London forum highlights a ‘work in progress’
by Anjali Guptara
Transformational change and silent reflection were highlighted at a public IofC forum held in IofC’s London centre on 15 October. The theme of the day, chaired by Liverpool Hope University graduate Charlotte Sawyer, was ‘Addressing global needs, starting with change in the individual’.
Forty people of diverse ages, backgrounds and nationalities took part. Barrister Cain Ormondroyd gave an animated account of his personal change and how this is a continuous process. We are all ‘works in progress’, he said. He cited his frustrations with an aggressive lawyer during a court case, and told how his attitude towards the other man had improved. When we can’t change others, we must change ourselves, he said. He has found that committing the first 20 to 30 minutes of each day to a quiet time of morning meditation had calmed his mind, enabling him to face challenging days, as he asked for guidance and prayed to be more loving and forgiving. It was an on-going process that has had a positive impact on his life.
Esther Ridsdale, founder of the Civil Society Forum, led the conference in a corporate time of quiet and meditation. Coming from a large, highly-driven family, she said she was not used to quiet or having time on her own but felt under pressure to achieve and succeed. Travelling in South East Asia, she decided that if she didn’t like to be alone with herself then nobody else would either; so she challenged herself to a 10-day silent retreat. At first, she felt as though she was suffocating in the silence as the thoughts of her head clamoured for attention, but after the initial panic subsided she came to know a gradual sense of calm in the stillness and was able to collect her thoughts and herself.
This has permeated her outlook to life and she has since applied this lesson, as a coach and consultant with a special interest in collaborative and systemic change, using quiet and stillness as one of the range of factors helpful in appreciating ‘the big picture’ and so support effective decision-making in complex and turbulent times. She has conducted work for organisations in all sectors, integrating quiet, silence and stillness into meetings and creating an environment and process that helps stimulate and support transformative action. She showed the forum a video clip of an awareness test to prove how easy it is for us to miss something obvious when our minds are focussed on something else. Distractions fall away as we take time to contemplate and sift the chaff of our minds. The most obvious benefit of a period of quiet is to allow shyer people to interact as they offer their thoughts, instead of running off with the first idea shouted out by the assertive extrovert.
Esther led the room in a three-minute period of silence. This promoted a sense of peace, rest and tranquillity, after which all were encouraged to share anything that came up for them with others at their tables. It was a lesson to simplify life by using simple methods with simple rules for simple results.
William LeeKnight treated us to a musical interlude, with a reflective setting of a poem, followed by a jaunty, amusing number to lighten the mood.
John Bond and Rob Lancaster, organisers of the Caux Forum for Human Security in Switzerland, spoke about this annual event, which among other things highlights the issues of corruption and integrity. They cited Kenyan journalist and broadcaster Bedan Mbugua as an example. When faced with prison for publishing his political views, he stated that ‘I would rather be in physical prison than in the prison of my conscience.’
The issue of integrity was also echoed by Hugh Nowell, director of the International Communications Forum. It encourages the media to take a responsible position because of their powerful impact on society. The ICF aims to address the motivations of individuals, ‘conscience to conscience’. Nowell showed a short film made by Lincoln university media students, where ICF has run a media ethics workshops. They explore topics such as phone hacking, over-powerful conglomerates, self versus state regulation, and social responsibility. The workshops impress upon the students that the onus is on individuals to have personal integrity.
Nargees Choudhury gave a lively account of how the individual can make a difference. A law student in London, she also teaches at the Islamia Girl’s School in North West London. She was one of the young European Muslim Peacemakers in Caux 2011, at the IofC centre in Switzerland, and participated in the Multicultural World conference there. As a result, she felt prompted to make a stand as a peace activist on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 outside the American Embassy, promoting peace and expressing condolences. Amazingly, the EDL (English Defence League) thanked her and the small group of her supporters for being there and said that they recognised that not all Muslims are like the more vociferous MAC (Muslims Against the Crusades) who were demonstrating en masse. Sadly, the voice of the minority is heard when the majority sits silently by, she said.
Next up were, Blanca Carioni, a student of human physiology in London, and Chetan Halai, who recently graduated in chemistry and management with a first from Imperial College London. They shared their passion for an annual five-day School for Changemakers course, organised jointly by Initiatives of Change and Liverpool Hope University, in which they had participated last year and this.
Chetan said that this had helped him to clarify his plans for the future. He knew that he liked helping people but was confused and frustrated as he tried to decide what to do after university. He volunteered for two months in a village school in Gujarat, north India. Here, he was given the unique opportunity to combine his loves of science and performing arts by creating a play about chemistry for a local drama competition. He found it a powerful, empowering and inspiring time and is now keen to pursue social entrepreneurship, exploring how individuals can achieve more with the support of the community.
Don de Silva, Head of Programmes for IofC UK, led a discussion on the recent street riots. Now, the Occupy London protests had also attempted to occupy the London Stock Exchange. The context had to be taken into account, de Silva said, as today three million young people in the UK live in relative poverty. IofC and the Civil Society Forum are instigating a Riots Forum think-tank next year, to discuss responses to the riots and bring together individual and collective responsibility.
Esther led a brainstorm in small groups to debate the underlying reasons for the riots, and to consider what could be done in response in our own individual lives, in the ‘communities’ in which we operate including in our work places and localities. Key themes to emerge were building caring community and communication, providing constructive counter-culture messages and celebrating positive role models.
Hassan Noor, Chairman of the newly-established Somali Relief and Development Forum, and Abdul Rahman Sharif told how the Somali Diaspora community in London are responding to the drought in Somalia, a humanitarian disaster threatening a million people. The UK Somali Diaspora has come together to set up the Somali Relief and Development Forum, which is providing much needed assistance to many people in Somalia, based on integrity and accountability.
Everyone found the day stimulating as they engaged in interesting discussions and debates with opportunities to connect with new people with shared passions.
English