Can we disrupt a system whilst taking part in it?

Navigating a way through advocating for our own competence, using our voices and contributing to a paradigm shift.

Grab a cuppa and a notebook…..I’d love your experience, responses and reflections to this one.

Dismantling my need for external validation, and cultivating my capacity to have a truthful understanding of my capabilities and capacities, continues to be an integral part of my Circle holding journey.

(I’m referring to seeking validation that tells me I’m good enough, rather than the process of validating whether a service or product is wanted or needed!).

In the framework that I share for tending to and growing our Circle communities, I suggest that we must advocate for our own competence. In my experience it comes much more naturally to shout from the rooftops about how brilliant other people are. Although often described as such, perhaps our reluctance to do this for ourselves is not a mindset issue or character flaw, but rather that we’re not shown how to do so in a way that feels congruent with how we see ourselves.

I’m currently attending the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68). This year’s theme is: Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.

One of themes that repeats again and again, is the fact that women are at a systemic disadvantage; from the gender pay-gap, to the motherhood penalty, to providing hours of unpaid care, to austerity measures which always mean a cut to services for women and rolling back of women’s rights, and to the underfunding of women’s movements and organisations.

In the microcosm of our Circle work, and in the macrocosm of the economic and structural systems that we currently live and work in, it is vital that we learn to advocate for our work, our competence and our experience. We need to be able to share our expertise, our ideas and our approach with honesty and confidence.

We don’t need to find our voices; we have them! We can choose to use our voices and not to abandon ourselves, our businesses or our values.

I am very much still a work in progress in this regard; but when I do, it makes a difference. It helps to spark curiosity in what I’m doing and how I’m doing it, and to create trust. I can be energetically clear in what I’m offering or sharing, and be open to learning, reflecting and changing my mind!

As we journey through Gather 2024, and taking into account all of the above, I have (once again) been unraveling my decision not to complete the process of accreditation for the course. But maybe I should?

Authenticity Over Approval

My intention in Gather is to support those enrolled to create and hold Circles that are a true expression of who they are and what they stand for, and to deepen their capacity to share their Circles and work with their community.

Those who choose to enrol in Gather have a wealth of lived experience, learnt knowledge and the wisdom that comes from that. I want to support them to engage with the content and resources in the way that serves them best; I trust them to use their discernment to take what is helpful and leave what does not align with their values or vision for their Circles.

It feels disingenuous to then require them to prove what they have learnt through the course, and have their competence externally validated.

Flexibility and Creativity

Whilst the course does include a curriculum, I am able to respond to the needs of each cohort, and adapt our collective calls based on the reflection, insights and experiences of those present.

In addition, we are living through challenging times of transition, and although Circles are an ancient technology that have withstood many tests of time, we need to continually explore how our Circles can meet the emerging needs of our communities in these times.

I would prefer to dedicate my time and creative energy into enhancing what I offer, rather than adhering to external requirements to demonstrate learning outcomes.

Community-Centric Approach

I support those I work with to use what I share and teach as the soil in which they plant their own Circle seeds. They then have a responsibility to tend not only their own seed, but to nourish the soil as well, and contribute to all our seeds (Circles) flourishing.

At the heart of this approach is a collective and collaborative approach to learning; each of us is teacher and student, everyone has something vital to offer that we all benefit from.

Even when the course is undertaken on a self-study basis, another seed is planted in the soil of the community learning experience - each person who takes part matters to the whole.

In this way, our collective focus is on nurturing a community of space holders, facilitators and ceremonialists who can contribute to meaningful change through their own circles and contribute to the ripples this creates in the field.

Dismantling Power Structures

In the over-culture that I grew up within and continue to navigate, certain types of learning and knowledge are revered, and others are rejected.

Formal qualifications are deemed to prove not only your intellect but your propensity for hard work - both of which are valued in our capitalist system. Even now, I notice a shift in perception about my Circle work when people discover that I have a law degree (LLB with Honours), and a postgraduate diploma (Legal Practice PGDip with commendation) alongside wellbeing modalities.

Because of this, in the British Isles many of us are disconnected from the wisdom of our ancestral and cultural heritage; the webs of mythology, folklore, plantlore, herballore, have been broken and an innate understanding of the seasons, the land and the waterways has been forgotten.

We are all poorer in a culture that only reveres formal learning, and dismisses other forms of wisdom and knowing.

Gathering in Circles is part of the process of re-membering; of reviving the knowledge, practices, stories, and wisdom of our ancestors and integrating what is relevant for us today, into our lives.

It therefore seems to me that an accreditation process for holding Circles would perpetuate exclusivity and reinforce existing power structures, rather than fostering a deeper understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our place in the world.

My intention is to support and encourage an approach to holding Circles in these (r)evolutionary times that embraces both ancient and contemporary perspectives and frameworks.

Self-Validation through Intuition

In Gather we privilege our intuition, and I enthusiastically encourage Circle Holders to be devoted to understanding the language of their intuition, and to consciously engage with practices that support them to connect and cultivate their innate intuitive wisdom.

While accreditation can provide external validation, activating and connecting with our intuition cultivates self-trust in both our abilities and knowing our scope of practice.

My focus is on supporting each other to embrace and embody our authentic expression and unique approach as a space holder, ceremonialist and facilitator, rather than seeking to conform with one particular style.

Accreditation

I've been guiding participants through (versions of) Gather since 2018. In 2019 I applied to the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) but as I delved into the process, I had a change of heart and withdraw my application. Most recently I investigated accreditation through The CPD Accreditation Service.

Accreditation bodies are of course businesses. The focus is (understandably) on agreed learning outcomes, and the learning value, integrity and quality of the training, but their job is to ensure that the course provider is accredited in return for the fee (and the fee will be passed on to course participants).

My last role in the legal world was as a Practice Standards Adviser for The Law Society of England and Wales (the regulatory body for solicitors). I'm experienced in assessing the value and quality of services, policies and in-house training, and I understand the role and importance of regulation, compliance, certification and accreditation.

Most of those who choose my courses already have qualifications and certifications in multiple modalities and have insurance in place. In my experience adding circle holding to their policy incurs no additional premium. Insurance companies don't view Circles as high-risk activities.

For me one of the roles of our Circles is to contribute to shifting the current paradigm; to move the collective consciousness towards to the organising principles of community, including connection, collaboration and co-creation.

In this context, I’m exploring whether external accreditation perpetuates the patriarchal and capitalist model, where "qualifications" and "accreditation" are deemed the sole measures of value and ability.

Perhaps you would be willing to share in response to these queries:

• Does accreditation disregard the wisdom of lived experience, cultural knowledge and intuitive wisdom, or does it foster credibility and help us to bring Circles into new spaces and places?

• Can we disrupt the system whilst taking part, or do we rebel by organising at the edges and being a demonstration of a different, community-based way?

• If Circles are a (r)evolutionary movement, do they lose their radical potential when co-opted into the very systems we seek to dismantle?

Whilst I I don’t desire to build a huge Circle training organisation as I thrive on running intimate cohorts, where I have personal connections with participants and can curate the learning experience to their needs, I do desire the courses I create and offer to have make a meaningful contribution to this movement. Part of that is to help bring Circles into our organisations, institutions and businesses. Is accreditation one of the pathways to doing that?

I would love to read your views in the comments and I will also start a thread in the Chat space.

With you in Circle in these (r)evolutionary times