Dear Moonscriber,
Happy First Quarter Moon!
Joanna Macy led a workshop for climate change activists May 10-11, 2005 in Oxford. My description began three weeks ago, so if this is your first issue, you may wish to start there.
Part IVa: Seeing with New Eyes: Power
After recapping our Day One activities, Joanna began Day Two by showing how the spiral now shows us how we're interconnected. At this point, she introduced Chris Johnstone, one of the co-facilitators and an English "Great Turning" activist. (Long-term moonscribers may recall the letters to devoted to Chris: Gaia Theory for Beginners and The Great Turning Times.) Chris' session went as follows:
Say out loud: "I want beauty in my life."
Taste it. How does it feel to say this sentence? Do you feel enthusiasm for beauty?
Now say, "I want power in my life."
We may have an appetite for beauty, but when we say we have an appetite for power, it bumps into something, doesn't it?
Our society gives us different stories about beauty and power. The dominant power story is bitter. There's an ambivalence.
Now, we all want to do something about [what's been discussed in these MoonLetters lately], but we feel ambivalent about this, too.
We get a kind of inner "power cut".
"There's nothing I can do about all this. It's too much."
But there is a type of power that is beautiful and sustainable and not destructive.
What does power mean? By power, what do you mean? Energy, force, ability to change, potence, choice, to express oneself.
What's your story of power?
Imagine power is an article of clothing. What would it be? A pair of big boots? Uncomfortable big boots? Perhaps armor? Armor that gets in the way of relationships because you can't hug each other??
Chris' definition of personal power is the ability to move in the direction you want to go.
Looking at power this way requires five shifts in three dimensions, because the new story of power is multidimensional.
In the old story, who wins in the conflict? And what do you need to win? A loser. It's a win-lose model.
The new model of power is win-win. We are going from power-over (Do as I say or I'll bash your head in.) to the three dimensions of power: power-from-within, power-with and power-through.
- Power-from-within takes courage.
- Power-with refers to generative conversation and synergy, where 1+1=2 and a bit.
- Power-through is a level shift, a "holonic" shift. It's what rowers describe when the rowers and the boat all experience the movement as one.
The five shifts in thinking that bring us to this new multidimensional model are as follows:
- Control becomes influence.
- There is a circle of things over which we have control. "The shade of pink in my bathroom," for example. Then there are other things that we say are beyond our control. "I can't do anything about AIDS/poverty. These are beyond my control." Saying this leads to that inner power cut.
- Imagine a bigger circle, encompassing the circle of control, which includes things over which we have influence. Does anyone have control over, say, this meeting room? No, but do we each have influence over it? Yes.
- Then these two circles are encompassed by an even wider circle which is our circle of invisible influence. Here, our actions don't get immediate feedback. One person can't wipe out a species, but collectively we can. It's not because of control; it's because of the power of our negative influencing.
- The second shift is from physics to psychology. In classical physics, power is force multiplied by distance, divided by time. In this old framework, force is a central ingredient. Power is a physical thing, linked to force. To deal with resistance, we need force–according to this equation. You "force" yourself to do something. You "force" someone out of your way. If you find "doors of resistance," you bash them in, like we see in Fallujah.
But there's another option. You could ring the doorbell. Transmit information that someone wants to get in.
This is the shift from physics to psychology. Newton, in this law of physics, didn't leave room for motivation. "Power equals force times distance divided by time... if it wants to."
Fear and guilt are not the best motivators. They lead to "heart sink", that inner power cut. You watch the news: heart sink: turn the channel. You read the news headlines: heart sink: turn the page.
What will make people want to open the door to change? What will make someone want to do this?
You must have good reasons. That's where your determination comes from. This is very practical. How do I understand the psychology of how I find my power?
- The third shift is the shift from big things to little things. Newton's second law of motion says that the effects of a force are proportional to its size.
This is assumed to be reality. "Bigger is better." The idea that you need an army to do anything. This is what leads people to terrorism.
Someone famous once said that anyone who doesn't think small things can have big effects has never slept with a mosquito.
Do you know about the butterfly effect? How the flapping of one pair of butterfly wings can cause a hurricane halfway around the world?
We normally think about cause and effect where, in order to get B, you need an A. But this isn't true, "a" can lead to not just "b" but B!
It's like saying the butterfly is framed on the wall. Of course it won't effect other things like this. But in reality, the butterfly is flying and is part of a system. It is one point in a larger sequence of change.
Coincidence can lead to big changes. Little things have significance. Conversations can even make people change.
Whenever you catch yourself thinking: is this worth the effort?, think of the butterfly.
- The fourth shift turns power the noun into power the verb.
"I want to power myself."
"I do have the power to tidy my kitchen, but I also know I need to power myself."One clean kitchen starts with one clean plate. This is where power is found in our choices.
The old version of power says: "Bush is in power and because he's in power, I'm not." But nobody has NO choice.
- In the fifth shift:
"What others should do" becomes "what I do myself"...
"They should" becomes "I will"...This moves us away from blame. It looks at what we can do. From blame to response-ability. Which way do I want to go and how do I want to get there?
Name some ways you power yourself.
Name some ways you recharge yourself.
Chris Johnstone is publishing a book on personal power. To read more about him and his work, please see his website.
****
Next week, on the Full Moon, the Letter will be comparatively brief as we look at time.
As I've already mentioned, I'm too excited about my new Joanna Macy-related work to wait until I get to the end of the workshop description to tell you all about it! :) So, if you've felt overwhelmed by the amount of information I've put in the last couple of MoonLetters, and perhaps the ones to come..., then please see the re-vamped My Moonster for something new! :)
peace&love
heather
Comments