I’m sitting at my kitchen table in Portland, listening to the cars driving by and the sounds of people talking as they walk up the street just outside my window. It’s noisy here, but in contrast to what is going on in the world, this feels quiet.
Things have dialed up in the world the past few weeks. It was already feeling loud, but now the volume is turned up even more. The pandemic, wild weather, conflicts in Yemen, Ukraine, humanitarian issues all over the world, and so much more are resounding in conversations and on screens all around me.
Whether we like it or not, we each are inevitably listening. By simply being, we take the world in, we hear what is happening within and around us, we bear witness to what is happening, at our doorstep, in our neighborhoods, and on the other side of the world.
Listening can be as much about hearing as receiving. I notice that in the face of all the noise part of me longs for a space to find quiet, not silence, but a space to be with the noise, to receive it in a way so I can find the ‘music’ or meaning within in it, without being swept away in the sounds.
A few days ago I was in Sayulita, Mexico, a little town on the Pacific coast. In Sayulita, the birds were loud, the streets were filled with the sound of Banda music, car horns, and voices projected through large speakers. There were so many bright colors, pungent smells, and lots of dust. On the one hand, this all felt like noise, yet at the same time, throughout my entire trip, I also noticed that felt close to a sense of quiet. Looking back, I wonder, why was this?
During the trip, I stayed by the sea, so the sound of the waves crashing was a constant backdrop throughout my stay there. A few days ago, I walked along the shore. With the water up to my knees, I could feel the final gentle crash of the waves and when the tide receded back out to the Pacific, I could feel the pull of the sand beneath my feet, and my toes sinking deeper into the sand. Then, before the next wave came rolling in, there was a pause, a moment of space and quiet.
Back home now, I wonder how I can create space to keep listening to what life is asking me to pay attention to without getting swept away in the currents that are moving within me and all around me.
And then, I remember standing at the shore, from there, everything in my life, and in the world seemed to make more sense. Things felt like they were in ‘right relation’, chaos and order felt balanced. The contrast between the noise of the streets in Sayulita and the ‘quiet’ I felt in the presence of the sea, opened something within me.
My partner tells me that noticing subtle contrast creates diversity. This makes me wonder, perhaps noticing the diversity within and around me can actually create some space? Maybe it can expand my capacity, the ability to contain and be with life more fully?
The sea also showed me that no matter what is going on there is always a background rhythm we can tune into. Maybe we hear it in the sounds of the ocean, the voice of another, or maybe we feel it in the sensations of the moment, or through the resonance of our own voice.
We are all a part of a bigger rhythm, and we are all moving in a larger current. Remembering this helps me orient and keep things in perspective. Maybe we feel this current as the pull of our vocation, our life’s calling that invites us to keep showing up against all odds. Maybe we find it in a meaningful challenge or purpose that asks us to keep listening, dancing, and wrestling with life.
A quote I’m enjoying…
Martha Graham, on Expression
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression.
It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.
Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
A book I’m reading…
Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff
For the past year or so I’ve been asking myself, what does it mean to be human in these times?
This book offers some insights into this question. My partner recommended this book to me a year ago and I finally started reading it.
Written as a manifesto, Team Human explores current challenges and opportunities to inhabit more of our humanity. As an author, professor, and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age, Douglas Rushkoff brings a unique and vital perspective.
A podcast I’m listening to…
Debugging Creativity Podcast with Tyson Yunkaporta & Jack Manning-Bancroft
In this podcast, Tyson Yunkaporta & Jack Manning-Bancroft speak about imagination In a playful manner and bantering tone they explore imagination from a variety of angles. They speak about what fosters imagination, what inhibits it, and the role imagination plays in problem-solving.
One idea that stood out, in particular, was how unlikely connections between people, and connecting people with unlikely knowledge actually creates imagination.
Group Supervision - Pattern Literacy
The past few months I’ve been hosting group supervision, also known as pattern literacy. These sessions offer a space to deep dive into cases and questions participants bring about their life, practice, and client work. Together we look at the process structure, the underlying patterns, and emerging information that each case holds.
I love these sessions because the container we create offers so much support and wisdom. Each time I walk away feeling inspired and uplifted by the insights that arise and the incredible work people are doing.
Each session has space for up to 5 people to present a case, or question, from their personal or professional life, with time for some group supervision. Click here for more info.
Network Essentials
April 8th, 10:00-1:00pm PDT
In April I’ll be co-facilitating Network Essentials, NE, with my Converge colleague Yingzhao Liu.
NE is a 3-hour interactive workshop for those who want to learn about the benefits of impact networks and network leadership in a world of complexity and continual change. Learn more here.
Connecting and Apprenticing to the Deep Voice
Friday’s - June 10th, & 17th, 4:00-6:00pm - PDT
Saturday’s - June 11th, & 18th, 9:00-11:00am - AEST
Over the past several months, voice has been a prevalent theme in my own journey and my work with clients. By voice, I mean not only how and what we speak, but also our presence; the spark that animates each of us, and informs how we engage with life.
In June, I’ll be offering a 2-part class in which we will explore the deep voice, the spark, and the resonance we each carry in an entirely unique form. We will also work with transmuting fear, and anxiety, the forces and beliefs that inhibit our expression and the emanation of our spark into the world.
Through reflection activities, ideas and metaphors, experiential exercises, and discussion we’ll deepen our understanding and embodiment of the concepts being explored.
By the end of the series, you’ll have a greater awareness of what animates you, how to engage from a place that lights you up and illuminates the spaces you move through, and more options for how you engage with others and share your voice with the world. Learn more here
…….
Please feel free to be in touch at any point. You can reach me at elsa@catalysttochange.net
Below is a pic of the sea!
Much love,
Elsa
…