The Darkness in the Light

The Darkness in the Light

Darkness has really gotten a bad rap over the eons. In fact, when one enters the void there is a darkness full of possibility; a sense of being connected to everything in the nothingness. As one passes through the light (often referred to as the point of light within) into the physical world, the possibility of fulfilling purpose garnered from the formless becoming form is birthed.

So it is with cosmic consciousness manifesting in and through our bodies as they are perfectly designed to be the vessel; the Bodhisattva, the Christ, the human in which God dwells becomes aware of the ONE. The within and the without merge as this marriage of heaven and earth takes place in our lives. The first step begins in the darkness and unknown... Fear and loathing in the New Age has no place.

So many are in this place of jumping off now, and many more will join in since we passed by 12/21 without incident. A new galactic year has begun, launching us into yet another unknown cycle of births and deaths. How will we embrace the unknown? How will we look at our own ignorance and superstition? How will we truly love one another? Will we continue on the same destructive path or have an upwising?

The only judgments made in the ‘light’ or any realm of consciousness are our own. What a paradox in the face of the fear, guilt and shame game! We all seem to know it's all about feeling connected, at peace and in love. What if we were able to carry that feeling with us, knowing it is what we will find at our next transition anyway? Is a transition inevitable? What if we had a choice?

Is this our challenge: to move from duality to Oneness in our own consciousness? Is this not also the challenge of modern Christianity and others? There is a faction within the Christian realm that profess the living Christ, yet condemn any modern understanding outside the text of the Bible. What a challenge for humans! Are we more than just humans? Or do we just not understand what being human really means? We certainly sense the deep connection with loved ones and in compassionate activities. Is this natural?

Does a child not grow up to become an adult with the capacity to become a parent? What is a self-actualized human being? Could we be confusing crawl-ins, stand-ins and walk-ins because we have no frame of reference and still cannot claim our own growth toward magnificence? The natural resonance of what we have categorized as the various forms of love is obvious evidence that we have a deep-seated knowing that produces sensations when we violate our own values in living.

Our ethics demonstrate how we weigh our knowing of this love with the maligned perception of fear, guilt or shame promoted by those who wish dominance because the grip of their own fear is so unshakeable. It's also demonstrated by how we behave in light of our words. Most of us don't realize just how transparent we are and how much attention others pay to the 'delta' between words and action. Words are cheap. Action is priceless.

A self-actualized human being, in my opinion, would have achieved awareness through primary personal portals into the fabric of consciousness, at least becoming proficient in creating constructive scenarios with people, places and things. One who achieves a connected state is able to excel in creating good will and execution of strategic plans to actualize personal or professional goals. It's also a path wrought with trials and tribulations like no other, excruciatingly painful when one has to let go of another who chooses to remain in destructive patterns.

Even those connected individuals realize that the challenge to remain connected is an ever-present moment. Now what about those who have extraordinary connectivity to things beyond the normal scope of human experience? How do they relate to a new living awareness? Apparently shifting consciousness is on the rise due to our planet’s increased vibratory rate as a bi-product of our movement through space. It's a new kind of quantum entanglement... spooky action at a distance arriving in your neighborhood soon.

According to some sources, cosmic volunteers that become self-actualized human beings master experiential knowing and translate their wisdom into 'righteous' acts, promoting the good of the order and all. They are able to engage phenomena beyond our imagination and yet because of universal edicts, their lives are often hidden from public view. Attempts by others to use this awareness for selfish gain find that it just doesn't work. Those who demand proof are rarely attentive enough to see it.

Humans tend to want spectacular sideshows and get caught up in the phenomena to the point of missing the message. We might even begin to see a synergism of previously fragmented bits of knowledge that congeal into malleable frameworks of great import if we pay attention closely. There is often too much psychic disturbance, too much mental chatter about nothing important, that keeps the affects of spontaneous moments from having a lasting effect.

We have a plethora of literature and accounts of the ascent in consciousness to query on our journey. Too often, though, we tend to get stuck in one path or religion and fail to grok the importance of them all. No one religion has the market on truth. It is possible that a view of them all might provide necessary clues as to their unity. What if we turned our attention to those things that truly matter to us all?

an afterthought...We must honor those who risk their lives to stand up for making sense common. Money and power have ruled many countries silently for centuries. Now the populations are to the point where the house divided simply cannot stand any longer.

The activity seems absolutely insane, yet absolutely necessary in order to shift the balance of power back to the people who deserve. It will take time and for those who are not in the midst of the action, like myself, I can only encourage the peaceful revolution to continue.

Wars do no determine who is right, only who is left. No doubt the insecurities and over-reaction of the police is a result of co-dependence - of acting like they think some authority wants them to act. Alas, the conversations come slowly as hearts are changed; opened to the truth of the inhumanity of brother against brother.

It is a time in our making of history for 'planetary citizens' to step up and continue to demonstrate the need for our society to evolve beyond the control and domination of those who fear its loss. It would seem there is a wave of discontent flowing around the planet now. Many knew it was coming. May the natural order of love for one another resume its process and provide ways for quick resolve with the least chaos and destruction as possible.

There are ways to engage the world's powers in new ways, inviting them to be part of the solutions rather than continuing to create the chasms between moral and ethical responsibility. No one like to be told they are foolish, misguided or wrong. One way to engage the corporations in new ways is through the incorporation of the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Standards. You can find a copy at http://facebook.com/PlanetaryCitizens.

Critical Self Reflection

Critical Self Reflection

The process of critical reflection of assumptions empowers one and many to view influencing details that determines the ability to find consensus and harmony in any situation. Harmony does not mean the absence of conflict, merely the creative use of it to resolve issues that inhibit cooperative and collaborative relationships in professional and personal environments.

The article presents perspectives of human patterns and the avenues available to establish collective understandings of beliefs, intentions, values and feelings to facilitate a ‘common’ reality that is workable for everyone. Critical reflection of assumptions is used to enter into a discourse to assess alternative beliefs, predicated on universal principles. CRA is used in Transformational Theory, Assimilative Learning, Objective Reframing, and Subjective Reframing for adult learning.

Transformational Theory

Transformational Theory (Mezirow, 1991,1995, 1996), which uses reflection, maintains human learning is promoted in communication through assessing intentions, values, moral issues, and feelings which requiring the use of critical reflection of assumptions. Transformational Theory holds that CRA is not a panacea or provides some transcendent experience to resolve conflict. Rather, it presents the process as a ‘best practice’ compared to other options that have been used in the workplace.

Assimilative Learning

Assimilative Learning, as used by psychoanalysts, pertains to adjustment or accommodation to a difficult situation by accepting it as conforming to one’s desire. This process moves one to act according to regulative principles, a way of thinking or behaving deemed more functional or acceptable. This seems to characterize the way adults learn to adapt to change, using tacit judgment to move forward to constructive results.

Objective Reframing

Objective Reframing examines established definitions, theories, and practices to better understand the paradigms influencing decision-making. Using critical reflection of a premise and defining a problem can lead to transformative redefinition and ‘problem posing.’ The objective of this process, in the all its facets, is to improve performance.

Subjective Reframing

Subjective Reframing examines psychological or cultural assumptions to reveal conceptual and psychological limitations.

In all of the above situations, critical reflection of assumptions is used in discursive groups to assess and manage flow of communication relative to outcomes desired within those same discursive groups that are commonly found within the workplace environment. The task for a manager is to creatively translate the use of critical reflection of assumptions and discourse to effectively facilitate conflict resolution in the workplace.

Questions:

What are the tools available for creating an atmosphere where critical reflection of assumptions can be used effectively? How can one facilitate the use of such tools in environments where human communications are predicated on form, fit and function of critical path assessments?

Potential Answers:

Human resource development programs using a combination of psychoanalytic assessment tools and facilitation training for employees are one possibility. Cultural diversity and sensitivity training for managers is another, as they can then affect communication in their respective departments. Team building or collaborative alliance training outside of the company’s environment is yet another possibility that offers professional development through reliance on others as well as self.

Critical path assessment, defining the basic fundamentals of production, can be introduced through various scenarios involving critical reflection of assumptions. One such opportunity would involve discovering the logic path used to streamline production processes, eliminating wasted resources and labor costs as a functional goal. Another would use interpersonal skills development to better affect communicating goals and objectives to a diverse population within the workforce.

Personal ethics statement: I will to do good for all, desiring to serve humanity in the highest and best use of my mind/body/spirit complex, in the facilitation of a new world order of harmony among people and planet through the development of a state-of-the-art model community and website that promotes this endeavor.

Common Fears

Every question has an answer. Are you asking the right ones?
A point of perspection dances in the balance of the seer’s vision.

What do you think is the most common fear in business today? Fear of failure? Fear of success? Fear of dissolution? Fear of the market? Fear of regulations? Fear of whistle blowers? According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, 19 million people have specific phobias, such as crossing bridges or tunnels; 15 million have a social phobia, e.g., public speaking; and 2 million have agoraphobia, when sufferers avoid places where they previously had a panic attack. Those who have one phobia likely have others too. (Forbes-Allison Van Dusen, 12.14.06, 12:01 AM ET)

Now these are common personal fears, but what about how those translate into the business environment? It is this writer's opinion that the most common fear is 'losing control.' Years of project management and organizational observations edify this perception and it shows up most commonly as micro-management or the feeling that you have to 'do it all.' The lack of trust in the leadership/management team diminishes their ability to perform.

Oftentimes the opportunity to develop a strong management team never appears because of the 'energy' of the leader/owner/CEO. How are you 'controlling' those around you? Do you carry unspoken and unfulfilled expectations of your cohorts? What are they? The answers to the latter questions are the first things that need to be put on the table. The expectations and questions that evolve from the discussion will literally set you free inside and reflect in your business effectiveness.

That may be uncomfortable at first because you've never done it before, never allowed yourself to be vulnerable in sharing for fear that you might hurt someone's feelings maybe, or the 'professional' environment doesn't warrant personal expression. Or you think you might have expectations that are too high for your employees or staff. If you never voice them, how can you expect any kind of commitment to them? Can you match them with your own expectations of your personal performance? Oh my.... you might fail. You might make mistakes. Great! That is how we grow.

What is interesting is the anxiety-driven decision-making process is obviously not the best practice for management, let alone for the survival of the company. The mental constructs for the organizational development often don't see the need for making sense common - jobarchy - the job/project is the boss and everyone wins. Too often hidden agendas rule the scene. The 'anxious' feeling is often misinterpreted and mismanaged in the 'flow' of optimal experience.

Quite serendipitously engaged, this same feeling often is the same as the 'creative spirit' showing up in consciousness; a 'quickening' of the internal system present in all people. It actually shows up in the body's sensations first. Those who 'manage' it move forward. Those who ignore it soon lose whatever control they once thought they had. Now, there is a choice when this feeling shows up. Anxiety results in being afraid, angry, ignorant and immobile in the process of making sense common and providing good leadership decisions. Anxiety is about the future.

The paradox is that same feeling opens the door to change, of doing things more congruent with flow only the experience is lacking validation because of past choices. The challenge to change appears and invites participation in the present. It is the result of acknowledging the feeling and interpreting it differently. Is the perception of control that important when it stifles the possibilities for growth and escalation of revenue?

Lao Tzu once said that depression is a result of living in the past, anxiety is the result of living in the future and peace, the result of living in the present. What does that mean and how does it apply to the business environment? People naturally want to do the right thing right when supported in the workplace, whatever the function. Happy people get more done in less time with less supervision and often reduce costs with value engineering choices that better use resources, both human and material. As a leader, you have to be present and vulnerable.

The paradox of being vulnerable is that it allows the inner strengths of your team to emerge. Your business SWOTT has just taken and evo-leap with the new skill set capacity for application you've invited to the party. Let's look briefly at what others have said about this process. Peter Senge states, "Learning disabilities are tragic in children, but they are fatal in organizations. Because of them, few corporations live even half as long as a person - most die before they reach the age of forty."

The anxiety model keeps you from execution, the most critical part of leadership. Larry Bossidy writes, "Many people regard execution as detail work that's beneath the dignity of a business leader. That's wrong. To the contrary, it's a leader's most important job." NOW is the most important time you can engage as a leader. The desire for control takes you out of the present moment because it does two things that divides your attention. First, you think of past failures and undesirable results.

Next, you move into some future view of mixed-messages that craft an equally dismal result if certain things don't happen. How is that effective management? You've got the team, right? So let them go and do what you've hired them to do, just make sure they've got the resources to execute your plans. Your strategic planning needs to have the buy-in from all your team, your organization cannot perform well when the plan is nebulous or without specific action items assigned to each component of the plan.

Years of facilitating projects, from community events to multi-million dollar product lines, public events and construction projects have demonstrated that clear codes of ethics, mission statements, goals with objectives, issue resolution action procedures and work breakdown structures with a schedule make for smoothing out the bumps in the road to success. Let go of your fears and ask for help from your team.

 For entrepreneurs this process is a little different because you need the help of outside resources. The critical needs are addressed in your business plan, a flexible document that is your roadmap to success. If you don't have one, it's hard to manage the details and the desire for control is exacerbated because all the details are in your head or loosely detailed in notes or charts around your workspace.

Take the time to craft a plan, put your business on the path it deserves so that you can solicit help to achieve your dream. If you need help, that's where people like me come in to take your full color dream and help you turn it into a black and white system for execution. If you do have a plan, share it. You'd be surprised how the natural law of attraction can draw the people you need to execute it.

There are a growing number of organizations with helpful people that can provide classes and workshops, office space and networking opportunities that can energize your passion and purpose in achieving your dream, too. Check out The Vault in Colorado for a great model.