Embrace your Journey #16

"Give people the space to allow their unique Light to shine; Allow people to express their creativity, their uniqueness on the way to the vision, and if they forget, you are always there to gently guide them back." —?Karen Berg*

As I write this month's newsletter, many have just celebrated Thanksgiving and many are celebrating Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish festival of lights. Overall, it is a good time of the year to embrace our journeys as leaders who take time to reflect and to express gratitude, especially as the world is still dealing with new variants of a virus that continues to disrupt the way we live, work, move around, and relate to others.

Instead of having all the answers, what better way to reflect and express gratitude than to do as suggested by Karen Berg in the quote above and allow others to shine? Create a space to allow others to express their creativity and uniqueness? The idea of letting the other shine reminds me of concepts explained by Humberto Maturana**, such as:

In this case, how we live matters! Instead of complaining about the challenges along the way and taking sides, why not focus on conserving the ability to create the new? Why not live in collaboration with others and co-create a new reality by conserving what works and letting go of what does not work any longer?

In doing so and amidst the diversity of opinions of what this new reality should look like, let us be mindful that, again according to Maturana, we live in language.

And in living together, aware of the non-linearity of the Universe, something amazing may happen: encounters!

And with encounters that happen in multi-dimensional networks of conversations, new narratives may emerge! So let us step into our power and be more aware of our potential to choose and to create! Let us remember to tap into the creativity that we all inherently have! Isn't this a good invitation for the upcoming holiday season and the new year?

Cheers,

Adriana Machado

Founder at Briyah Institute

Biomimicry again? Yes! Take a look at yet another video that demonstrates the potential of biomimicry and get inspired to promote innovation as a relational dynamic.

Many good practices are highlighted in the following interview given by Maturana to Ward Mailliard in 2009 that are valid to this date.

One of them has to do with understanding education as "a transformation in living together." Another one has to do with remembering that "living being and niche is a relational unit" and that "they change together as a unity."

Last but not least, make sure to keep in mind that "what is important in change is what is being conserved."

If you agree with Maturana that "what is important in change is what is being conserved", are you aware of what it is that you want to conserve as you live your life? It may seem obvious, but more often than not it requires some thought, it requeres reflection.

So here is an invitation to you: take a piece of paper and write down what it is that you want to conserve as we all go through so much change in our lives. Having clarity about it and making sure the answer aligns with your values should free you from a great deal of anxiety and fear.

It should also facilitate the process of making decision from trust instead of fear. Why not choose based on trust instead of fear? How about giving it a try and sharing the experience in the comments below?

Looking for further insights???Join us for the CEO Meet & Master Program as a participant?or talk to us about sponsoring a group to promote diversity & inclusion by empowering leaders to apply systems thinking to business.?The next cohort will take place in March 2022 and you are welcome to sign up and secure your spot! We look forward to having you as a part of the Briyah ecosystem.

“The conversations we have impact our biology and our biology impact our conversations.” ―?Ximena Dávila***

At?Briyah Institute?we bridge innovation, practice and purpose to inspire leaders to transform organizations co-creating an impact economy.

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*Karen Berg?(October 12, 1942 – July 30, 2020) was an author and the founder of the Kabbalah Centre. She is the author of four books;?God Wears Lipstick: Kabbalah for Women; Simple Light, Wisdom from a Woman's Heart;?To Be Continued, Reincarnation and the Purpose of our Lives; and?Finding the Light through the Darkness, Inspirational lessons rooted in the Bible and the Zohar.

*Humberto Maturana, Ph.D.?(September 14, 1928 – May 6, 2021) was one of Chile's best known author, biologist and philosopher.?Maturana?created the term "autopoiesis" about the self-generating, self-maintaining structure in?living systems, and concepts such as structural determinism, structure coupling, and natural evolutionary drift.?His work was influential in many fields, mainly the field of systems thinking, cybernetic and the biology of cognition. He co-authored the book?Autopoiesis and Cognition?with Francisco Varela, and co-founded?Matríztica?with Ximena Dávila.

**?Ximena Dávila?is a Professor from Chile who collaborated with Maturana, together they developed the dynamic vision that entangled the Biology of Knowledge and the Biology of Love that conform the basis for the Biological Matrix of Human Existence. Together they co-founded Matríztica, “la Escuela Matriztica de Santiago”.