MANIFESTO FOR THE APPRECIATIVE WITNESS
The whole person
is the one who makes others feel more substantial;
The good person
is the one who helps others find good in themselves;
The beautiful person…
Complexity
“The more complexity in life, the more that can go wrong, and the more we try to avoid the vulnerability by adding new complexities.” ~Leonard Carr
Dark
“Where you have dark places inside yourself, you will bump into, trample on or fail to notice others. Where you are enlightened, there will be illumination and insight. From these places, one can fully see and appreciate others.” ~Leonard Carr
Peace
“Become the embodiment of peace. Soften and open your heart until it encompasses the entire world.” ~Leonard Carr
Parent Child
“The psychological simply cannot explain, cannot reach, the relationship between parent and child. Just think of the way a child goes through their lost parents’ clothes, their objects, how he longs to be intimate even when they are gone. Just think about the yearning of an adopted child to unite with who it was who […]
Deeper
“A person, would, in fact, be very unlucky if they were never to experience a trauma. For, it is the experience of becoming deeper and bigger than the trauma that grows us –that expresses one’s essence and strength. It is only when one’s metal is tested, that one has the opportunity to really express who […]
Resilliance
“I define ‘resilience as the ability to become bigger and deeper than the painful experience. Bigger, because it involves the knowledge that, no matter how uncomfortable ‘this’ may be, one has has the power and resources inside to contain it; to host it . Deeper, because one’s sense of oneself, of life, of the human […]
Reveal
“Our lives do not create who we are; they reveal who we are.” ~Leonard Carr
Guest
To be a guest in someone else’s world-in this world-is to be nonjudgmental and open to receiving whatever is offered. It is to stand at the door, waiting, curious and asking, “I wonder what this person will bring? I wonder what this experience will be?” ~Leonard Carr
Memory
“Every moment of goodness needs to be framed and carefully placed in memory as a precious gift” ~Leonard Carr
Light
“Every drop of light dispels a great deal of darkness. The light of any single flame has the power to enlighten the entire world without losing any of its own lightone candle at a time.” ~Leonard Carr