Dare to Imagine

In which world would you like to live in?

I would like to live in a world where rules.
Sounds cheesy?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Depends on your understanding of love, I guess...

In any case I would bet that you too would enjoy doing more of what you love and wouldn’t say no to a more intense feeling of loving what you do, right?

Tomorrow in my next newsletter I'll elaborate a little more on what that means to me.

Want to read it?
Then subscribe via the link in my bio:)

P.S.: Thursday this week at 16:30 CET we'll apply to our (work) challenges by discovering the concept of . Join us for free also via the link in my bio

In which world would you like to live in?

I would like to live in a world where rules.
Sounds cheesy?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Depends on your understanding of love, I guess...

In any case I would bet that you too would enjoy doing more of what you love and would say no to a more intense feeling of loving what you do, right? ;)

Tomorrow in my next newsletter I'll elaborate a little more on what that means to me.

Want to read it?
Then subscribe via the link in my bio:)

P.S.: Thursday this week at 16:30 CET we'll apply to our (work) challenges by discovering the concept of . Join us for free also via the link in my bio

Images Create Action
.. says the anticipatory principle of

What if we applied that wisdom to our challenges of balancing with in our work context using the image of ?

Think about it - knows and uses competition. Species find and occupy their niche with their unique gift through competition: if you have a barren piece of soil, within a few month the surface will be covered by an array of pioneer plants, soon enough animals join. But only those species will stay for longer who with their gifts fit into the environment.

However, it doesn't stop with an endless competition.

Quite quickly a few of those species go into cooperation, because it's mutually beneficial and just wise. They pass around the nutrients, using and feeding third parties like mushrooms mycelium, helping and communicating with one another through colors, smells, electric signals etc.

In ecotones, the transition zones between two biomes (like the shore of a river or the transition from forest to field), we even find a burst of creativity as there is a multitude of stakeholders, who's territories are overlapping. They have to constantly competition and cooperation.

Now if you have this image of ecotone in front of your mental eye and would apply it to your (business/team/private) challenge with its beautiful balance between competition and cooperation, what action would you take?

Find it out together with me at the 21st of July at 16:30 CET in the workshop on
"Applying Planetary Wisdom at Work - The concept of Ecotone"

More info and possibility to register for free via the link in my bio.

If you want to keep informed about future workshops and the online course "Shifting Paradigms with Appreciative Inquiry", where we spend a whole module on , feel free to subscribe to my newsletter (also via the link in my bio;)

Actually, I think we all don’t have a clue of what life really is all about. And I come to believe that it’s so good and refreshing to admit that to ourselves and each other.

Isn’t a lot of why we focus on the doing and to achieve something that we see in our western world a way to run away from the big questions?

To wash our insecurities and feeling of smallness in this big, big universe away with busyness?

What would happen if we stood still and acknowledged in community that we are all searchers, that we need one another to find our gift, to share it with one another and to appreciate each other in the searching and sharing?

In *Shifting Paradigms wit Appreciative Inquiry*, my online program that start at the 1st of September this year we do exactly that.

And along the way, we learn about one of the most powerful and beautiful approaches I know that help as us become the change you want to see.

Come and join us!
Link to pre-Register in my bio!

It's only by the grace of light, that we know darkness.

And only by the grace of the dark, we can recognize the light.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a crisis. Something we considered as a stable truth before got shattered or at least severely questioned. We doubt, we err, we struggle.

And then at a moment when we didn’t expect it, an insight finds us, we need someone that stirs hope in us, we remember who we really are, get a glimpse of our own and see the at the end of the tunnel that helps us take the , and then the next and then the next to eventually get on new grounds.

Join us at the 11th of July at 16:30 CET for a free workshop where we use the magic of to get from darkness to light and one step at a time.

Register for free via the website below or the event section on the platform :)

More info: https://daretoimagine.today/taster-session-shifting-paradigms-with-appreciative-inquiry-and-if-the-crises-told-us-wisdom/
(Link in bio)

Looking forward to seeing you there!

describes a transition area where two biospheres meet and merge. For example where a field ends and a forest begins or the shore of a river.

It happens that in these zones we find often a maximum of of the species living there.

It seems – and this is my own psychological lens applied to the concept – that in these zones plants, animals and all other life are constantly in the .

Sounds just like us in the times we are living in, I thought!

I invite you to explore this together with me and play a bit with this concept in application to the challenges you face at work and beyond at the 21st of July from 16:30 to 18:00 CET

This is a workshop in the series of Taster sessions for the next start of the online program ‘Shifting Paradigms with ‘.
I look forward to seeing you there!

Where: online via Zoom

When: 21st July, 16:30-18:00 CET

Investment: free of charge, you are welcome feed forward what you learned to others

Registration: free and necessary when you want to participate. Register via the link in my bio

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Isn't it incredible how our tells us that we can and should do things in lightning speed?

It can build castles in the air (projects, online programs, conferences, you name it) within seconds.

And then I find myself hustling around trying to make it happen, hearing my mind telling me: "come on - it can't be that difficult!"

But the body needs time,
details want to be tended to
people want to be informed/invited/involved

…and that takes time!

I actually come to believe that nature and Life put all the challenges in our way -whether we look at us individuals or at our business - to help us understand that the mind has to accept that things don't always go as planned, that we don't have it under control .. what ever "it" is.

Corona taught us that.

The heat waves are teaching us this right now.

The many unforeseen outcomes of the Ukraine-War shows us this, whether it's the shortage of gas and all products that need gas is needed for or the rising of the food prices due to the fact that Ukraine cannot feed us as it has done that before.

All of our striving for efficiency and having things under control (the mind loves that!) gets ridiculed these days.

We can of course struggle with that (and to be honest, I think we all do from time to time. Or let's keep it personal: at least I struggle, because I realize how much I let my life be run by my mind) or we can use it as an opportunity to be taught by life whatever we need to be taught, individually,

systemically,

collectively.

I want to invite you to strengthen the muscle of being okay with "not having things under control, and even liking it" together with me.

Let's hang in there and practice deep listening in what Life wants to teach us.

Be my guest at the 11th of July at 16:30 via zoom.

More info and free registration via the link in my bio.

I come to understand the corona virus was and continues to be a remarkable mirror and amplifying glass for all kinds of questions that want to be addressed.

From small scale (you and me and our relationship to our body) to earthly scale (our economies and our relationship to nature).

In that light I would love to spend 1,5h with you at the 11th of July to appreciatively inquire into the questions like:

What did the virus and the pandemic teach you?

What has helped you dealing with the challenges that corona made you face?

What would you like to become even more conscious about?

And to let the collective wisdom emerge, inspire and nourish us.

This is the first of a series of taster-workshops for next start of the online course „Shifting Paradigms with Appreciative Inquiry“

Where: online via Zoom

When: 11th of July 2022, 16:30-18:00 CET

Investment: free of charge, you are welcome feed forward what you learned to others

Registration: free and necessary if you want to join the call. Register via the link in my bio.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

I should go more often into the water 🌊 I seem to receive the most useful revelations and insights there.

Let me share the latest one with you that I got while going for a swim 🏊‍♀️ a minute ago

And before I come to THE of today, let me give you a little bit of context of where I and the insight are coming from..

I‘ve been through (and still am in to this day) an intense transformation journey in the past couple of months.

I enrolled last year November in a program by a psychoanalyst where we worked with myths, storytelling, dreams and art and that started a rollercoaster experience for me.

I lost grip of my cognitive capacities to plan, to follow through with my plans. I could not think straight for a while. And since I am a person who largely identifies with her sharp mind that was a very humbling experience.

Today while I was swimming, enjoying my body move through the cool waters, it dawned on me:

Maybe I had to go through this sh*t because otherwise my mind would not have been willing to bow down in front of the wisdom and needs of my body?

I always THOUGHT I new what my body wants but did I really know?

Or was it just my mind rashly filling in the blanks?

And while I was swimming it dawned on me that it was had been until now the latter.

The fog in my head that I intensely felt in these past months was just my body telling me: wake up, wake up! You are not including my wisdom into your work!

So let me share this invite to reflect with you, in case you struggle with mental fog, inertia, disorientation, etc.: maybe your body is forcing you to listen more closely to it… maybe you are requested, just like I obviously am, to slow down and listen to the more subtle voice of your body and soul instead of letting your mind overrule everything else.

Wishing you an insightful conversation with your body🤗♥️

P.S.: in my experience it is most willing to share its wisdom while going for a walk, skating, doing yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️or -very powerful- by hanging out in or on the water 💦

P.P.S. this photo was shot on the raft of and friends. More beautiful pictures and info on this remarkable initiative via

And... how are you doing?

Quite honestly, it's been a tough ride these past months.

I struggled with disorientation, overwhelm, inertia, massive self-doubts..

A lot of the people around me who gave me their honest answer shared similar feelings.

So my informed guess is: these are the symptoms many of us feel when we are become aware and feel the multiple and entangled crises that we find ourselves in (climate change, wars, etc., our personal struggles)

These crises and therefor our struggle are most likely not going to become less in the future, that's the bad news.

The good news is, however: we are not alone in going through the crises and we have been going through crises before.

We know from history that in times of crises, our human species (and other species by the way, too) made giant leaps in their .

The question becomes: how will we make such a leap in our development? Or maybe just the ?

I don't know the the exact answer, however, what I propose from my own evolution and reading, observing, researching, consulting, I can offer a few steps and rough outline:

It starts with pausing to ask ourselves questions that help us create on: where am I? what's shifting? and how is my position to this shift?

It goes further with an : how comes that I look at this the way I do? Is this really genuinely MY position and view on things? Or have I unconsciously taken over something from my ancestors, the culture I grew up in, etc. that might need an update in these times? And have I found myself in a similar position/feeling before and if yes, how did I manage to get out?

(Post continues in the comments)

Why would we want to raise our own level of consciousness?

Especially since getting to a higher level of consciousness is so often connected with hard inner work?

If we want to unfold our potential as individuals or want as businesses make this world a better place

we better increase our individual and collective understanding of what's driving us really.

Are we unconsciously following outdated patterns, harmful dogmas and our fears?

Or are we brave enough to face these old dragons and by dancing with them innovate with head, heart and soul?

I think the current crises we face are all faces of dragons that want to be danced with:

-> the and unsteadiness of the stock markets and the old paradigm of linear or even exponential growth forces us to face our fear of decline and death and its manifestation in our business and financial world

-> continues to make us aware of our own devouring nature in the way we treat nature and that the planet comes up with its own solutions if we keep on decreasing the natural habitat of her numerous species

-> the and wildfires show us that our systems are overheated. And nature too.

These are just three examples of how invites us, in my opinion, to open our eyes, read the signals (also in a non-conformist way) and to grow our own consciousness of what we can both, construct and destruct as humans.

We can look away and keep on doing business as usual for for one or two years, but I doubt whether that will make us happy.

The next crises (=invitation to become more conscious) will come.

Thus I invite you together with me to increase our consciousness on the topics of

- reclaiming our and using it wisely
- appreciating within and without
- moving from an economy driven by fear to one grounded in trust and love
- in times of artificial intelligence
- incorporating ?

Then join us at the 22nd of August in the next cohort of Shifting Paradigms with

More info about the course and the link to pre-register in my bio

I look forward to seeing you there!

Our fears are our pathway to courage and expansion.

Many of us are afraid of feeling our fears fully.

We run away from what we anticipate could make us feel afraid.

We feel that we could drown in it.
Dissolve in it.
Not find out way out anymore.

It’s our ego that wants to keep everything that might threaten our sense of self away - and with ego I don’t mean something per se negative, but what we feel is our identity, a fixed idea of who we are.

But it’s exactly this fear that -if we feel our way through - will allow us to expand beyond our current limits.

It’s only through experiencing fear that we can learn that we’ll survive, that we are greater than our fear, and by that we get the chance to be courageous.

Courage needs fear.
No fear, no chance to be courageous.

So let’s stop bedeviling the feeling of fear.

Instead, let’s become curious and explore what gems lie behind what we fear. 💫

Sending you warm regards
Vera

Actually I have nothing much to share right now then the beauty of this moment.

Often enough, when I see the well curated posts of other people on Instagram I think that just sharing this might not be enough.

And then I refrain from sharing anything.

That’s I realized this moment.

And so with the invite to stop following that pattern together with me, I share this beautiful moment with you and send you much love ❤️

"We are the gardeners for our well-being.

Being part of a community of trust is basically nothing else then being (or becoming) good gardeners"

This is the wisdom that Roland Drijver shared with us at the end of a session that I hosted yesterday.

He therewith drew a beautiful picture of what I want to become and support others to become in these interesting times we live in:

- stewards and care takers of our inner and outer garden

- therewith taking responsibility for our wellbeing and the wellbeing of this planet

- honoring and aligning our actions with the rhythms and wisdom of nature

- moving away from the idea that we have to be on top of everything, but to learn better and better every day to be part of an marvelous eco-system

In our module on within the online course Shifting Paradigms with Appreciative Inquiry we'll find out how this can look like and use the wisdom of to bring the insights we gain into our own lives.

The next cohort of the the online course "Shifting Paradigms with Appreciative Inquiry" starts at the 22nd of August and you are warmly invited.

More info on the course and the possibility to pre-register can be found in the link if my bio:)

When Life calls you to new horizons, sometimes that can feel scary.

That's at least a feeling that I carry with me in these days.

I want to share this story with you, in case you find yourself in a similar situation - now or in the future. As a reminder that "We can do hard things", as Glennon Doyle would say..

Okay, so what are we talking about?

At the end of last year I sensed that I would have to grow personally, create more space in me for what would come. I had just signed a contract with a client for a leadership and organizational development trajectory that I was asked to facilitate, so here was some tangible reason for me feeling this, but largely it was just a vague knowing, a hunch and intuition that something would shift.

And indeed, attending the 8th Money and Business Partnership Congress (https://lnkd.in/eNjniN_K) that followed, the many wholehearted and inspiring conversations I had there and the deep connection I felt to this community, plus hearing that Peter Koenig, the initiator and source of the Congress Series share, that this would be the last congress he organized, made me take a bold, unplanned step: I would take the baton, if he wanted to hand it to me, and would commit to lead this congress series into the future.

What followed was a beautiful 'dance' and exchange of thoughts, stories and documents on the values and vision of this congress series where I learned about the remarkable courage Peter and his team showed over and over again, to experiment, to think out of the box and to hold the space for people to develop in consciousness and care.

Now this is super beautiful and exciting but not the really scary thing that made me choose the tiger as the picture of this post and for my newsletter. (Continuation of the post in the comments)

Want to read further about this adventure?

Then feel free to subscribe to my newsletter! (Link in bio)

Looking forward to welcoming you to the -Community and to embark with you on this adventure!

We can’t rise strong when we are on the run.

This quote out of Brené Brown’s book captures my lesson learned from the past days, like nothing else.

I thought I had already learned that lesson before, but by god... it’s so easy to forget it…

After weeks of running fast and strong,

taking on my shoulders more and more and more (nice stuff though, that makes it easy to say yes to too much;)…

After the shock of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and rumbling with my own ignorance and arrogance concerning this war (but also all the other ones in Yemen, Afghanistan, Palestine,…)

After holding my breath for such a long time just to push though a tiny-weeny little bit longer (or abusing my meditation and breathing techniques to push the boundaries of my body a little too much)...

…corona took me out of the race.

It felt like such an irony to see the positive test result emerge on my self-test last Wednesday, as:

🏃🏻‍♀️ I had worked my ass-off to have 1,5 free weeks for traveling afterwards

🥂there was an important in-person event with a ceremonial handover of a new task and role planned for the weekend ahead

💪 I thought I had done so well and life should just applaud me for my successful marathon

… and then this! Getting knocked out by corona 🥴🥊
(Well, life is what’s happening while you are making other plans)

(Post continues in the comments)

The Storm’s intention
is to rebalance your equilibrium.
It is a result of precarious conditions,
not the cause of them.

- Kim Krans -

Kim Krans’ words are - in my eyes a - very fitting perspective on what we experience right now in Europe and world wide.

I feel The Storm raging within and outside me,
but my notion is, I am not alone.

I ask myself: what didn’t I want to see before?
What is my part in having co-created the precarious conditions that let to the storm with an unknown outcome?
What’s my take on that and my responsibility in that?
What can I do to help find and restore a balance?

In my eyes the notion cannot be
- more weapons
- more simplistic solutions
- more blame and looking at one another with hate.

I don’t have my final answer yet, but I am quite sure it must contain a HUGE raise of awareness.
Individually and collectively.

Your pain is my pain - whether it’s you in Russia, or you in the Ukraine, or you in Afghanistan, or you in Yemen, or you in Syria.

I think the invitation is for each one of us to go within and to search with compassion and fierceness for all the blindspots you can find inside yourself.

To heal your wounds and those of your ancestor as good as you can and to look for new solutions,

beyond hate.

"Leadership is about being part of the group.

Not running in front of it, shouting: Follow me! Follow me!"

by Roland Drijver

Roland was sharing this wisdom at the end of our mastermind session today.

By that he helped me understand and trust that even I as a facilitator am welcome to show my emotions, my struggle, my overwhelm in these days.
..that this actually helps to create for all of us.
..that leadership is maybe not (only) about being strong, but about being human and normalizing humanness with all its messiness and vulnerability

Thank you Roland!
Thank you dear wonderful people of our

Would you refer to the company you work for as a ?

If yes: I am extremely curious to hear more about what this company does to earn that title! If not: what's missing?

And why is it actually important to build and maintain communities of trust?

A few moments ago, when I sat down with Joep, my partner to have a coffee, we touched upon this topic and its relevance in the time we live in.

I mean...thinking very practically, in a commercial company it's quite easy why people should gather and collaborate (at least it seems so) - because people share the aim to create services and products that bring in money. Money to reinvest, money to feed you and your family, ...

However, in times where we increasingly question our money and economic system, find and create more and more income sources, complementary currencies, etc., the question becomes whether "making money" remains a reason compelling enough to create long-lasting, stable and nurturing bonds between people.

Actually, if we inquire deeply and honestly: has money ever been a means to create these kind of bonds? (personal side note: I think money can can do that, but therefore we have to heal our relationship to money. More on that in another post, as I want to share with you about the Create Love in Business-community and the 9th Money & Business Partnership Congress that I'll organize with quite a few remarkable people in 2023).

But back to the importance of creating communities of trust: Probably this is one of the reasons why and I are so keen interest to inquire into what it takes to build and maintain a community of trust:

Because if we want people to feel
💫 alive
💫 connected
💫 needed
💫 nurtured
💫 motivated to co-create a more sustainable, wholesome, compelling future for themselves, each other and our home planet,

we need to be able to build and restore trust..over and over again..individually and collectively..in ourselves, each other and our ability to create value together.

(…thought line continues in the comments…)

I just recorded a little message for a dear friend and member of our who showed in my eyes a lot of courage, expressing her deep felt wish to continue for another five months in the mastermind and her financial struggle to pay for that.

I was touched and thrilled (I mean who wouldn't want to have her in his/her tribe!?) and to a tiny extend a bit upset. Not about her, but the system we created with (and without) money.

Because she lives and works in a country where the wages are way lower than what we are used to in Western Europe, it's way harder for her to save the money for the Mastermind (if you wonder how much 5 month of participation cost: 750€ regular price, 1000€ sponsorship, 500€ reduced, all excl. VAT).

And of course - if we think about it: not only this price has a different meaning for her than for most of us in countries like the Netherlands, Germany or the US. Anything on an international scale must have a different price-feeling for her than for me.

This feels profoundly unfair and SCREAMS for large-scale change.

And, those who have thought about our economy and money will probably reply: it's system-immanent.

In our money system we need someone to loose in order for others to win. Scarcity is designed into the system.

(Yes, sounds provocative, but I can't find enough evidence against this. On the contrary: there's quite a bit of evidence for these kind of theses. If you are interested to learn more about this and how you can do your part in changing it with the help of Appreciaitve Inquiry, have a look here: https://lnkd.in/gAMqSDn and pre-register for the next round of my online course Shifting Paradigms with Appreciative Inquiry: https://lnkd.in/e_MeaUQF)

Back to our Mastermind-Money-Issue:
Now I can sit and moan on the unfairness of our money system or do something about it.

(Text with lessons learned continues in the comments)

P.S.: Does this make you want to join the Mastermind too? Great!

You can find the link to the info page in my bio.

And same with the link to register for the Taster Session at the 2.2.22, 20:00

Gwendel & I look forward to welcoming you! 💫

Do you know these days?.. where rising out of your bed seems like the biggest challenge imaginable?.. where switching off the warm water under the shower feels like a punishment?

(Your mind says this is ridiculous and exaggerate but your body insists it is like this.)

I started into one of them yesterday. And I decided that this might be a good occasion to share with you my little history of the many ways I tried to deal with these low-energy mornings before I reached where I am today: surrendering, self-care and gentle curiousity.

So if you are up for a bit of biographical wisdom from me - get yourself a nice cup of tea, lean back and read on...

Those of you who are part of the Dare to Imagine Community for a little longer already know that I grew up in Germany. The land of the early birds, masters of discipline, lovers of structure and order... just to name a few stereotypes (which might have a quantum of truth to them;)

Thus, after I grew out of the age where you can just let yourself drag out of bed and to the breakfast table by your parents, my go-to strategy became self-discipline:
👉 Rising up at 6:00am after the first beep of the alarm...tumbling into the bathroom
👉 to the breakfast table and
👉 into school.
..Overriding the signals of my own body, training my will-power muscle, becoming a champion in fitting in, perfecting and pleasing. I became so good at that, that it became an addiction..

(text continues in the comments...)

P.S.: Our opens again in February and there are a few spots that become available (about 3-5). If this triggers your interest, feel free to register for the at the 2nd of February at 8pm CET (link in bio)

Want to learn more about the Mastermind? -Please visit the website (link in bio)

P.P.S: you found this helpful? Than feel free to subscribe to my newsletter, also via the link in my bio 😉