To set the tone at the beginning of 2021 I picked the card: “Holding space in the eye of the storm” (from the Be the Change card deck of Vanessa Jane Smith). In the description it says: “Breathe and stay right here! Sink your feet into the ground and hold a big generous solid space for all of this to whirl around you”.
For many of us it’s been another year of holding space in the eye of the COVID storm. But unlike 2020, where this global phenomenon seemed to bring us together in our shared humanity, 2021 was more divisive. Either we followed the science or we believed in a conspiracy, either we did the right thing for the collective good or we were inconsiderate and dangerous, either we were vaccinated or not.
In 2021, everything appeared to be black and white, leaving little space for open, constructive dialogue. In our desire to return to “normal” we have allowed the allure of a quick fix to narrow the conversation and momentarily distract us from the bigger issues we should be putting our attention on.
For example, what if Covid was inviting us to deepen the relationship with our body and soul so we can better care for it and activate our natural healing capabilities? What if Covid was inviting us to slow down, simplify our lives and spend more quality time with our loved ones? What if Covid was there so we can more easily see the uncomfortable reality of substance abuse, homelessness, depression, suicide… and recognize that these can only be addressed when we collectively meet them with more care, compassion and love. As the year winds down, I feel we are being invited to step into a next level of collective maturity.
Looking through the lens of the Being at Full Potential maturity model, I can see how we have been journeying in a closed loop between fear-based and reason-based consciousness. Understandably, all the uncertainty about the virus and new variants has triggered a fear response, which in turn has divided us into tribes united in our shared beliefs (feel good-based consciousness) and led to a linear problem-solution response with mass deployment of the vaccine (reason-based consciousness).
I am convinced that as we step into 2022, this vicious cycle can be broken open to allow more wisdom-based consciousness to permeate the conversation. There are some beautiful examples of this happening already like in the following interview between Freddie Sayers and Paul Kingsnorth:
One part of their conversation stands out as being particularly relevant for Being at Full Potential in 2022.
“This virus, and our reaction to it has revealed a great spiritual void in our culture but we don’t know how to talk about it and explore what’s going on under the surface. This is what I mean about Covid being a revelation, showing us this spiritual void at the heart of our culture. We don’t even know how to talk about it yet, so we end up arguing about the science. Instead, we should be asking: what is the higher value of our society, what is the purpose of being here, what kind of culture do we want to live in? These are debates nobody can agree on, even in the best of times, but they need to be discussed. We need to learn to talk again on that almost mythic or spiritual level. We must use this as an opportunity to raise the debate, and do it with kindness, trying to listen to each other’s fears”.
I believe Being at Full Potential has a role to play in holding space for these deeper dialogues. For many years now we have been practicing the standards of: allowing, being fully human, and deep listening. This is how we nurture transformational spaces for our clients to discover their own breakthroughs. Now is the time to expand this rich being space to also include the important conversations we are yearning to have at a societal level.
Therefore, from January onward we will be offering an open & inclusive “Being Circle” around the theme: Transformational power of Covid. This will be a space where anyone, irrespective of their beliefs, can show up so that together we can heal the divides and discover new ways forward. During these sessions, there are only 3 standards we ask you to uphold. If we can agree on these then I am certain that collectively we can raise the conversation and reground ourselves in the deeper purpose of our existence.
- Honor your own truth
- Honor each other’s truth
- Honor the truth that lies in between
Contact us if you are interested to join.