Hi friend,
I hope you’re having a good day today.
Thank you to those who pinged back a response to my last Postcard, whether by email or the might of pure thought! Sending another from my train ride back from Munich.
I spent a few days there co-working with a friend, enjoying daily access to the outdoors. It’s peak foliage season, with early snow up in the peaks of the Ammergau Alps. We shuffled our schedules on the fly to catch the sun when it peered through the clouds, and enjoyed cocooning inside the rest of the time. By 6 pm, it’s already pitch black. Pet dogs go on their evening walks with tiny flashlights on their collars.
I learned about the Oberammergau Passion Play, where villagers have performed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ every 10 years since 1634. They are upholding their promise to God, in exchange for protection from the plague. Half the village (population 5,000) is part of the production, and the main cast take a year off work to prepare. I find the idea astonishing on so many fronts.
Earlier this year, I started studying Gestalt theories and principles, particularly their application to leadership and organizational development. I’m on a path to becoming more skilful at engaging with power and influence in human systems, in service of designing the conditions for strong teams, healthy workplaces and useful products. Gestalt also offers a certain way of being in the world, grounded in a lifelong practice of being present in the ‘here and now’. This feels critical to cultivate in the times we live in—a lifts-all-boats type of competence that I’m fortunate to be practicing with various configurations of friends and peers.
I’m happily in practitioner mode and wanting to work and learn more out loud. Letting you know that this is a track I’m on feels like a good first move!
Talk soon. If the mood strikes, please send me a photo of something beautiful you see outside :)
Tomomi
