April 11, 2023
What is Transformation?
By Amba Gale
– Photo taken by Mariel Gale
What is transformation?
While the dictionary defines it as a “dramatic change in form or appearance” or “an extreme, radical change,” I think of it as a shift… from one way of being to another
It is the shift the moth makes when it cocoons itself and emerges as a butterfly.
It is the shift the tadpole makes when it evolves itself into a frog
The above is a photo of my daughter’s vivarium, where she spends some delightful time each day, appreciating her plants and being with her frogs within their nature-based environment and maintaining their Eco system. She reminded me, the other day, that they are a perfect symbol of transformation. That frogs come from tadpoles that swim in water. Then they develop legs and walk onto land. And as frogs, they breathe air…a totally different environment.
In a beautiful essay by Rachel Naomi Remen, author, doctor, healer, Remen distinguishes between fix, help and serve. She makes the point that when you fix, you consider the other being as broken. When you help, you perceive the other human being as weak. When you serve, you see the other human being as whole. She also makes the point that fixing and helping can cure a person but only service heals.
This shift to being one-who-serves, while beautifully Life-Giving, Awakening, and Freeing, can be difficult to make. Sometimes, the moth has a struggle getting out of its cocoon to emerge as a butterfly. And sometimes, that struggle is the very passage we need to move through to allow ourselves to break out of whatever has already died within us and is time to lay to rest.
That is why, when I begin the conversation, The Heart of Leadership, I welcome each of the participants into that foundational, transformational program, from my depth of being to the depth of theirs. Doing so is a different way of starting a conversation, a way that some might consider quite radical. I bow to them, and I speak the words, “Tashi Deley.”
“Tashi Deley” is a beautiful greeting the Tibetans make to one another as they pass each other, bowing, on the narrow, high paths of their Himalayas.
What does “Tashi Deley” mean?
It means:
“I see you. I honor the greatness in you. I honor, that place in your heart where lives your courage, wisdom, love, intentions, and dreams. I honor the place in you where, if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.”
Speaking that, and meaning it, being one with those words, to and with each of the participants, right at the very beginning, sets me straight. From that point on, I am a vow to be with, work with, see with eyes that recognize and honor the Spirit, the Essence, the Divine Presence of each person I have the privilege of working with.
It is from within that depth of connection that courageous, vulnerable, and sometimes difficult conversations can occur, truths can be seen, insights and revelations can show up, and transformation can take place.
The work for each person, if entered into faithfully, and committedly, is always miraculous.
I am happy to announce that our next Heart of Leadership is on September 6, 7, 8, 28, 29, 2023.
If you have been reading these blog postings over time, you have likely worked with me in The Heart of Leadership. I invite you to let those you appreciate in your life know that we are making this conversation available on those dates. And, if it has been a while since you engaged the conversation, you might want to consider participating in it in this timing. There is, after all, no “review”. Each course is a different conversation, given by the people in it, and who each of is now, transformed as we have been, by life.
If you have not participated in that course, you are likely someone who is profoundly in development yourself and is out to make a huge difference in your own life and the lives of others, to open space for yourself and others to expand your/their contribution. The Heart of Leadership is a profound and powerful opening for that.
With humility, I would so look forward to meeting you, working with you, empowering you, being empowered by you. If you have any questions after reading the material, feel free to contact me, and feel free to enroll. While the course is currently 3/4 full, there is yet currently space in the program.
If you are someone who has enjoyed my blog postings, I invite you to consider engaging in this most powerful and unpredictably astonishing conversation with your heart.
The Joy of Serving
By Amba Gale
Being in the Space of
and holder of the space of
and carver of the space for
Transformation
is not an easy thing
nor a light thing
nor an un-rigorous thing.
It is not casual, but causal,
not serendipitous, but intentional,
not wobbly, but Fierce.
It demands Total Wholeheartedness, and Courage.
The archer
shoots the arrow with her bow
and hits the target
every time.
There is no prescription.
We must be fluid, and dance with the conversation as it unfolds.
This is a wonder.
What is it
to bring forth such Loving Givingness
time after time after time?
Evolution is a by-product of such service.
New Paths Revealed are a by-product of such service.
Being profoundly blessed is a by-product of such service.
Joy is a by-product of such service.
I am as served as those I have served.
What is it to give my Life
to the life of another?
To be present at the Birth of a new Being?
Is This not a privilege and a Blessing?
When you think of the Target being a healing of the past,
the awakening of another’s Life,
the possibility of Profound, Ongoing Connection,
of a Planet’s Purpose fulfilled,
the Awakening of a critical level of Consciousness,
out ever burgeoning realization of intimacy with all things,
we are willing, well,
to go through any hoops
to suffer any pains,
to have the privilege
of being present to such Beauty
and such Grace
and such Wisdom
that reveals itself
in transformation.
