Towards a Postmodern Spirituality: a 'New' ISOF Vision
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Werklund School of Education Werklund School of Education Research & Publications 2007 Towards a Postmodern Spirituality: A 'New' ISOF Vision Fisher, R. M.; Bickel, B. In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute Fisher, R. M., & Bickel, B. (2007). Towards a Postmodern Spirituality: A 'New' ISOF Vision (Technical Paper No.21). Vancouver, BC: In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109986 Report Unless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca _____________________________________________________ Toward a Postmodern Spirituality: A ‘New’ ISOF Vision -R. Michael Fisher,1 Ph.D. & Barbara Bickel, Ph.D.c © 2007 Technical Paper #21 Abstract After eight years of graduate study in Education at UBC, Michael and Barbara reflect on what it means to them to propose a ‘new’ vision of In Search of Fearlessness (ISOF) for the future. They acknowledge that any new vision comes with a ‘new’ image of humankind and our collective relationship/responsibility to the planet and the cosmos (Kosmos). Their new vision has taken at least two different working titles In Search of Fearlessness Arts Centre & Research Institute, Celestine Centre for Arts & Spiritual Education. This paper tracks some of their recent journey as they locate themselves as integralists with a desire to refurbish much of the spirituality they have encountered for the past few decades. They utilize a powerful integral image of the ‘new’ human-organizational relation. Their initial conclusion in this latest vision, much like a diverse group of philosophers and theorists they’ve studied and utilized, is that a postmodern spirituality is required for the 21st century and a post-9/11 world. Such an integral postmodern approach to spirituality requires the acknowledgement and utilization of the best of pre-modern insights and practices (e.g., “new age”), modernist sensibility and facts (e.g., “new paradigms”), and an overhauling of both of these, as Ken Wilber would say, “... to take into account Spirit’s postmodern turn.” They offer an initiative for transformative cultural workers revived from their past experience in ISOF (Calgary), toward an “Integral Age.” Introduction: Re-birthing Naming and Questioning Names: A Very Brief History of ISOF Everything is evolving: birth, death, re-birth ad infinitum. This ‘new’ vision is grounded in the ‘old’ visions, and is not alone among many new visions well underway that attempt to guide us into the future, fulfilling a mutual-correcting combination of an “ecological ethic” and “self-realization ethic” (Markley & Harman, 1982:116) capable of managing appropriately (integrally) the complexity of order and chaos to come. And, this 21st century is also highly unmanageable, and we visionaries, cultural workers, revolutionaries, activists, and leaders of a ‘new’ world order and chaos are due for some major humility on the world stage of change and transformation. We are all destined to be part of a “global discourse” where, as Homi K. Bhabha (2003) put it: We have to learn to negotiate ‘incommensurable’ or conflictual social and cultural differences while maintaining the ‘intimacy’ of our inter-cultural existence and transnational associations. (p. 31) It is a different, more “globalized,” “multi-culturalized,” “decolonializing” world today, in many respects, than it was in the late 1980’s when In Search of Fearlessness 1 For further details about him and his work see www.feareducation.com and for Barbara see www.barbarabickel.ca and www.barbarabickel.com 1 emerged. It is a post-9/11 world and a climate of fear that everywhere seeps into our bones, attempting to paralyze us—for some a paralysis of “comfort” and for some a paralysis of “suffering.” Recently, organizational development ‘guru’ Meg Wheatley (2006) courageously asked leaders at a conference: “What if we can’t save the world?” She continued her speech: “I’m quite perplexed by how fearful we are as cultures now in North America, and in Europe; we’re so damned fearful of losing what we have, we’re not noticing that we’re losing what we have through our silence.” We are not going to be silent and ISOF is not going to be silent, at least, not for long. In Search of Fearlessness Project (ISOF) was birthed in 1989 in Calgary, AB, Canada and “died” in 1998, for all intensive purposes as a living community. The idea of ISOF has never died and never will, rather it is continually in a process of its own evolution, changing forms when required. This paper is about its latest form. Before moving forward, a moment’s pause is due to reflect on one of the general mission statements created and publicized for ISOF (Calgary): ISOF is a community of people from diverse backgrounds dedicated to ‘learning to live and love beyond fear and coping.’ (c.1994) Michael has been writing a book on the history of the ISOF (Calgary) project, in one of the earliest drafts (1990) he wrote: The title In Search of Fearlessness was a take-off beyond the “In Search of Excellence” campaign in the 1980s [Tom Peters et al.]. Our [ISOF] project was the next step further into the realm of how we live our everyday lives in the context of all the oppressive forces based on fear that have become ‘normalized’ in our modernist culture. We would not call ourselves “new age” as much of it is still embedded in fear-based thinking. ISOF is a totally empowering response to the “World Age” of the 1990s. (p. 3) Wheatley (2006) asked leaders another question: “Are we choosing names that demand fearlessness?” She presumes that the names we choose for ourselves as individuals and as groups are meaningful and determine the power that moves in and through them. She asked leaders further: “What is the name that is big enough to hold your fearlessness, that is big enough to call you into fearlessness? That is big enough to break your heart?” We think ISOF has always been big enough, and we trust the new visions and names we’re holding at present may also be big enough to hold our fearlessness and those that want to join us. Words, images, and intentions are wonderful, and sometimes are useful “swords.” They have their time and place. Yet, in the ‘real’ world, All things evolve: birth, die, re- birth. Here to follow are some of our new words, images, and intentions in response to the emerging times of the 21st century. On December 28, 2006 Barbara approached Michael to reconsider the re-ignition of a new sub-project entitled In Search of Fearlessness Arts Centre & Research Institute (ISOFACRI), within the overall In Search of Fearlessness Project (ISOF). A few weeks later, after several influences in our lives, Michael came up with a modified potential alternative entitled Celestine Centre for Arts & Spiritual Education (CCASE) (see Appendix I). Although we both are attracted to such an idea which represents our ultimate concerns, we knew that it would be a vision not likely to manifest in a physical space and place for quite some time (1-3 yrs). Although, we both think 2 cyberspace applications for personal and world change has its strengths, we tend to see it as highly over-rated and our greater interest is in re-birthing ‘anew’ with real people, in real places, with real consequences. That said, at some point ISOFACRI (or some other envisioned name and entity) will ‘go on-line’ for some functions and not others. We also acknowledged that the name ISOFACRI is a beginning one and is open to change, as the original ISOF Project has had different names and forms over the years—e.g., Fearlessness Centre in Calgary, AB in the mid-90s and Fearlessness Foundation (2000) in Vancouver. Further complications and interesting inputs have come with the particular historical discovery of The League for Fearlessness (1931) document and movement in the U.S.A. All these have brought us to question why call any of this In Search of Fearlessness? Has the term “fearlessness” itself grown to be unweildly, as Michael’s latest synthesis shows at least a dozen or more different meanings for the term exist and more are likely to be created (Fisher, 2006)? Does fearlessness, as utilized in the ISOF context, just have too many powerful ‘enemies’ (Fisher, 1997:6-8)? Or, is it the perfect name, as Wheatley (2006) challenges leaders on this planet? “Integralists” and “postmodernists”: fearlessly we imagine ourselves. Applying Arts & Research A few years before ISOF ever got started formally as a group of teachers, facilitators, and learners, “spontaneous creation-making” activities were facilitated by us in local community centres. Founders of the movement have always developed ISOF through an arts-based approach toward insight, healing, transformation, politics and cultural development. Eventually, a book was published under the ISOF Research Institute entitled Opening Doors: A Guide to Spontaneous Creation-Making (Bickel & Fisher, 1993). “Spontaneous creation-making” became one of the six ‘fear’ vaccines in ISOF (Calgary). Plentiful and available art supplies of all kinds, as well as music, singing, room to dance, move, dramatize, to create writing, to laugh, and to cry, have always accompanied our various rented physical Centres in Calgary. We are most comfortable calling ourselves “artists” first, even though each of us have had several other career tracks and identities.