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Leaders Have Wings
Miki Yoshino CPCC, a Co-Active Coach in Japan, shares her epiphany from the recent disaster in her country.
On March 11, when the biggest earthquake ever experienced in Japan struck the country, I was in Tokyo, two hundred miles southwest of the epicenter. I was on a subway, and suddenly I felt as if I were riding a runaway horse. The continuous, very strong aftershocks made me feel seasick. All trains stopped, so I had to walk six hours to my parents’ house.
Miki spreading her Leadership wings. Photo by Eiko Shimozono.
During those hours, I walked on the unstable ground with some new friends I met along the way. We exchanged important information to be safe, such as where the nearest evacuation center was located, and encouraged each other. We shared a fear of the possibility of literally losing the place where we belong. And we wished we were birds so we could forget all fears related to belonging. But we realized that we have wings called communication. Around midnight, I arrived at my parents’ house.
On March 12, there was an explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Every minute, distressing news broke my heart. I started asking for help from the Sea Lions, my Co-Active Leadership tribe, and from people living in other countries by using the Co-Active Network, email, Facebook, mailing lists, Skype, etc. I helped people that way, too. Yes, I intentionally used my wings.
I remembered Kevin Cashman’s words at the Global Co-Active Summit in February: “Transformation is now.” I decided to create something from this chaos even if I felt fierce pain and deep grief.
Some of the Sea Lions said to me, “My home is open.” It made some space inside of me. Some of them checked their countries’ mass media and shared important information about radiation. Some supported me by listening to me. And everyone I interacted with asked about specific needs from a loving and sincere place.
I began to think deeply about what is truly needed for Japan and the people who live here. And for that, I needed to think about us human beings and our big house, the Earth. I really felt honored to be a part of this global extended family and realized that I love sharing the Earth with all of you!
The disaster in Japan is pointing us in the direction of our transformation. We need to think about more than recovery: We all need to think about how to share the Earth, too. This issue is all of ours. If we follow our usual pattern, then in the coming months, we will again forget to open our hearts and transcend our egos. What we need is to keep remembering that for the Earth to be whole and for us humans to be whole, we need to embrace the beauty of our diversity.
So, I decided to hold a Global Conversation Circle and invited the Sea Lions and people on the Co-Active Network to join me in a teleconference on March 18. I wanted to facilitate a dialogue of deep listening, not a discussion of issues. Seven people, including me, gathered via Skype and talked about ourselves and the Earth. Two members of the Sea Lions in Brazil and Israel and other people I’ve never met from the U.K., U.S. and Japan shared their hearts and their thoughts. We were like skydivers in formation, there was so much connection and the space was filled with light. As we wrapped up, we affirmed each others’ promises for action and being.
The Global Conversation Circle is a kind of stone that holds open our individual doors to the world, from each of our belonging places. Our first call was a real place to remember that we are already a global extended family. And this, I felt, was my new place to belong. On unstable ground that is still shaking here in Japan, I can feel that I belong to this world.
Finally, I feel that I have found my quest. I still have strong, speechless pain. Honestly, I cried while writing this. I really hope that all people on Earth use this opportunity to shift their consciousness. This is my dream.
To join Miki’s next Global Conversation Circle via teleconference April 1, 14:00 (GMT), please check Miki’s GCC Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Conversation-Circle/111794692232527.
Dial-in Number: 1-270-696-1555 (The U.S.)
Participant Access Code: 1480179
You may join in the third GCC via phone or Skype.
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Miki Yoshino
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Miki Yoshino
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