Essential tensions in conflict and cooperation

 

Jack and I had the pleasure of having Dr. Robert Brink with us for our Possible Society In Motion Show on Thursday, April 25 to discuss essential tensions in conflict and cooperation.  I have been moved since, by Bob’s perspectives, to consider possiblities for looking at present social problems in our country from a more scientific perspective.  

Dr. Robert Brink.
Hear our April 25
conversation with him here

Is such an endeavor within the realm of the reasonable? At least as I interpreted that which Bob  was suggesting about the innate electromagnetic force field within which polarization exists at its most fundamental and, likely, profound levels.

In particular Bob’s unique viewpoints have lately provided a window for me through which I have been contemplating, even recent tragic events, with a consideration as to how these  might be viewed in a more scientifc and wholistic way.

Of course, I knew that these perspectivew  were definitely beyond my immediate abilities to fully understand them. Let alone do justice to them with any brief articulation I might do regarding them.  Still I think we were on the threshold of the Tao of Physics, here, with these ideas of Bob’s. And, while I do, experientially, know the “tao” and could almost speak of it, at least in some circles, the physics part is way beyond my lexicon.

In spite of these limitations, the idea that scientific principles might be genuinely acceptable considerations for earth plane problems is no small idea. It has not been far from my mind since this interview. So I have pondered --

·         What difference do scientic ideas such as the fact that opposites attract and like poles repel make anyway, when real life mortals are dying around us in the meantime?

 

·         What is the yin and the yang of events such as the Boston Marathon Bombings?

 

·         How can understanding the notions related to electromagnetic fields be useful in assisting the healing of the three abucted and tortured Cleveland women?

No small questions, here, and no simple answers. Still, I am drawn to the reasonableness of my contemplations, fostered by Bob’s inspiring ideas, as I am well aware that it was my ongoing search for  the peak of the Mountain of Awe that brought me through the ordeal of my eight years of blindness and recovery from it.

So what is really going on here that I/we should heed? Or is it that the two realms of existence; the physical and the spiritual, are just simply one, no matter how separate we view and experience them. And, how does knowing this help anything, if it is so?

I present myself, here again, as a student wanting to learn.

Bob’s special interests have taken him into some fascinating areas other than what one might expect of a clinical psychologist. With two award winning documentaries to his credit on alternatives to ordinary solutions, especially in the areas of health and healing I was more than ready to hear what he had to offer us.

I am eager for the opportunity to talk with him again, soon, and learn more from him. I wish this opportunity for you too.

 

Awe is such a hard mountain to climb

Living, as I do, on the side of a mountain -- and -- having grown accustomed, as I have, to a trek, now and again, to the peak, I have long grown accustomed to the effort required to physically climb to that high point.  On a far more regular basis, I am totally familiar with the climb to the metaphorical “Mountain of Awe” in my mind. I make that climb, or attempt it, almost each and every day. Sometimes I reach the peak, sometimes not.

(Actually the “mountain” that New Horizons is situated on is, comparatively. more like a hill, if truth be told. But West Virginians are not inclined to go on record as being the “hill state” rather than the “mountain state.)

I think, if I remember correctly, that I began the discipline of my daily trek to the top of the Mountain of Awe in my mind as the only way I could find to survive the ordeal of losing my eyesight and recovering from the challenge. I could find no other way to manage it so I did this. And, obviously, I did manage the test and am now returned, sufficiently, to tell of the adventure and guide others to the peak. 

But I might not have noticed, however, that I am now attracting growing numbers of other adventurers to travel with me/us on a similar adventure that is collective as well as personal.

For almost fifteen long years I have relentlessly sought this peak; the top of the Mountain of Awe. Goodness that is so many years to keep climbing that one mountain and sometimes it all has been so very tiring.

This morning Sue reminded me, however, that my unshakable dedication to the vision that reaching this peak represents (and sharing the experience with others) is being realized even as I speak here.

As New Horizons now moves forward to re-open the doors of our retreat center, June 22, and bring back to life the ways of “old” New Horizons and what it has become since its marriage in 1999 to the ancient teachings of Murat Yagan’s heritage, according to his guidance, we hope you will want to join us as we carry our mission forth; New Horizons’ contribution to our brave new world. Such as it is and can be.

Our mission is --

To educate and train individuals and groups to create Small “Zones Of Peace” wherever they go wherein violence, deceit and denial will ultimately become obsolete.

Our methodology includes principles articulated on these pages –

1.       Climbing the Mountain of Awe;

2.      Murat’s Seven Ways to Knowledge.

Be cautioned, however, these documents will only describe “about” the experience. To “know it,” you will have to learn “about it” and live it. We hope you will want to do this with us.

"Real Deal" and "Pretender Peace Buddies" Topic To Be Aired

The “Real Deal” Peace Buddy has come to be New Horizons’ symbol of an individual, genuinely, doing his/her best to “walk the walk” of the Possible Human, Possible Society and, being a viable role model for others doing likewise.

This week our Possible Society In Motion Radio Show, acknowledges Jim Wagner, award winner of the New Horizons’ 2012 Peace Buddy Award, for his outstanding efforts in this area.

Jim, a Frederick County, Maryland, local peace activist, environmentalist, minimalist and practicing Quaker, will join Jack and myself this week to share his perspectives on daily living and his vision for a possible society in motion.

Honored with this award, Jim’s congruency, of values, principles and actions, won my (Anastasia) admiration during interviews with him for the Possible Human, Possible Society Study. The board members of New Horizons unanimously affirmed my recommendation to grant Jim the award. The study is presently ongoing through December 31, 2015.

On this show I will offer a few remarks on the distinctions found, thus far, through the study on the differences between “Real Deal” and “Pretender Peace Buddies.” The topic will be taken up in greater detail in coming shows.

Jack Slattery will, again, join me as co-host for the show.

Check this link for show details and time. And, do please join us for our conference call-in discussion following the on-air broadcast.

Study Participants to be featured radio show guests

Study update news for Possible Human, Possible Society Study

Storytelling as a path to peace showed up right away in the earliest days of our study, now in its sixteenth month (with approximately one hundred participants on board).

Last year we were reporting how the data from the study would be used. (Until the information gathering for the study is completed, December 31, 2015.)

We were telling you, then, that, over time, hopefully, our study would evolve into being a respected resource, offering important insights as to how the American public might overcome areas of disruptive polarization in our society.  

"An enemy is someone
whose story you have
 not yet heard."

That is already happening; a totally delicious phenomenon!

At the onset we were intent on gathering data that could be used for:

• Published reports;
• Fruitful discussions;
• Consciousness-raising commentary;
• Fresh ideas for community-unity building actions.

All of the above, if not yet completely visible,  are faithfully in motion.

This is why we have started speaking of our Possible Human, Possible Society Study project as our “Possible Society In Motion” project. Yum yum, especially in these turbulent times when it seems, sometimes, so much is disturbing.

But cultural upheaval, for all its chaos, may not be terminal as the doomsday sayers suggest. It may, in fact, be, quite the opposite; our pathway to higher consciousness, personal and social transformation. If we can just hang on and make the most of our opportunities.

As it has turned out, the most inspiring and vibrant of our study experiences have come about as a result of the richness of the storytelling that has emerged out of our interviews.

Before long, therefore, it came to be clear, as the study has progressed, that bringing these stories – and the storytellers -- behind our American experience, forming the current core values of our citizens, needed to be shared.

So -- recently we announced that --



The Possible Society In
Motion Show
Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.

Our new Possible Society In Motion Show, with the addition of Jack Slattery to assist me (Anastasia), is now building momentum, as lively discussion between the two of us (Anastasia and Jack) develops our episode topics. All of which are tied to our show’s overarching theme, overcoming the polarization of our country.

Now, look for Possible Human, Possible Society Study participants to be invited guests on the show, beginning with our first guest, clinical psychologist and documentary film maker, Dr. Robert Brink on April 25.

The focus of this episode will be:

“Polarization: essential tensions in conflict and cooperation.”

Please join us as stories from our study’s participating storytellers aid our cultural advancements with our new Possible Society In Motion Radio Show.

* Look for study-related topics on this show and for more and more of our study participants to be invited guests and panelists, as this show becomes an on-air community forum.

Consciously choosing to travel with others

Possible Human, Possible Society Study Commentary & Radio show commentary

(Original posting Wednesday, April 3, 2013.  Somehow deleted and now re-posted.)

Back in the mid-1980s I was barely coming to my senses about what I know, now, to be the grounding core of what, I believe, makes for a well-balanced successful life; the harmony of you and I, living and working well together, with the rest of humanity.

I had finally, by then, outgrown my attraction to being Ms.Success and was, already, on the same overall course I follow today. But I didn’t, yet, fully understand the “over”part of over-achieving in me or know how to moderate it.  That discovery has been quite the unfolding adventure.


We want to travel
with you.

I’ve come a long way since that time. And, even farther from the days back in the late 1960s when I traveled the streets of Washington, D.C. on my motorcycle as the founder and Executive Director of the U.S. “Male” Service.

(The U.S. “Male” Service, located in Washington, D.C. from 1966 – 1973, is a business name that still raises eyebrows today when it is spoken in polite or not so polite company. The name, U.S. “Male” Service, came to me, via Charlie Brotman who was my press agent in those crazy days and still is, today, Washington’s number one press agent, many years later.)

Stories such as the oldies, but goodies, that come of those bygone days of mine on K Street, home to much of today’s political maneuvering, add spice to the community forum we are growing on our new Possible Society In Motion Show.  So do please join us when we go on-air, Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.

 With the recent addition of Jack Slattery to assist me, Anastasia, we are now building momentum as episode topics become ever more lively through discussions between Jack and myself. Also, look for Possible Human, Possible Society Study participants to be invited guests, added to the mix of Anastasia and Jack, in coming months, beginning this month,  April.

 Take heed:

1.      Listen in and, even better, dial-in to our Possible Society In Motion Show at 347.237.5351 and;

2.      Join in to participate in New Horizons Possible Human, Possible Society Study so that you can tell us how you would like this U.S.A. to grow.  And, we can carry your message forward.

3.      Look for Possible Human, Possible Society Study participants to be invited guests on the show, added to the mix in coming months, beginning in April. You could be among them.

Quoted from an article I read yesterday online, “Our life together can be better.” And, this new show of our’s is one way New Horizons is offering you to work with us to help make that happen.

Tomorrow night, Thursday, April 4, 6:30 p.m. (with conference call-in discussion from 7:00 to 7:30) join us for our conversation on “The Art of Leaning In.”

Also, check out my show, Anastasia The Storyteller, next on Tuesday, April 23, 11:30 a.m. Topic: “Before Watergate: Hot Pants, Motorcycles and K Street.”

 How very interesting!  And, maybe some fun!

Lean in (Anastasia’s version) versus “lean in” Sheryl Sandberg version

I am very pleased with the progress we (i.e. New Horizons, Lisa, board member and steering committee member for our radio show, Jack Slattery, my show co-host and myself) are making on our Possible Society in Motion show. Of course, we will need to keep growing and polishing up our act to get to the level of sparkle to which we aspire. But even the most critical (and I do have a few of those in my court) can see evidence of the progress we are making. And, the impact we are cultivating.

As evidence of that forward motion, heading to our own best possible, last week’s show brought me to place of multiple epiphanies, if no one else.  So here it is Thursday morning and I am readying myself for more of the same on tonight’s forthcoming show.

Tonight's episode is titled "the vicious physiology of stress." Tonight, again, Jack and I will draw from the treasure trove of my research, clinical and organizational treatment strategies and published and unpublished writings on these plus a most impressive body of research by "the brilliant" Dr. Rajita Sinha, director of the Yale Stress Center.

I hope you will join us for tonight’s on-air broadcast as well as our conference call-in discussion that follows. To tantalize your appetite, below is a summary of our last week’s Possible Society in Motion Show episode, titled  “The Art Of Leaning In,” an on-air discussion that drew from both my professional expertise, research and writings, contrasted with what I have read, so far, about the Facebook CEO, Sheryl Sandberg’s new book.

A warrior woman, strong and
in balance, is a beauty to behold.

Show summary description follows below, excerpted and edited from our Possible Society in Motion Show description for Thursday, April 4.

“Jack Slattery asks Anastasia to elucidate how her version of “leaning in” contrasts with viewpoints offered in the recently controversial best-seller “Lean In: Women, work and the will to lead” by Facebook CEO, SherylSandberg.

An intriguing dialogue ensues in which Jack invites Anastasia to elaborate on her “Surviving Addictions” unpublished manuscript material, based on her still relevant research on contemporary women and their survival-driven adrenalin addictions. (WMST, UMCP, 1985.)

Stressing that her research findings strongly empathize that contemporary women now override outmoded addictions to relationships with the traditionally male addictions to money, power, status, righteousness, Anastasia urges all to, instead of these destructive patterns, strive for a balance between excessive strivings and fulfillment, derived from harmonious affiliations.

To drive her points home Anastasia recounts a poignant story of a keynote speech she gave to key women executives in the Washington, D.C. area that concluded with participants in tears, as if at a consciousness-raising group. High profile achievements were bringing complications along with them with too high a premium in their relationships with family members, begging the question where is the gain not worth the pain.”

Again, I do hope you will join us for our show tonight on the “vicious physiology of stress” as Jack and I continue our conversations on how to overcome polarization in our country and be that “possible society in motion” of which I/we are dreaming.

Life in our brave new world

Settling into the shift we’ve been striving and yearning for – and fearing – after days, weeks, months, and yes, for me – years, does not slide into place as naturally as do my springtime daffodils, now searching for the sunlight as they come into bloom.
This shift jars instead. Like the rusted out gears on an old jalopy, manned by an inexperienced teen-ager with a learners permit.

Astrologists tell us that we are in the midst of a planetary upheaval; important cycles endings and profound beginnings. Others, offering Biblical interpretations, predict the end of the world. And, the daily fare of reports from Washington continues to insist that our country is falling into irreversible decline, which is, of course, the other parties fault.

But who knows where the truest wisdom that can be relied upon lies here?

Last year Sue, my collaborator, and I sat outside one lovely Tuesday afternoon, peacefully eating our lunches, leisurely discussing our Steering Committee agenda, when the earth started moving.  Before long we discovered that an earthquake had shaken our ground. Or was that the year before?

Then came  Hurricane Sandy and the Frankenstorm, followed soon by election madness and the Newtown shooting tragedy. One can barely remember times and dates from one shocking event to the next.

Today is Tuesday again. Sue and I are planning another sunshiny meeting day.  Will the earth quake again today, rocking the very spots we sit upon?  

We cannot predict that any better than we know what lies ahead around the entire globe for today. So what is one to do, living in the midst of constant uncertainty and upheaval?

In a place likethis with people like that?

Personally, I decided to take some steps back from the maddening crowd in search of a grounding perspective; mature wisdom to rely upon, if I could find that inside myself or out.

Of course, I am hoping that this very ground I walk on will not quake again, today.

Still I think I have found my source, at least temporarily.

My dear, now deceased, friend, Rabbi Edwin Friedman originated the formula in his well-regarded Generation To Generation. He offered it as a remedy for what ails any dysfunctional family that one would seek to set aright. There is no reason to not apply its useful three-part solution, listed below, to a dysfunctional nation or planet.

1.       Define oneself;

2.      Invest in connection with others;

3.      Hold to a non-reactive presence.
 

Having applied this formula to numerous tough spots in my life  before, here I sit, reflecting on how best for me, personally, to manage this brave new world, drawing on Ed’s prescription for what “ails ye.” Tumultuous and scary as the world often is these days, I have set my course, at least for today; “suit up and show up” as my best self.

The sun is coming out and going back in, again, behind the clouds, just as life seems to do these days, I will, nonetheless, do my best to hold my ground.

There are, at least, one hundred ways to Sunday. I have mine; being true to me and leaning toward others with clarity and an intention for harmony. With that in mind, I am hoping things will turn round right, if we each do our best, first and foremost, to maintain our small “zones of peace.”

 Let there be peace. And, let it begin with me.