What is an underlying question that gives form
to your work or interest in this field?
What do we need to know to bring the next level of conscious
collective organization into the world? At a level at which we
will be able to resolve the seemingly insoluble conflicts within the
human species?
What is your personal experience of collective
wisdom in groups?
I have always found it easier to experience a sense of
deep presence while sitting with a group. Through my involvement with
Beyond War and the World Business Academy I have done various community
building workshops. At one of these I experienced what Scott Peck refers
to as the inrush of spirit when a group reaches a state of emptiness.
This experience for me was intensely physical and almost more powerful
that my body could handle at the time. I felt complete love for everyone
present. Since then I have participated in many conferences and gatherings
where similar experiences have occurred but never so vividly or over
such a sustained period.
That one experience, however, left a seed of faith in
me about what is possible. It has made me capable of staying calm when
a group is in chaos. I have seen so many times a profound coming together
on the last morning of a gathering after participants have had the chance
to dream. Having worked with Jungian dream analysis, I am utterly convinced
of the divine origin of dream images and their value to both individual
and group life.
I have also worked somewhat with Native American and
Celtic circles which I find have a powerful impact on the depth of sharing
and visioning among people. I am part of an on-going twelve member group
that has met together for two decades using a Native American medicine
wheel and talking staff as our primary practice. Through women's work,
I have experimented with the Celtic circle which has many of the same
qualities but some interestingly subtle variations. In both cases, I
have seen the presence of sacred matter in groups and the acknowledgment
of spirit realms within group space evoke capacities not usually available
to people in conventional group process.
What is it about the work in this field that excites
you and connects you to your own deepest self?
The work that most excites me now is my work with the
Fetzer Collective Wisdom Initiative team. My role as synthesizer involves
1) writing about patterns that emerge from Self-Portraits and documents
and 2) organizing the Self-Portraits so that people who share passions
and interests can find each other.
Recently I have learned the principles of indexing. Indexing does not
involve making a list of topics, as most people assume, but is really
about mapping a piece of written work. I realized that the technology
of indexing could be used to "capture" what people have learned
about Collective Wisdom. The indexing process,
to me, is extremely congenial with "diffuse awareness",
a Jungian concept that describes a feminine way of perceiving reality
(in contrast with the more masculine "focused consciousness".)
In essence, I am exploring how to maximize the use of diffuse awareness
to see into the heart of Collective Wisdom.
My experience as a business owner for 23 years has been grist for the
mill as I have tried to understand how the archetypal energy and the
collective unconscious (of my Jungian study) manifest themselves in
the daily affairs of the world. Of great interest to me is the feminine
archetype, of which diffuse awareness is a key characteristic. In 1997
I wrote Business and the Feminine Principle: The Untapped Resource (Butterworth-Heinemann)
which explores the potential partnership between diffuse awareness and
focused consciousness in everyday business life.
Please provide a brief storyline or snapshot
of what brought you to this work. Feel free to mention important work
experience, transformational experiences, theoretical frameworks, mentors,
or schools of thought, etc.
As a woman and introvert in business, I struggled most
of my life with the sense that I did not fit into the public sphere.
To cope with this situation I engaged in personal growth activities
including women's circles and personal and couple therapy. This work
led me to Carl Jung, whose work became a focal point of my exploration.
I have read extensively in this field. Marie Louise von Franz and Marion
Woodman are my heroines.
I am involved in a marriage of 33 years and have been continuously engaged
in a lively conversation with my husband, Bob, about personal growth,
especially about the best development of the masculine and the feminine.
We have also always been committed to living in beautiful natural places
which nourish our souls.
In the 1980s I discovered Beyond War and realized that there existed
in the world a growing number of people who are committed to and believe
in the possibility that people can radically change the way they think
and behave. I felt as if I had "come home."
My second foray into global transformation was through the World Business
Academy, the Boston chapter of which I initiated and coordinated for
five years. I was deeply influence by the work of and inspired by the
personal life of the late Willis Harman.
How would you like to be available to others in
this field? What would be a meaningful connection? Are you available to
talk with others? What contribution might you be able to make?
I would be happy to hear from anyone interested in Jungian/archetypal/feminine
content. I can offer two decades of contemplating these topics
to anyone who is looking for input on a particular line of inquiry.
Email is the best format for me, but I am also open to telephone conversations
and will look forward to postings of gatherings, where I can talk to
people directly. For me face-to-face contact greatly enhances email
conversations.
At the moment what I am most interested in hearing from others is stories
about real life experiences in groups where people feel touched by spirit
and experience the manifestation of collective wisdom. I will be reading
all your Self-Portraits; question #1 is the question in which I will
be most personally interested!
