WHY DO I CARE SO MUCH?
It began when I was a young fresh teacher in a 50% black and white high school in the midst of the 1968 Civil Rights Movement. It was a shocking wake-up call!
As I look back on those days, I can now see the underlying patterns
that were at work. Despite all that was good about those movements,
there was something important we were missing.
I wish I then I had the tool of systemic constellations to understand what was at work.
Have things really changed? Or are we fooling ourselves? Racism and "fearing the other" are deeply imbedded in human consciousness, across the world, and certainly in the painful history and reality of America today. It's time again to take a hard look.
And why? So that a new future can be born where all can thrive.
How can Constellations reveal, even heal -
not only humanity's deep wounding across chasmic divides -
but point the way to a future that truly welcomes all?
What if we could get a different perspective, like a balcony view of what is happening
on this busy and strange dance floor of life?
What if we could work with issues that seem too big or complex to find a way through?
We might even see, not only the forest, but the trees - and the path through - for so long hidden, yet opening before us and now clear.
It's time to find ways to look beyond or across time to get a sense from our ancestors
of what has happened to them that still paralyzes us now.
We then have insights and new courage to speak the unspeakable - the secrets revealed,
and to honor our histories as integral parts of the whole.
WHY IS SOCIAL CHANGE SO HARD?
A few questions....
Why have our well-intentioned ways of working for change often brought
the same unwanted results, or changes that don't last?
What have we not seen or understood?
Why is there so much fear and resistance?
Why are so many societies now experiencing deep unrest, division, even hatred and backlash?
Perhaps there is a life-affirming potential in all this,
if we could see behind the blocks or reveal the blind spots,
if we could perceive the dark shadows....
if we could see just over those far horizons ....
SYSTEMIC CONSTELLATIONS
How can we work for social change
and release the collective wounds that hold us back?
SYSTEMIC CONSTELLATIONS
FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
“There is too much at stake, and we represent too long a lineage of lives lived
and half lived who are cheering us on. Our work is a measure of not only
our own lives, but all who came before us and created the world we inherit.
I hope they did not labor, starve, bear innumerable children, nor cross oceans
to make a new life so we could give it up in the promised land … “
~ David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea
It's time to stretch across historical boundaries of separation, guilt, fear, grief, shame and blame;
and of course, race, class, gender, and more. To acknowledge the wounds of colonialism, slavery, violence, witch burnings, migrations, disconnection from homeland, and so much more. Our fear and separation is often based on something we are not even clear about. What happened back then that we haven't wanted to know? And yet we must honor ourselves, and those who came before - whether they experienced a healthy or limiting life themselves, they struggled and often suffered
to give us life. We are alive and here now; it’s up to us.
I offer regular constellation events in Boulder & Fort Collins
If you are curious to learn more now
Or continue reading more ...
WHY INTENTION IS IMPORTANT
After creating a safe and sacred circle space, we engage and invoke the power of a life-affirming intention or question. And the field, the system itself, begins to energetically self-organize in support of what wants to be revealed and healed.
MAPPING THE REAL ISSUES
We begin to map an issue or problem – who or what are the key elements? Where do they stand in relation to each other? We can start with a few and then possibly add more. Humans become embodied representatives of these elements. We begin to see, hear, and have an embodied experience of the shape - the constellation map - an emergent configuration of the problem or issue evolving in real time.
THE VOICES OF THE UNHEARD
Representatives are asked by the facilitator for their feelings, perspectives, and experiences. This is not acting or an imagined experience from the mind; it is more an embodied and feeling "tuning in" experience. This process helps us start to see the bigger picture, to hear the voices not always in the room, or ancestral voices that have stayed quiet for too long. The unspoken, the marginalized, the outcast, the holders of secrets - all want to be heard in support of love and life.
RESOLUTION
We see elements/stakeholders/history we have not seen, thought about or that has been excluded – all want to be seen and heard. The whole system begins to reveal itself in a non-threatening way. Past wounding can be healed, empowering those here now to move forward.There can be tipping points where insights and "ah ha’s" give new impetus, direction or purpose. Healing movements can be experienced and embodied, revealing how to support a life-affirming future. We feel and experience that gift, often rippling over time.
THE EXPERIENCE FOR ONE PARTICIPANT
" I want to thank you for last night’s extraordinary experience. The intent, the group, your facilitation, the arising and the processing are all stirring inside me. So much love and possibility in what you’re creating and co-creating. I deeply honor you. "
How Constellations Originated
Bert Hellinger, a German, brought the healing modality of Family Constellations to us.
Visit here to get a sense of how this happened.
Systemic Constellations Shifting Social Systems