Walk Out Walk On: A call to action
Written by Simon Hodges, WordsThatChange [Video link to Petra Kroon's interview with Deborah]
“The System” provides a cosy hang out for those looking to hide, but breaking out can be a shaky process. What guidance is there for those walking out of organisations that run the mainstream economy? What exactly are they walking away from? And what is it they want anyway?
Deborah Frieze’s Walk Out Walk On workshop and seminar provided a great context for analysis of the beliefs we currently hold, and those we might find more desirable. At its heart was the idea that the system conditions us in patterns of belief, that if we’re not careful we’ll take with us as we engage in new projects and activities. How, for example, can the Hero leader, be softened to a more accommodating, expansive Host? How can the strictures of Transaction economy be eroded to be replaced by the more holistically beneficial Gifts?
Through her seminar, and more deeply in the workshop, Deborah painted these and similar transitions of belief, not as prescriptions, but as a provocation for participants to see where they stand, what beliefs they might hold, and what they wish to walk on to. Throughout different projects worldwide she presented where people had taken hold of transformational practices, and we were introduced to the characteristics of these practices as a provocation to look at ourselves.
Most inspiring was the Warriors without Weapons project in Brazil that invited members of a community to “play” for 30 days in a disused warehouse that was filled with junk, dirty needles and faeces. By encouraging the community to dream together and play together the place was cleaned and what can only be described as a small paradise created. The transformation of belief in what this community knew it could do, the self-esteem it created as well as the practical improvement for them to enjoy showed the immense power of what can happen when we cease work and begin to play, view each other as equals in creating a future together and allow space where trust and reciprocity can flourish. Moreover, we can allow ourselves to dream the direction we wish to go, and find support in like-minded communities to make it happen.
The Occupy movement is an excellent example of Walk Outs who have yet to develop a direction to which to Walk On. Deborah counselled that at just this point that we need most support and resist the urge to Walk On and dive into the new until we have steadied ourselves, reflected on what is important to us, and where we would like to go. The availability of communities to support Walk Outs and cherish their dreams until they are ready to Walk On is critical in this process. Can’t we count ourselves lucky Hub-friends?
The potential of Walk Out Walk On and other self-exploratory projects is that they combine personal insight with action-based change. The Walk Out Walk On workshop certainly propelled participants to continue the process to eliminate all belief, to trust that all situations can be approached in a spirit of responsible play and that this can lead to the most dramatic transformations.
Thanks so much Petra Kroon for interviewing Deborah in the video at the beginning of this post. If you’re interested in undertaking and understanding these belief transitions for yourself, Deborah’s book is available from her website.http://www.vimeo.com/32440609