Project 52: Week 2 (12/9/23)

Welcome to Project 52: Week 2 (here's a link to Week 1)

Introduction to the Inspiration Strand of Tri Cosain

.. an open invitation to join us so that we might discern whether (and to what extent) these weekly micro-modules and accompanying exercises and reading materials worked to build courageous careers, develop formal and informal approaches to learning, and discern what matters most to us -- and WHY ...Our prayer ... and inspiration.

Hope leads everything.

For Faith only sees what is.

But Hope sees what will be.

Charity only loves what is.

But Hope loves what will be.

In time and for all eternity.

• Charles Péguy

"The experiment of hope is neither certain nor an easy way, but it is the way of life in the midst of death. Not entering into it would mean not being ready to live at all in order to avoid the pain of disappointment as well as the happiness of love. Not entering into it would also be to act as to avoid becoming guilty as well as forgiven. Hope leads us into the whole of life."

~ Jürgen Moltmann, The Experiment of Hope

Welcome to Project 52: Week 2 (here's a link to Week 1)

Introduction to the Inspiration Strand of Tri Cosain

In our Tri Cosain work, we invite our participants to weave together three strands of inquiry and practice - inspiration, learning, and career.

Because inspiration is so personal and unique to the individual, we use inspiration in a broad sense to include whatever calls a person forward. Sometimes, inspiration is expressed as a sense of purpose, vision, or mission -- what we hope for.

Sometimes, it takes the form of goals. Sometimes, it takes the form of values. It sometimes appears in words, images, pictures, music, and inspiring physical objects or scenes. Sometimes, as one or more works of art. For people of faith, inspiration may be experienced as a sense of calling, divine presence, spiritual invitation, or inner knowing.

Whatever it means for you, we always invite our Tri Cosain participants to open space to discover and bring their personal sense of inspiration to life - as a core foundation and motivation for what they wish to bring forth in their lives. In Tri Cosain, we especially invite people to inform their career ministry journeys and learning journeys with their sense of personal inspiration.

If your sense of inspiration seems well-developed and vibrant, we encourage you to “crystallize” it somehow. We are now thinking of ways to make that inspiration visible to yourself and others in an evocative manner so you can turn to it often for refreshment, motivation, renewal, and the growth of “green shoots” for personal and collective growth and service.

Some ideas we can offer and/or invite for crystallization of inspiration include;

• A written summary of your sense of purpose, mission, values, calling, or vocation
• A personal map of your inspiration journey or an illustration of what inspiration looks like for you now
• A personal symbol or icon that recalls your inspiration for you
• A journal where you can record the evolution of your inspiration, as well as a current, distilled crystallization of inspiration as it exists today
• A vision board or vision box where you keep images, quotations, or objects that recall your inspiration for you
• An inspiring piece of music, work of art, or performance that crystallizes your inspiration for you, whether digitally recorded or otherwise
• The remembrance or image of an admired person, “hero’ or role model who inspires you
• A presentation or physical installation you have created as a way to share or express your sense of inspiration with yourself and others

Whatever form of crystallization you might choose, we encourage you to keep it visible and accessible in a revered place of honor so that its energy continues to refresh and enliven you in life and work.

We invite our participants to share their sense of inspiration with trusted collaborators to keep it vibrant and active, encouraging others to develop and express their sense of inspiration as a context for co-creation and shared learning about inspiration within circles of relevant communities.

In our journey with you in Tri Cosain, we expect to return often to the theme of inspiration, particularly as we examine and develop career and learning journeys. We hope you will be keen to journey in this way with us and that your sense of personal inspiration will enlighten your path and that of many others.

For those many people who sense their inspiration is still in development, we are keen to support you within the inspiration strand of Tri Cosain.? Our book of resources for exploring inspiration is freely available to you.? It includes several quotations, exercises, and references we have found valuable for inspirational journeys.

As always, I'm available to support you -- and perhaps members of your organization, institution, or school -- in discovering, crystallizing, and/or bringing a sense of personal inspiration to life.

Gerald Doyle, 12/9/23

Doyle's note: Over the course of the following year, I will be exploring the ideas of friendship, welcoming, belonging, dialogue, and hospitality and will share resources and reflections on these, especially in the context of building meaningful careers and developing ourselves into courageous and wise leaders.

This week, I've been meditating and reflecting on Paul Tillich's, The Courage to Be.

You might enjoy listening to The Courage to Be: An Antidote to Meaninglessness

“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.”― paul tillich

And this is helping me in my thinking about what inspires me, that is, to fully accept myself, and to be courageous for me and in support of others.

Tri Cosain materials are developed in collaboration with my colleague and friend of 40+ years, Scott Downs.

Copyright Scott Downs and Gerald Doyle 2023

Residing in Chicago, Gerald Doyle provides ministry placement research and consulting for Career Services at the Catholic Theological Union.

Scott? Downs, a former investment banker, management consultant, and entrepreneur, now works as an Agile coach, seeking to call forward great leaders and great organizations based on great cultures. He is a consultant with Expleo Group and is an associate of the TrustTemenos Leadership Academy.

Scott and Gerald are co-founders of Tri Cosain, a practice that weaves inspiration, learning, and career for leadership in life and work. Gerald and Scott co-authored 9 Questions for Leadership in Life and Work, Conversations of Inquiry, and several other volumes in the Tri Cosain series. Their work embraces equity, inclusion, diversity, and well-being as foundations for personal leadership.