Photo credit: Adrianna Geo
It’s nearly a year since Hamas carried out barbaric atrocities at a music festival in Israel.
Nearly a year on, the violence in the region shows no signs of abating.
Worse, it’s been escalating even further over the past few days and many observers stand powerless in front of what increasingly looks like the precipice of an all out war.
Despite the international efforts to solve this incredibly complex and long standing situation through diplomacy, hope for peace is waning.
The powers that be seem, on each side, blinded by rage and hatred towards the other side.
In this context, the event that took place a few weeks ago in America sounds rather extra ordinary.
Called the Peace Initiative for Israel & Palestine, this conference gathered Palestinian and Israeli/Jewish campus leaders from Columbia University, Brown University and UCLA, as well as Middle East historians and professional mediators.
The goal was to engage in deep listening, to hear each other’s narratives and to stand in each other’s shoes. From this place of empathy and mutual understanding, participants were invited to work cooperatively to forge potential solutions for peace between Israel and Palestine.
Commune founder Jeff Krasno is the son of Dr Jean Krasno, who is the architect of the initiative.
He recorded a four part podcast to highlight the work that was carried out in the conference, inviting us to hear the narratives of Mohsen, a Palestinian refugee and Aharon, an Israeli objector of conscience.
As I listened to the podcast over the weekend, I was often moved to tears, as I heard once more of the plight of all the people engulfed in this living nightmare.
I was also deeply moved by the compassion that each man showed towards their counterpart.
Stemming from the Latin word ‘compati’, compassion is about our ability to share the suffering of others. Together with empathy - the capacity to stand in someone else’s shoes, compassion seems a prerequisite to forging a common view and a mutually agreeable path.
The story of these men shows that even in the darkest places, some of us are able to rise above the default position of extreme hatred and revenge, and offer the prospect of a much different way.
Their reality may be - thankfully for us - very different to ours, steeped in trauma and centuries long suffering.
Yet it reminds us of the importance and power of compassion in our daily lives.
Compassion makes us better humans, in whichever role we are: partner, parent, child, sibling, friend, neighbour, colleague.
Compassion can also spur the creation of a business or an organisation.
Think of the many charities or foundations that were set up in the aftermath of a personal tragedy. The people who survive feel compelled to ensure that the loss of a loved one wasn’t in vain.
And whilst we often hear that we are not our ideal client, as someone told me once, our wound can help others.
It’s fair to say that it took me a while to realise and fully embrace this, but my own wound has shaped my services and gave meaning to my work.
I can deeply empathise with anyone who feels the constant niggle that they’re not where they ought to be.
I know what it feels to get up and go to work with no spring in one’s step or fire in one’s belly, and instead the feeling that you’re gonna choke or throw up.
I understand how painful it is to struggle to be seen or heard, as nobody seems to understand or care about what the business is all about.
So consider this: what is your wound? How has it shaped you and your business?
What got you to do what you do now? What motivated you so much to say goodbye to a paid job?
What suffering do your clients endure that you can help alleviate?
As Jeff Krasno says, we can ‘metabolise our trauma’ or in other words, alchemise our pain and create a better future.
If this is something you'd like to explore further with a guide, I'm here for you.
Contact me today at hello@holisto.uk and we will find a way to talk that works for you.
Comentarios