Today marks my last day at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. This has been my professional home for the last 10 years. IISC is the community that has shaped me and my capacity to fulfill my life’s purpose. I am eternally indebted to this place. This is the platform that has allowed me to make my contribution to our quest for liberation. I leave with love, appreciation and commitment to our evolving relationship.

Last week I had the privilege of facilitating a unique gathering of movement actors. They are the protagonists of “When We Fight We Win!” a soon to be released book about the social movements that are shaping the 21st century. The book is more than a book. It is an art object. It is a cultural expression of our contemporary demand for liberation. You can pre-order this piece of art now.

I just facilitated the Rauschenberg Foundation's SEED Summit and I found it truly refreshing work. Artists bring a different energy to the work of collaboration. They have an intuitive understanding of our inherent capacity to create. Most of these artists are not explicitly movement artists, they are not explicitly committed to social justice. It might sound strange but this too is refreshing. I am appreciating time with people who share my values but live outside of my echo chamber.

We did it! The first-ever Evolutionary Leadership Workshop was a remarkable success. It was the landmark experience that we meant for it to be. Participants launched their projects, they committed to an experimental approach and they dared to take their dreams out of their heads and into the world.

We lost Grace Lee Boggs this week and our world feels a little bit smaller. But I try not to lose sight of the nurturing presence of our ancestors and I feel strong again when I know that she is among them.

I cannot say much that hasn’t been said about the life of this true American [R]evolutionary. I can say that her wisdom has shaped some of the most important aspects of my life and how I choose to live.

A group of visionaries came together this June in the first ever Evolutionary Leadership Workshop. The bond we formed was so strong that the group self-organized the reunion that took place this weekend. It was powerful, it was liberating, it was magical.

I was overcome by shame when I read this piece on the experience of women in our culture - It was easier to give in than keep running. My heart aches with the awareness of my role in perpetuating patriarchy. You don’t have to be a rapist to be part of the problem. We swim in a patriarchal ocean, patriarchy is found in every crevice, it threatens to define each of our micro-interactions. We practice patriarchy with our gaze, with the energy that we bring into a room, with the sexualization of a friendly smile.

Eleven years ago today I had an encounter that changed my life forever. The glance of a spiritual master led to an awakening experience that is still unfolding within me. It was an initiation so far outside my realm of possibility that it took two years and the breakdown of my life for me to begin to come to terms with it.

I am still learning the lessons that come with that unlocking... 

I was specially moved by this post shared by Swarn Leung, one of the most empathic listeners I have ever met. I loved it because it resonates with my own experience of the power of deep listening. But I was also moved because it points towards the possibility of democratizing how we heal.