A Pattern Interrupt at the Rapids
The Peacework, Presence, and Practice Nobody Sees and Applauds and The Leadership Evolution They Still Regenerate
These pieces are invitations meant as conversation starters or ‘Dialogue Sparks’ as I like to call them.
To be clear, I DO NOT CONSENT TO ANY KIND OF ABUSE. (Abuse is not a dialogue problem. It’s an abuse of power and control problem. You cannot use dialogue frameworks to “fix” an abuser or “help” someone communicate better with their abuser. I am working on a short guide If Wounds Could Talk: A Nourishing Dialogues Guide to Supporting a Loved One Through Abuse with resources. You do not dialogue with abuse. You interrupt it.)
Thank you for reading. Thank you for engaging. Thank you for being here.
To stand in front of The Angry Man (and the women in tears after their interaction with him),
To sit with The Bully and the women who resort to shouting at you, calling you names, and attempting to devalue you, and yet, still have the audacity to extract from you because they refuse to acknowledge and give name to their own thoughts, emotions, and needs — their own inner world and what truly matters to them,
To stand face-to-face with the incestuous Dad who wants to lock his teenage daughter up in a trailer in a remote mountainous area who is now ready to push you into the rapids for standing in his way,
AND still engage with their humanity and listen for their needs, for what they’re truly longing for and what truly matters to them,
Thát is Living Presence in the deliberate act of clarity and compassion.
