If All the World’s a Stage, what part will you play?
Social Presencing Theater in the Wild * True Moves on Solid Ground
Imagine our lives as works of art, embedded in a canvas of our own design. Can you make it as you like it? What if you are the artist, the playwright, the producer and the one who sets the stage? Starting with an empty theater or a blank canvas, what will you create ?
If this sounds unrealistic, completely out of reach, fanciful or even mystical, suspend your disbelief for the next few minutes. If it were possible to design your life, what would be necessary to achieve that level of creativity, competence and personal agency?
With imagination and courage, I suggest we could all become world citizen educators and step up to champion the transition to a life-affirming culture! With clear intention we can spread a new positive narrative with the fury of a wildfire and the tenderness of quietly braiding sweetgrass.
Too many people live in a pervasive mood of despair and resignation simply struggling to survive. The recent Code Red Alert for Humanity only adds to the anxiety and fear for our future. The climate crisis is real, it’s urgent and undeniable that human behavior is the primary accelerant.
Urgent wake up calls are falling on deaf ears. If I could wave a magic wand to reach millions of so-called average people, I would. We know, it’s going to take millions of us to change our personal behavior and work toward societal transformation. Changing systems requires the demonstration of a more attractive and compelling alternative.
As you track with my story, you’ll discover how Social Presencing Theater offers a powerful process to enliven the creation of alternative futures.
Let’s look at our current predicament
How did the pursuit of money, power and technology become more important than protecting the delicate beauty of a Carolina Parakeet, now extinct in the wild? Do we have the courage to ask that question? Is it more important to kill dandelions with poison than preserve the health of honeybees? Here’s a proverb to ponder:
“If we don’t change our direction, we’re likely to end up where we’re headed”.
No one ever said fulfilling our human potential would be easy. I have personally struggled to educate myself and find my purpose. I’ve spent years looking for ways to be of service, to find my place and contribute to solutions. Here is the heart and soul of the matter: people protect what they love. This is one of the most powerful and simple lessons I’ve learned.
During a significant disruption in my life, I made a personal commitment to find guides and teachers to expand my understanding of what in the world was happening to humanity, the environment and why.
After several Sacred Passage solos in wilderness settings, I enrolled in an advanced awareness training. Near the beginning of a 108-day journey, visiting sacred sites and receiving a wide variety of spiritual teachings in Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia, gaining a deep appreciation for how challenging it is to open oneself to radical change.
It was many years ago, in a small café near the Pilgrims Book House in Kathmandu, my guide and mentor John P. Milton, gave me a birthday gift of the Taoist I Ching. The I Ching, often referred to as the Book of Changes, arose over 2,000 years ago from the Clear Serene branch of the Complete Reality School of Taoism. Fundamental principles are simplicity, patience and compassion with the intention to achieve balance and harmony within oneself as well as the world.[1]
The inscription read: To Rose Bud, (my nickname at the time) who is learning how to dance by unlearning the dance and unlearning, unlearning. While this might strike the reader as esoteric, it launched me on a path of inquiry that continues to this day.
What do we need to unlearn? Could it be our Western reductionist subjectivity? Can we let go of our ideas about who we are? Can we recognize the complex systems that keep us stuck in a prison of self-importance striving for “success”? Arriving at an unbiased understanding of reality requires an emptying of the mind’s predispositions and contrivances in order to return to the source of being.
Exposure to ancient ways of being and seeing, enhanced by cultural and spiritual perspectives of others, certainly contributes to personal growth and awakening. In these times of profound disruption, compassionate situational awareness is sorely needed.
Boundless spaciousness, tranquility, openness, relaxation, internal peacefulness and presence are essential qualities, but not easy to come by in this chaotic and stressful era. Who will set the standards for the emerging future? What will prepare current and future leaders to skillfully navigate the rapids of change? As you’ll see in a moment, Social Presencing Theater has much to offer!
As the ecological, social and spiritual divides are rapidly growing ever more menacing, there are those who continue to argue it is best to leave things well enough alone! In the face of ecological collapse and serious threats to Democracy, a resigned posture of “go along, get along” is a luxury our species can no longer afford. Maintaining the status quo is leading us off a cliff into a perilous abys.
To put this into grand perspective, consider this from Mahatma Gandhi. Asked what he thought about Western Civilization, after an exceptionally long pause, he said: “That would be a very good idea”.
While seeking ways to engage with the intersection of science, consciousness, social justice, ecological policy and societal transition, a disruption in my life launched me out of the mountains to Boulder, Colorado.
I discovered the Impact HUB and joined a U-lab cohort to study presence. Here’s a short video of MIT’s Sloan Management School’s Presencing Institute
The U-Lab course recommends embodying three foundational attributes: 1) open mind; 2) open heart; 3) an open will. Social Presencing Theater (SPT), co-created by Arawana Hayashi, is a powerful part of the learning and sensing journey of U-Lab. This somatic practice illuminates our present reality as participants create a human sculpture revealing the structure of current systems and the relationships that drive us.
Now imagine we are all artists co-creating a shared canvas we call home; planet Earth…bringing into reality a new story
2 University of Colorado Graduate Students with Bud Wilson the author
In September, of 2019 I was invited to offer U-Lab practices to a group of Professor Bruce Goldstein’s graduate students in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado. Not surprisingly, my practicum was the only offering in wild nature, outside a conventional classroom — no technology, no cell phones…what a shock!
The intransigent complexity of societal problems and challenges is so great, they defy abstract analytical reasoning. Insular intellectual silos are insufficient. This interdependent, interconnected and rapidly changing world requires a whole systems analysis that demands new and deeper ways of knowing.[2]
We engaged in a series of Qi Gong grounding exercises to quiet our minds, as we sensed into placestanding in bare feet touching the Earth. The trappings of academia fell away. Receiving Earth’s healing energy through the soles of our feet served to calm our nervous system. Individually and as a group we gradually settled into presence in the here and now.
3 Qi Gong — Cultivating Universal Energy — grounding, cleansing & purification
Following the process of Social Presencing Theater (SPT), each student took on an identity, e.g., Banker, Oil and Gas Executive, Philanthropist, NGO Director, Environmental Activist, Homeless Person, The Earth, more than Human Life Forms, Marginalized Communities of Color, Indigenous Person, Average Citizen/Worker, Politician, The Environment, … you get the picture. Another important player in this cast of characters is The Highest Future Potential.
Each student enters the space with clear instructions to “step into the shoes” of their new identity and feel into how they fit into the current system. Intentionally standing in a relational position with others evokes a whole body, empathetic experience. As the human sculpture is formed, students begin to sense how their role connects with others in the circle beyond an abstract, intellectual interpretation. It makes the statement that everything is interconnected real.
The human “sculpture” reveals a 4-D map of the systemic structure of relationships. After introspection and observation, they report their emotional frustrations with the stuckness and blockages they felt.
A troubling revelation was discovered as the students felt the tension of the dysfunctional relationships in the sculpture. One grad student chose the “environment” name tag and took a position behind a tree just outside the circle. No one acknowledged or noticed his presence until we invited the players to shift into the next sculpture. Does that sound familiar in America where concern for the economy is consistently 5 times greater than concern for the environment?[3]
The next step in the process invites the entire structure to transform into alignment with the student’s vision for the highest possible future. Magical synchronicity of movement, as if guided by an intuitive force, creates a new set of relationships that demonstrates an emerging future scenario for the benefit of all.
Genuine feelings and emotions, greater than words & thoughts, guide this process. The unseen realms, one’s unspoken intuitive awareness and spiritual values emerge during this phase of Social Presencing Theater.
Empty yourself of everything, Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of Nature.
Lao Tzu
5- Human sculpture of the current system — 4-D mapping — open arms, welcoming the Highest Future Potential.
If you look closely, you can see the “Environment” participant was positioned behind the tree in the background
The best way to reveal the impact of this experience is to hear directly from the student’s hearts and minds.
A FEW STUDENT RESPONSES…True Moves on Solid Ground
“By giving us physical tools to work toward achieving inner peace & highest self, one can truly feel the connectivity of all things and with that feeling, one can positively impact everyone/everything they encounter.”
“This practicum tapped into a spiritual well and connection with the environment that not only enhanced my perception but also gave me new motivation.”
“4-D mapping was an interesting and powerful spontaneous representation of our role within systems. This was the longest time I’ve been outside in months, it reminded me to create change in global systems, I must find balance of the system within.”
“I gained a recognition that we are all connected by an energy and the appearance of separation is a deception of the mind.”
…student testimonials cont’d
“Despite all the various interest and distractions of this modern world, most of us are genuinely trying to find our highest selves; once we realize that everything is interconnected, we can tackle any problem with a holistic mindset.”
“It gave me a unique perspective, now I can facilitate conversations with people in a more intentional and human way; I will share with people the importance of connection with nature and energy.”
These testimonials confirm the value of outdoor classrooms, away from virtual reality and the confines of buildings…go direct into Nature, participate in ceremonies and practices that provide opportunities to commune with the wild. Rather than taking from, give back reverence, appreciation, gratitude and love to the seen and unseen realms.
What’s Next?
Ultimately, I’ve written this article as an invitation. An invitation to step into your true self, whether a stake holder, thought leader or simply an innocent observer, there is no better time to engage with your family, your neighbors, friends and colleagues to co-create a community and a world that works for everyone and every living thing. Maintain a steadfast commitment to bridge the divides that separate.
Initiate generative conversations that move toward your vision of what is possible, then find others who share your passion for action with tangible and measurable impact. In stillness, explore where you find joy, what brings you alive and pay attention to what makes your heart sing. Rest in Source awareness.
Reach out to me or other practitioners eager to be of service to the well-being of all. Engage our services, enroll in a program and take whatever insights you gathered from this article to heart.
Don’t go back to sleep, the breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.[4]
[1] The Taoist I Ching Translated by Thomas Cleary SHAMBHALA — Boston & London 1986
[2] To explore these concepts further see: Solving Tough Problems, Adam Kahane, 2004
[3] Pew Poll, as reported by the conservative Heartland Institute
[4] The Essential Rumi — Translated by Coleman Barks. Harper Collins 2004
