Re-Pairing the Old with the New

Shifting from Fixing to Creating

Perhaps thirty years ago at an Omega Institute conference in New York City, I heard scholar and environmental activist Vandana Shiva say: “There is nothing to fix. We are way beyond fixing.” Those words are just as relevant today, if not even more. Her intention was not to discourage, but rather to call us forward to new creation—to listen to the “problems” and all the things that are going “wrong” for guidance and direction. And to get busy following that. In Transformational Presence, we say it like this:

It’s one of our guiding mantras. Because if we’ll let them, the “problems” can show us a way forward, another possibility, another path.

Vandana Shiva went on to say that the clarion call of our times is to focus on the new creation that the present and future are asking for rather than spending energy and resources trying to fix what is no longer working or relevant.

This is the heart of the Transformational Presence approach—listening to and being present with what is happening so that it can show us the way forward. It’s how I strive to meet all that continues to “break open” in the world around us every day. I’m looking for a “big-picture view” and a way forward. I’m paying attention for myself—how do I navigate the increasingly uncertain realities of our time? And I’m paying attention for how best to be present with the ever-shifting realities around me and to sense my role in helping us, collectively, find our way.

While in different words, this is also the underlying message I’m hearing over and over again from speakers on the Chautauqua lecture platform this summer. Many of these speakers are on the leading edge in their fields, certainly in part because of their knowledge and experience. Yet even more so because, in their own ways, they’re leaning into the moment and listening and observing and sensing “what wants to happen”—where a brighter future lies, and the next step to take us there. They fully acknowledge all that is not working, yet they refuse to get bogged down in it. Instead, they treat what is happening as “where we are now”—as the starting place for the path forward. Again, these aren’t the words they are using, yet it’s the essence I hear as they talk about their work in the world today. They are guided by intuition informed by knowledge yet breaking free to new possibilities.

When something is broken, too often our tendency is to put it back together as it was before. Or at least as close as possible. Yet as systems and structures in our lives and in our world keep breaking open, they’re not necessarily meant to be fixed. They’re not meant to be put back to how they were before. On nearly every level, Life is asking us for new systems and structures—beautiful, creative, innovative, and even transformative. Those structures may incorporate some of the old with the new, or they may be radically different than before with all new components. Each situation will call for its own unique approach, yet an approach that is grounded in listening and sensing, letting “what wants to happen” show us the way.

On January 21^st of this year, a turning point day for the United States and the world, poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer wrote this short poem:

On Inauguration Day, Amy Serves Me Tea
by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

The clay mug had clearly been broken,
even shattered, then reassembled
with a clear amber glue that allowed
me to see winter sunlight shining through
its walls when I lifted the mug to sip
the rich black tea. I swear, the drink
was even more delicious served
in a vessel so thoughtfully remade.
All day I thought of broken things.
All day I thought of repair. All day
I thought of ways to make beauty
out of what looks, for a time, like despair.

Making beauty out of what looks, for a time, like despair. Fully acknowledging “what is” and even how difficult or challenging or painful it might be yet not getting lost or entangled in it. Instead, letting it be the starting place for creating something more beautiful, something more appropriate to the moment—something that will carry us forward in new ways.

The first lines of Rosemerry Trommer’s poem bring to mind kintsugi, the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a lacquer that has tiny flecks of gold, silver, or platinum mixed in. Rather than trying to hide the fact that the pottery had been broken, the repair itself now becomes yet another part of the object’s story. The object now has a new design, perhaps even radically different than before. And by adding the precious metal dust, the object might even become more beautiful, and perhaps even more valuable. What had become imperfect perhaps now becomes perfect in a new way.

Photo by Matt Perkins on Unsplash

In the context of today’s world, instead of trying to pretend that what is happening is not happening or trying to hide intentions and motivations by claiming “alternative facts,” it means acknowledging the full truth of the moment. It means admitting what is broken or admitting that we thought we were doing the right thing, but we miscalculated. It means being honest about what is happening and what is not happening, what is working and what is not working. And then going on to create something new that is stronger or more effective and serves a greater good within the context of the situation. The full story then becomes a part of our collective history.

Rosemerry Trommer describes a vessel so thoughtfully remade. When a structure or system or situation has broken open, what if we intentionally pause to shine a light on the brokenness to discover what is underneath, what is being revealed—to let the broken structure show itself to us fully—and then ask the broken structure to show us, from a big-picture perspective, the new form that is needed now?

And then with that new insight, what if we gather whatever old components might still be relevant along with new components that are being asked for now? And instead of repairing what is broken, what if we re-pair old and new together as appropriate, joining them literally or metaphorically with gold or platinum lacquer, creating beauty, style, and function in a new form?

It might take a few attempts. We may need some new or different insights and expertise. Some of the old that we thought was still relevant may end up being discarded, and we might discover that we need new components we hadn’t realized before. Yet if we get busy building the future, being honest about where we are right now and start from here, we’ll find out who and what is needed as we go forward.

In these unsettled and troubled times, it's important to be honest about where we are now and the realities of the moment, both in our personal lives as well as in the world around us. It’s important to acknowledge what is working and what isn’t, our successes and our failures. And it’s important not to be seduced into “fixing” or just “making it all ok again.” We can sense into “what wants to happen” and ask it to show us a next step. We can keep paying attention to what is “breaking open” and to the situations that are asking for our attention and care. And we can let them show us the kintsugi that wants to be practiced now.

Invitations

• Free recorded Meditations for Changing Times led by Alan. More than 50 guided meditations. Choose the title that speaks to you and listen. Available for free to you anytime.

• Visit The Center for Transformational Presence website

• Consider reading one of Alan’s Books

• Explore Coaching and Mentoring with Alan

• Invite Alan to Speak to your organization or conference

• Explore Upcoming Programs in Transformational Presence