Replying to LO26282 --
[Changed subject line back to "Empowerment."]
Kathy at C.O.D. -- "Kafkaz" <kafkaz@kwom.com> -- wrote:
>...Every single person I've met (few, but precious) who has been at
>home in her soul has empowered me--freed me, taught me, nudged me,
>whatever--to continue down my own path of discovery.
Kathy, thank you for your posting.
It caught me completely by surprise. Here I was, talking straight out of
the rational side of my brain and you've caught me with this obvious and
important truth. Thank you.
I knew this... but had lost it momentarily.
Then, this connects me to another enduring thought... "Be the change that
you want to see in the world."
I'm sure that one aspect of this kind of being is what we call "being
empowered."
In this context, the connection I make is that we cannot empower others by
specific actions, granting them empowerment (See my LO26229 and LO26273),
or waving a magic wand... But by being empowered ourselves, we move
others.
I started to say "...by modelling emowerment..." but that is not right.
"Modelling" might mean "pretending" and that certainly doesn't match the
spirit of Kathy's beautiful description.
How about "demonstrating empowerment"... It still doesn't feel right. If
one really is "at home in her soul", she won't be demonstrating or
modelling... just being. I've known such people, and as Kathy says, they
have had a profound effect on me.
So, I think we are left with empowerment as
- something important
- something that cannot easily be given, granted, or directed
- something that can be influenced, especially by our internal
state, something that cannot easily be changed or turned on and off
I have enjoyed this thread very much. It's certainly added something for me.
-=- Rick
--Richard Karash ("Rick") | <http://world.std.com/~rkarash> Speaker, Facilitator, Trainer | mailto:Richard@Karash.com "Towards learning organizations" | Host for Learning-Org Discussion (617)227-0106, fax (617)523-3839 | <http://www.learning-org.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.