And, collapse.

On Sunday I wanted to make pancakes for breakfast - a particular recipe from a recipe book that’s currently in storage. So I Googled the author only to discover that she is now writing about the collapse of civilisation. So you could say, my morning took a turn.

But it took a turn in the best way possible.

Because she beautifully pulls together and expresses a number of ideas that have been floating around most of the conversations I’ve been having with friends and colleagues recently.

The nub of things is that we are in the throes of civilisational collapse. Margaret Wheatley talked about this in her seminal leadership book ‘Who Do We Choose To Be’ back in 1992 (and I highly recommend seeking out the substantial rewrite for the 2nd edition in 2017).

And now Sarah Wilson is bringing together complex ideas from myriad thought leaders across different disciplines to give us the following message:

• it is happening

• it is scary

• but it is much less scary once we acknowledge that it is happening

She likens our situation to being a bunch of four year olds who have made a mess of their bedroom and are waiting for the grown-ups to come and sort it all out.

But the bedroom is our planet. And there are no grown-ups coming - we have to become our own grown-ups. To step into our personal agency and create what Meg Wheatley calls ‘islands of sanity.’

To face civilisational collapse is to accept the call to adult; to mature. To build our capacity to sit with the difficult emotions - grief, loss, fear, conflict, rage. And, in doing so, experience the easing of tension that comes from facing the truth head on, to live with the congruity of our reality.

All of this crystallises the enquiries I’ve been having about what it means to be a coach and supervisor in this world, in this reality. To be clearer on the depth of the calling that our role has within it. Namely, to support people into becoming ‘lovers of reality’ as Byron Katie calls it, even when (especially when) that reality can feel dark and destabilising.

It’s profound and honourable work. Deep work. And we need to be sure that we’re adequately supported to be sure we can support others, which means:

• learning how to befriend and tend our own grief;

• laying out the welcome mat for our own despair;

• even confronting our own feelings of rage or destructiveness.

For, as Sheldon Kopp says,

“If we flee from the evil in ourselves, we do it at all hazard. All evil is potential vitality in need of transformation. To live without the creative potential of our own destructiveness is to be a cardboard Angel.”

We need to do our work, to explore the shadows of ourselves and bring them into the light. To release vital energy back into our systems by ceasing to hold parts of ourselves at bay.

And we need to do the work in community, too:

“If we get lost in NYC, we buy a map, ask a local, or find a cabby who knows the way. The only guidance we can get on the inner journey comes through relationships in which others help us discern our leadings.” Parker J. Palmer

Looking at the work we do as coaches and supervisors through this lens feels energising; humbling. For me personally, it helps me to put language to the calling that I felt but couldn't quite express.

I want my contribution to count. And understanding the truth of the situation that humanity finds itself in is the only place to start from.

If you'd like to know more about working with your own shadows, and are looking for someone to help you 'discern your leadings' then drop me a line and let's chat.

If you're a coach looking for supervision that can support you deeply in your work, then drop me a line and let's chat.

And here is Sarah Wilson's TedTalk so you can hear her message first hand.