Harvest Time
by Jon Eisman
In an op-ed column published in the September 12th New York Times, author David Brooks reported on a recently published study of American older teens and twenty-somethings that describes, depressingly, their lack of moral framework. The basic conclusion was that a collective sense of  moral right and wrong, or even a typical ongoing consideration of such issues, was absent in these young adults. “The default position,” Brooks wrote, “is that moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. ‘It’s personal,’ the respondents typically said. ‘It’s up to the individual. Who am I to say?’”. Referencing this article, the September 23rd issue of the magazine The Week commented that “There is virtually no sense of an overarching value system or obligation to society or others.”
Whew...scary. What glue is there in our communities if we do not share a common sense of what is precious, and of what defiles that preciousness?
Outside today, the first of the autumn rains is sprinkling the brown fields, turning them green again. The pears are ripening, and the squash in the garden wrestle for space. It’s harvest time, when the promises of spring mature and bear fruit.
So to hear that the latest crop of our children somehow lack full social development is both sad and alarming.
We here at M.E.T.A., and the many, many members of the extended community in which we work, have dedicated ourselves to the promotion of true maturity, to the growth of our chosen field and to the people whom we serve. We know we are in it together, as community members, and colleagues. The irony of this vocation is that while we foster greater and greater individuality, the source and arena for that individuality is the wider social connections in which we strive and thrive.
Having just started two new clinical trainings for professionals, we are readying our next Interpersonal Skills Training, a focused immersion in the balance between self-development and relational engagement. We hope that our local efforts here may in some way impact the wider, evidently dire, need for leadership and learning in not just the next, but every generation.
Part of my moral development happened in my twenties when I lived on a collective farm in Amish-settled Pennsylvania. At harvest time, folks from every hill and valley would gather to help their neighbors bring in the crops. Eli Yoder paid me two bushels of peaches to help bale his hay – sweetest peaches I ever ate.
In this spirit, we want, in this edition of our newsletter, to introduce to you some of the many members of our M.E.T.A. administrative team. All work to maintain and promote the betterment of our community, and share in both our vision and the harvesting of our efforts. They are real peaches, helping to ripen the developing ones in our wider field...
Growing Grapes and Connections
by Donna Roy, LPC, CHT
On NPR tonight I heard the statement:
“Grapevines want to ripen.” I didn’t catch who said it or anything else about the program, but it rang true to me and struck me by its timing. Organicity abounds in fields and gardens and farms and vineyards and we are reminded of it this time of year. Living systems operate out of a clear impulse toward wholeness and natural processes. To support this, the best stewards provide nourishing care and protection so their grape vines can ripen.
I have spent much of my professional life supporting human connections—intrapersonal, interpersonal and intercultural. I see through a lens that focuses on pathways within and between people. I look for ways to seed and nurture individual development within interdependent relationships, since “the universe is fundamentally a web of relationship.” (Kurtz)
As Jon reports, some evidence exists of a recent decline in our interconnectedness across social and cultural groups and the increase in a certain kind of selfishness. Some links between us have become tenuous.
Community and values based action still happens, though, in Teach for America and Habitat for Humanity and Peace Corps and other people-to-people helping endeavors. I was struck this morning, again listening to NPR (yes, I DO contribute!), about the Occupy Wall Street, New York, Boston, Portland phenomenon. Those interviewed seemed familiar to me—their energy, optimism, old-fashioned democratic ideals, and determination. Their intentions to stand up and step toward and listen to each other for the good of the whole remind me of our connecting capacities and of our desire for meaning in our lives.
We even see shifts in what employers recognize as important in the workplace, more and more prioritizing the interpersonal skills and attitudes needed to form and sustain connections—abilities seen as valuable in today’s economically complicated climate where “people skills” have become the new “hard skills” sought after by flatter, team managed businesses. Being able to listen and engage relationally is not optional anymore. It’s what businesses expect.
META is a community of people in the human connecting and change business. We are growers of self and other-awareness and nurturers of individual and collective empowerment. We want our educational and business processes to have community-building and sustaining values—those of collaboration, I-, You-, We- Consciousness, give and take, openness and honesty, admitting errors, support of individual brilliance, and trust in people and their creations. We see mindful self-study within an intentional learning community as a way to develop the habit of mutually beneficial connecting in the world. We believe that empowering, accepting, sustainable connections want to happen. After all, we all have a vine inside that wants to ripen.
Introducing the
M.E.T.A. ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF!
While kids were learning archery at summer camp, and families escaped to Sun River and the Willamette got packed with boaters and skijets, M.E.T.A. was experiencing the effects of a growth spurt this past summer. As a result, we now have a clearly defined Administrative Staff that supports many different aspects of M.E.T.A. Below is the core Administrative team and a description of each person's roles at M.E.T.A.
Anne-Marie Benjamin, LPC
Alumni Support
Anne-Marie helps maintain M.E.T.A.’s strong community bond by assessing and implementing graduates’ need and determining how M.E.T.A. can best support them in their continued learning and growth. This includes arranging and organizing Advanced Tutorials, recruiting for Speakers’ Bureaus to visit local universities and allied health schools, developing and managing a mentoring program and maintaining the quickly growing M.E.T.A. referral network of skilled practitioners. Anne-Marie may be contacted at: (503) 450-9911, ext. #3 or by EMAIL.
Adam Scott Benjamin, MSW
Academic Advisor & Registration Coordinator
Adam connects with potential and current students to assist them in mapping their best path at M.E.T.A. By answering their questions, assessing their educational goals, and considering their long-term plans, Adam helps students develop a course sequence that will best fit their needs. He also assists students with the registration process, locates local resources for out-of-towners, and ensures that everyone who attends a training or event feels welcome and supported. Adam may be contacted at: (503) 450-9911, ext. 1 or by EMAIL.
Jennifer Samsom, MA
Media Manager
Jennifer contributes to M.E.T.A. by ensuring the current and future M.E.T.A. community is informed of all current events and trainings. This is done by managing and creating all media-related materials and advertisements related to M.E.T.A. such as flyers and postcard advertisements as well as email blasts and website announcements. Part of her responsibility is ensuring that the look and feel of all M.E.T.A.’s printed and eMaterial is consistent and accurate. She also serves as editor of this bi-monthly newsletter and she keeps the National Hakomi Institute informed of M.E.T.A.’s events here in the Pacific Northwest. Jennifer may be contacted at: (503) 341-6393 or by EMAIL.
Angela Senders, ND
Busar
Anyone who has taken a training at M.E.T.A. in the past 3 years has likely come into contact with Angela in one form or another. She has the responsibility of tracking tuition payments, providing receipts to students and maintaining M.E.T.A.’s financial books. She assists in the creation of the annual budget and ensures that money flows smoothly in and out of M.E.T.A. Angela may be contacted at: (503) 450-9911, ext. 3, or by EMAIL.
Sonya Salanti
Marketing and Outreach
Sonya is responsible for the main efforts of M.E.T.A.’s outreach. She is currently developing a long-term marketing and outreach plan for META that includes aligning M.E.T.A. with like-minded institutions for cross networking and marketing, establishing a META speaker's bureau and coordinating outreach events like Open Houses and Introductory Weekends. Sonya is also working to create a more streamlined application and registration process for M.E.T.A progams and collaborating with other M.E.T.A staff to update and maintain M.E.T.A's database of students, affiliates and community members. Sonya may be reached at: (503) 450-9919, ext. 1 or by EMAIL.
A Student's Musings
by Jenn Gierada
META's Comp Training is finally about to begin. I signed up last Spring after attending Jon Eisman's intro workshop, but it feels like I've been waiting a decade for the first installment.
I love evolution. It feels like my life's purpose. Witnessing and being active in the journey also happens to be the most fun thing I can imagine, and my favorite relationships seem to focus in this way. I've gone to mindfulness-based counseling on and off for years, including my most recent individual and couples work with M.E.T.A.-trained practitioners. META's offerings resonate deeply in me, humming right in tune with my chosen practices and deeper knowing.
In the past few years I've stopped waiting to be who I want to be until the "right" moment appears (it never does). When my gut speaks, I gather my courage and follow it. This life is my creation, yes? So when I wanted to live in the country, I moved there. I am called to work with others, so I have started an informal practice.
When I began, I thought I'd experienced enough Hakomi and R-CS to bring some of it into my current work. It was brilliant and humbling. Questions began piling up inside me (such as "um, what's R-CS again?"), and I decided to slow my use of the META methods. In the process, I realized that I already had gifts to give. I'm now working with three people regularly, guiding them through extended visualizations, and offering meditation training. I drop in with them, connecting to their perfection, the essence I sense so clearly. I hold this truth while witnessing their navigation of the human experience. I follow their lead and give my intuition a voice. I note when my body or mind is triggered, and I release my reactions upward, setting them aside to look at later. It's a sweet beginning.
META's Comp training starts on the 23rd of this month. I can't wait to see who I become over the next two years. Can't wait to see how my practice changes. Can't wait to meet my partners on this learning journey. Two weeks and counting!
Post Script (after Weekend One):
I am impressed with Jon and Donna's skillful invitation to enter into this learning environment. I was prepared to dive into lecture, audio recorder at the ready... and while that was a part of the weekend, what struck me the most was the intentional building of self-confidence and group cohesion. What started with tension eased into comfort, with mindfulness as the vehicle. I'm breathing a sweet sigh of relief and recognition as I release the search for external resource to support my path. To finally be here feels like truth realized, like home, like the outside is aligned with what's inside. The journey begins.
Jenn Gierada began her practice of mindfulness in 1992 while training as a professional modern dance performer. Since then her practice has included yoga, Theravada Vipassana meditation, ecstatic dance, Solsara, Reiki and shamanic journeying. She's led groups in conscious movement, emotional release sessions, and Osho Dynamic Meditation, and is now practicing working with individuals to develop her skills as a helper and guide. Jenn is participating in M.E.T.A.'s Comprehensive Training this year; this column reflects part of her experience along the way.
BLENDING MINDFULNESS AND CAREER COUNSELING
by Anne Bryant, MA, LPC
Recently maybe you or one someone you know has experienced a long spell of unemployment. Over the past three decades as I have helped individuals with career transitions and taught Life Work Planning courses using a holistic approach, I have sensed something missing in the process. I understood what it might be in 2010 when I attended Jon Eisman's Re-Creation of the Self (R-CS) training.
Many career clients have a tough time identifying their strengths and accomplishments. Especially when people are out of work, no matter how they lost the last job, over time they may lose their sense of identity and self esteem. From the R-CS perspective, they have lost touch with their innate Organic Self. The missing piece in the career process is how to reconnect with it.
They may be operating from a fragmented state, for example from a hurt self that perceives that they have been wronged, wounded or somehow inadequate. According to Jon Eisman, other fragmented states might be the strategic self, one that protects you from further wounding; the survivor state that pursues your original Organic essence and experiences; or from the spirit in exile that holds the longing to come home to your Organic Self. Many of my clients, often the most bright and accomplished, report feeling like a phony, a fake, and I suspect that in R-CS terms, they are operating from their "assumed adult", chronologically an adult, but operating from a much younger self.
I offer my career clients an exercise in authenticity. First, they are asked to recall two successfully completed events (one involving risk and the other involving work) they made happen recently in any aspect of their life. Then they are invited to tell their story focusing on what would someone need to do well to have pulled this off? As they talk and listen to their own words regarding their skill set to begin the shift into the more expansive self. Then the focus transitions from their accomplishments to who was it that made all that happen? Whatever answers come, they are encouraged to notice what's happening without judgment and just stay in the moment. Each subsequent session begins with mindfulness so that they can re-connect with that self who goes forth with real confidence based on real experiences.
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The tutorials are set up to support your individual needs, whether it is to prepare for certification, refine specific skills, or review strategic maps, they offer a chance to deepen your work as a META practitioner. The intimate group size allows for more individual attention, and a chance to allow a greater arc of the work to unfold. There is also an option of attending either as a working practitioner or as an observer/auditor (with a cost differential). It is often beneficial to observe the different styles, and skill level, while also learning from the feedback they receive.
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