What One Person Can Do

Last week I introduced Michael Neill, who will be a speaker at The Big Chat on June 12, 2009.

Today, I have some great information on Bill Cumming, the other presenter/host of The Big Chat. A regular conversation for him is, “What can one person do?” Here is what he has found out:

The capacity to create the world we desire and the lives we dream about, exists within each of us. We have seen that when individuals experience themselves as valued and are treated with dignity and respect, they take better care of themselves and everything around them.

When people feel valued, they take better care of themselves. I like to read this line over and over. Every day, I meet anywhere from one to fifty new people,  in stores, commuting, at cash registers, delivering mail…you get the picture. When I take the above quote to heart and really, really ask myself if I helped them feel valued through my small interaction with them, many times the answer is no. Sure, I use my manners. Sure, I say please and thank you. But I’m not going out of my way to make sure that my acquaintances know that I value them. What if I did? What if I did that even if I were suffering in some way? Whose outlook on life could I change for the better?

Back to Bill…

The conversation “What One Person Can Do” is a class, and some of the clients for the  program include school systems, Job Corps programs, the Maine State Prison System, YMCAs, corporations and individuals.

The goals of the class are so powerful I decided to take them straight from Bill’s web site:

• To experience the power that resides within each of us.
• To experience our ability to create meaningful, productive, joyous, contributory lives.
• To experience our ability to create environments where others can choose to create meaningful, productive, joyous, contributory lives.
• To experience our ability to maintain our focus when it seems that no one else is interested or cares.
• To experience ourselves as powerful, capable and able, completely in charge of our own well being.
• To experience our ability to create an environment of exceptional support, communication and teamwork.
• To experience our ability to be master problem solvers.
• To experience our ability to see what is wanted and needed in any situation and know how best to produce that result.
• To develop a process of self-care that supports each participant, their families and producing brilliant work.

All I can say is wow. If I had all of these skills perfected….oh, what one person can do! But, I’m a work in progress and I’m partway there to experiencing all of these things. I see that the main keyword in this list is “experience,” which is very different from “learn.” Sure, I’ve “learned” that I have the ability to “create an environment of exceptional support, communication and teamwork.” I have not, however, had the experience of this kind of environment in every situation I come across.

I read about the history of this One Person seminar, and I was further blown away. Bill was visiting a jail, trying to understand why in the world any man would rape his own daughter. He met a rapist and murderer who offered a sincere apology that Bill’s daughter had to go through a rape. Bill understood that people CAN be reformed; changed in their hearts.

“Ever since then all he has wanted to do is share with the world what he discovered to be true — that people who are well and know that they are loved do not damage other people or their environment.  All the damage in our society comes from people who do not feel well (healthy or whole in relationship to themselves).”

Everyone, I want to say how I, Jessica Alvarez, deeply feel. It is my mission and could very well be the mission of every human on the planet, to overcome past hurts through compassion, mindfulness, experiential knowing, and forgiveness. I must take charge of my becoming well, because I interact with other people on this planet. The legacy I want to leave is not that I have damaged the people around me through dysfunctional behavior, but that I have inspired the others around me to want to become well, too.

Bill went on to form the Boothby Institute, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization created to provide people the opportunity to experience ownership and responsibility in a climate of empathy and loving-kindness. And thus, the “What One Person Can Do” core program was born.

I’m pleased to announce that I will be meeting both Michael Neill and Bill Cummings in Los Angeles California for The Big Chat. Won’t you join me?