by Anamaria Aristizabal
What is Byron Fellowship?
It is a journey to envision. Collectively, participants and mentors put our minds together to understand the complex systems that need to be shifted. We increase our capacity to see wholes, and have an integral perspective. We experience the importance of place, and culture, and reflect on its relationship with values. We study the dynamics of natural systems to guide our understanding of the interconnectedness and dynamic equilibrium of all things alive. We formulate a vision of what is needing to happen and our unique contribution in the context that we feel compelled to nurture. We use our VISION as the igniting power that will guide the rest of the journey.
It is journey of transformation. It is chance to get intimate and authentic with ourselves and others, engaging our minds, hearts, hands, and spirit to manifest our VISION. We come to realize that everything happens in conversation, and learn how to have conversations that bridge worldviews and make a difference, by overcoming the pitfalls and reactivity that comes in the way of relatedness. The journey takes us to what we need to let go in order to have a new way of being emerge, one that is in line with our values, and embodies the blessed unrest that is needed in this time of transition.
It is a journey of co-creation. We believe that the change that is needed can only come about through the power of community. We enhance our capacity to attune to others and to find resonance. Like a musical ensemble, everyone finds their voice that harmonizes into a powerful whole. We move our bodies together, and learn to build trust, helping us be more responsive to what the present moment requires. We begin to learn the art of hosting the conversations that matter, and that clarify the steps forward to crystallize our VISION.
In essence, Byron Fellowship offers a container so that the leadership for sustainability, needed in this stage of history emerges collectively. It is a leadership that is post-conventional, post-heroic, and tribal in nature. It sees sustainability as the flourishing of life, and the creation of vibrant and resilient communities that are in right relationship with self, others, and all of life.
Those who resonate with this aspiration… we encourage you to apply and join us in this powerful learning journey to build a community of change agents, that will inspire you and build the necessary capacities of envisioning, personal transformation, and co-creation in service of a better world.
Anamaria Aristizabal has served as a Byron Fellowship mentor for the past three years. Her bio is available here.