the spirit of joy, friendship and compassion to hospitals, mental health communities, foster children, teens with Down syndrome, etc. What I particularly enjoyed was seeing the transformation in some children and teens from reluctance to our group to total engagement and exuberant expression in the midst of our music, laughter and caring attention. I also savour the memory of seeing barriers of roles melting away between doctors and clowns as we danced together in the hospital hallway. Then, there were tender moments when I recall the nourishing touch and eye contact I shared with a few people ill with cancer.
Following my return, I received an e-mail from Ginevra, our tour leader, reporting that some of the doctors in the hospitals we visited said that we had positively shifted the atmosphere in the hospital. I think we brought a new kind of contagious virus to the hospital: it’s called Joy! And it’s a lot more conducive to healing than the dead-serious energy that a few of the doctors seemed to embody.
On my way back through Milan, I met and conversed at length with a wonderful, young Lebanese woman, journalist and writer, named Sandra Khalil. www.sandrakhalil.com She was at the end of her vacation and was soon to return to Lebanon. Then, as I walked through the airport of Milan two days later I noticed the headlines on the newspapers reporting “Bombing in Lebanon Airport”. After getting home I sent Sandra an e-mail and called her but the phone connection was very poor. She sent an e-mail, an excerpt of follows (with her permission):
I arrived safely to Beirut few hours before they closed the airport. Thank God I made it. At least here I am close to my family, I know their whereabouts.
My uncle, his family and my grandmother live in the south, where all the bombing is occurring. On Saturday they left their home, to come here where it's safer. However the road to safety was not safe. It took them at 6 hours to get here. What made matters worse is that they bombed these exact roads right after my family’s passage.
I live in a Christian area, which is not in danger, at least till now.
However we do hear the explosions all day and night long. Of course we do not leave the house very often. Our life is limited to the noise, news and home. We call each other every day, to make sure all are well.
I do hope that this horrible situation will soon be over. I miss the life here. I miss the activity, the buzz, the joie de vivre we all had.
During the war I participated in an international petition which collected 200,000 names in 4 days. The Ceasefire Campaign leaders then turned it in at the United Nations and reported that the pressure it caused on the governments was effective. Meanwhile, I sent several supportive e-mails to Sandra and then, after the war was declared over, she wrote the following:
Well the war is over. I don't have to worry about a shell exploding next to me, about the sounds of war craft over our heads, about fuel, electricity and
food. Finally we can relax. Ufff...
Life is slowly getting back to normal: people who were fleeing are returning home, there are no more long line at the gas stations, and the local TV stations are broadcasting something other than news and political talk shows.
 In the spirit of appreciation for the peace that we have here but often take for granted, I encourage you to create and/or maintain peace within and around you. If we all do this, the ripple effect will keep gathering momentum.
Be whole, be well and be true to yourself.
Warmly,
Inviting the Circle Being to your next Meeting
Back to the new season here just barely showing up over the horizon, I am giving my attention towards my book and the anthology for inspiring the workplace which I initiated last year with Dawson Church, publisher in California.
As I read, research and then write my contributing chapter to this anthology on the power of collective intelligence, I am further impassioned by the potential of collective wisdom to transform our personal and professional arenas.
One of the leading-edge social scientist and author Otto Scharmer calls this collective wisdom the Circle Being. You may have experienced it in a group meeting where people started with a trusting openness and a willingness to look beyond their preconceptions and assumptions. From this, participants can arrive at a place in which they let go of their personal ego-driven agenda, rise above personality clashes and allow the unifying energy of collective wisdom to be in their midst. I recall feeling the power of that force arising while I was leading a session of professional development with counselors some time ago. New, creative thinking was visible as the participants got into visionary mode, as noticeable by their upwardly directed gaze. It was as if the group members were no longer interacting but rather they were participating in a pool of common meaning which was generating new insights and ideas.
According to Scharmer, more and more people are having these kinds of experiences and he suggests that it is because individually and collectively we are evolving into a higher, more purposeful future which seeks to come through us. To read more about that wondrous phenomena: the vortex of collective intelligence and how you can cultivate the conditions that are conducive to its emergence, you can look up www.wie.org ( write collective intelligence in the right corner, then click search, a choice of great articles will show up and you can read them online).
Info about the RSP
While you may be back to work after summer vacation, if you are a Baby-Boomer in middle age, you may wonder how you will create the last several chapters in the book of your life. If you are considering retirement in the next 10 years or less, you may benefit from taking this online assessment tool called Retirement Success Profile (RSP). The results are provided in a 21 page personalized report and, if you choose so, it can become the starting ground of powerful coaching conversations from which you can design your transition towards a creative, fulfilling new life beyond the workplace. To learn more about the RSP, look up www.retirementoptions.com then click on the box called RSP. |
