The Power We Choose, Episode 444
“If I don’t want to be that person who uses power for the sake of power just because I can, and because I can frighten people, and because people do what I say because they’re scared… then what power am I using? How do I find creative alternatives to power struggles - to use my power as a person to enable something to happen, but not because of fear?”
An exploration of how we can use the great powers that come with being human with intention, responsibility, care, and creativity, so that we can help shape a world we actually want to live in.
This week's Turning Towards Life hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.
Our source for this week:
Both men and women suffer when power is exercised for its own sake by rule- and authority-bound women and men. Powermongers usually win their own games; they are operating on home territory. To go beyond power and the structures that support it usually involves quietly stepping aside. We do not step aside to disengage but to evolve creative alternatives to power struggles.
We may not be able to do as much as we would like about the way things turn out on sociopolitical battle-grounds, that often require well-coordinated strategies involving many people. However, we can certainly begin with ourselves. We do not have to react in kind. We can learn to choose how we want to respond.
Who are your inner powermongers? What do they say? How do they keep the rules?
Marion Woodman, from ‘Coming Home to Ourselves’
Photo by Eddie Kopp on Unsplash