What begins as a yearning for freedom can become something quieter and more radical – the recognition that freedom may not depend on our limitations, wounds or circumstances disappearing. In the stillness, another possibility can emerge. Not free from. Free with.
When did you last declare what you need? When did you last speak it out loud and into the world with a knowing, a steely certainty born of the challenging and conscious work of uncovering what it is that you truly need?
I sat in front of the camera with nothing to bring. There was stillness, space and time. And the knowing that these three were well suited partners. The resulting three minutes speak of something I’ve noticed. Something you may find useful – A human warmth and profound human connection that lives beyond all our seeming differences.
Sir John Whitmore was the pioneer and godfather of coaching in the workplace. He fills these few minutes with many provocative questions concerning a life lived traveling an original path.
‘It happens with people. It happens in solitude. It happens in the midst of incredible busyness. And incredible stillness.’ Might you take a step towards a contemplative life. A meditative life. A life of quiet and courageous transformation.
As we stand in strange uncertain times, or perhaps as we fall to our knees under the sheer weight of not knowing, did we hear what it is that this age is asking of us?
Beyond the far edge of all he knew, was the only place in which discovery would happen. The kind of discovery that would solve the predicaments of a life weighed down by much that is human. As is its nature, such discovery would seek him out.
Everyone working in human resources should study this film, as should anyone who has ever hired someone. Or been employed. It is perhaps a masterclass into how to consciously hire people.
I was interviewed by Preeta, a former General Counsel to Barack Obama in the White House. And Steve, who has made many films delving into the human condition, and things beyond the veil. This is the recording of that long-form interview.
‘… you think you have a map in your hand that’s going to guide you to where you need to go. And as you walk along you realize the map you’re holding isn’t helping. It’s somebody else’s map. It’s somebody else’s markings on it.’