Observations | Reorientation Work: Exploring the ecology of how we change.
Early Signs Of Patterns In Presentation And Process
After working with hundreds of individuals, I have seen recurring patterns in both how they present and how the process unfolds for them.
My first clients were those who were directly impacted by the COVID pandemic. These were women who had lost a parent or partner to COVID and were suddenly the sole breadwinner for their extended family at a time when most workplaces were shut down.
Since then, I have served clients with a wide range of circumstances and challenges, all related to the failure of our systems to support community connection, physical wellness, mental health, safety from harm, affordability, and access to education and meaningful work.
Emerging Patterns
People rarely transformed because they became more informed.
They changed because something reorganized their attention.
They shifted from focusing on what made them feel anxious, angry, or sad to directing their attention toward the elements they wanted in their lives.
These almost always included a sense of belonging, deeper relationships, and meaningful action alongside others.
Once they tapped into their longing and examined their repetitive physical and emotional habits, they began to see new possibilities and feel a sense of agency in creating meaningful shifts.
The early transformations included movement from:
- despair to participation
- overwhelm to agency
- isolation to reciprocity
- abstraction to place
- longing to lived experiments
Research Questions
What enables people to reorient when the systems, assumptions, or life structures they have relied upon no longer fit their reality?
What role does daily relational contact play?
What conditions allow small acts of participation to develop into a new way of living?
What role does the environment play in generating the next possibilities?
What is the relationship between noticing an invitation and acting on it?
How does articulated longing reorganize attention?
What kinds of longing most often lead to habitat change?
What kinds of habitats naturally invite participation?
Under what circumstances do people begin to notice invitations?
When do habits reshape habitat, and when does habitat reshape habits?
What small promises become turning points?
What qualities of attention precede major life changes?
What distinguishes people who become embedded from those who remain spectators?
Contact For Research Questions and Collaborations
Are you doing research on these or related topics? I´d love to hear from you!
Please drop me a note here so we can share ideas.