From Possibility to Actuality
Ever ponder quantum physics? As a lay person, I've been enthralled by the idea that on the most fundamental level we live in a world where the principles of Newtonian physics don't apply. On the quantum level, in fact, nothing behaves as we would predict in our everyday experience of reality. For example, two completely different (even opposite) outcomes can simultaneously exist, until an observer comes along and points to one -- then "shazam!" -- what that person perceives is actualized and the other outcome is not. One becomes true. The other becomes false. Truly mind-blowing.
Of course I'm grateful that in our everyday lives, when an apple falls, it predictably falls down, not up, and we can confidently call it an apple (rather than, say, a rhinoceros). Or when we drive a car and put our foot on the brake, our car stops (unless the brake malfunctions and we crash, but that's another expression of Newtonian physics in action).
But what if we could tap more regularly into the quantum level -- what physicist Arthur Zajonc (who was an advisor to me many years ago) calls "the sea of possibilities"? Would that give us greater freedom to choose our responses, rather than react from our conditioned way of perceiving the world.
I think the answer is "yes." If energy is the movement of possibility to probability to actuality, as quantum physicists describe, then tuning in at the "possibility" level gives us the greatest number of options. The challenge is that our minds and perceptions are so thoroughly conditioned that the set of possibilities available to us as individuals is usually very small. It's just extremely challenging for us to open our minds to the vastness of potential futures, because we so easily succumb to old neuronal patterns that narrow our reality.
Why am I going on about quantum physics in a blog that's supposed to be about coaching? Good question. My reasons are two-fold:
1) Coaching is intended to create a space in which to free our minds of old patterns and give ourselves far more possibilities in how we respond to situations in our lives. This means framing coaching, at least in certain situations, as an opportunity to release our tight hold on our everyday level of our experience and dip into the quantum level can be very useful. It's a way to widen the lens of our perceptions in order to blaze new pathways forward; and
2) Applying this counsel to my own situation, I have been opening my mind to a much wider set of possibilities professionally over the last few months. And...one truly wonderful opportunity has actualized: Namely that I have just accepted the Executive Director position at the Goosefoot Community Fund. I start full-time on February 8th.
So what's going to happen with Cedar Wise Coaching? First, I don't see this change in title as a step away from coaching per se. It is more about applying my coaching skills and nonprofit leadership experience directly to one organization in my own community -- one I believe has the potential to serve as a model for other communities wrestling with similar stressors.
Moreover, I've become increasing aware that cultivating resilient local communities is absolutely critical if we are to effectively address the multiple and interconnected crises facing our world today. As the Noble Laureate in Chemistry, Ilya Prigogine, asserted, "When a system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence can shift the entire system." I see the community on South Whidbey Island, both literally and figuratively, as a place that's dedicated to becoming one of those "small islands of coherence."
For over two decades, the Goosefoot Community Fund has been undertaking innovative approaches that foster a resilient and thriving community as a whole. These include developing multi-stakeholder initiatives to: support sustainable food systems and food security; tackle affordable housing; address racial and social injustices; promote local businesses; sustain a healthy ecosystem; bolster local nonprofits; and much more.
Given the responsibilities I’ll have at Goosefoot, I won't be taking on new individual coaching clients for now, but I will be keeping a waitlist. If it looks like my workload will permit, I'll let people know when I might be available to offer coaching sessions. I may also create other opportunities for nonprofit leaders to benefit from group coaching and facilitation. Please stay tuned!
In the meanwhile, remember that whenever your world feels too burdened and "far from equilibrium," a "sea of possibilities" is always available to you. You have the capacity to change potential energy into purposeful action, creating actualities that can shift entire systems and truly make a positive difference in the lives of generations to come.
— written and edited by Elise Miller, February 1, 2023