I am a big believer in giving our bodies “a chance to make ideas tangible.” I began using Gendlin’s Focusing in 2008. It was a useful tool to add to my toolbox of ways to care for a chronic health issue. I also have an amazing Embodiment Coach who has opened up new worlds of clarity and discovery about the benefits of addressing challenges through processes that honor my Whole Self and get me out of my own head. My chronic disability has become an essential guidepost for me in determining if I am living my truth or not facing fears. It is not just symptoms in my body, but key to staying in tune with my soul.
This work has also been invaluable in working with people at the end of life. Trusting the body’s wisdom can prevent pain, for example, when we are able to let go of attachments to forced nutrition and hydration during the pan-death process, which can cause extreme discomfort and disrupt the natural rhythms of that phase of life.
Lastly, I have an extensive theatre background and ran a non-profit performing arts company that used Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed format. Acting can be a pivotal artistic approach to dismantling systems of oppression because it calls on us to find deep wells of empathy and compassion for the characters in which we engage, and also serves as a foundation for co-creating meaning and emotion with diverse groups as “spect-actors,” (a term used to describe the aspect of how we are both spectators and actors within these systems).
I was drawn to the idea step of trying something as a “guess in action.” (Lewis et al., 2020, p. 161) The human-centred design’s (HDC) phases of inspiration, ideation, and experimentation made the daunting task of enacting the “next most faithful step” a bit more approachable. I definitely identified with the idea that “creativity without boundaries is chaotic,” and recognized my own need to identify parameters. (p. 158) In my Pastoral Theology and Care class, we talk a great deal about “embedded values” and that also serves me well in this context. I still struggle with how to shape the kinds of gatherings in which the Another Way authors are using as examples. It is no simple task to design a four-day leadership forum, or facilitate a workshop for young adult faith-based volunteers. Speaking from experience, it is challenging to run people through a living tableau exercise, even without the framework of addressing challenging topics like racism. Occasionally, I felt the book presented unrealistic expectations of the complexities of getting to these transformative moments that they share.
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