Here in the CM Journal I'm not specifically in a habit of pulling in outside articles but these are of particular interest in Exopolitical Mediation. With a burgeoning trend of change toward the introduction of the Contact Paradigm on a global and official level, I think it is worth noting that the United Nations is also exploring the value of mediators and mediation. I have been reflecting on how the nature of the work exopolitical mediators do will change. I think that certainly the scope of their involvement will broaden. They may well find themselves working in teams with other traditional mediators who specialize in conflict on an international level, to help mediation transition to a new definition of mediation on a global scale.
"10 June 2009 – The United Nations special on-call mediation team has helped respond to sticky problems all over the globe in their first year – and should do more, according to a top official at the world body.
So far, the Standby Team of Mediation Experts, established last year to help the UN respond more quickly to crises, has been asked to help with the Organization’s peacemaking and preventive diplomacy in nine areas in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, said Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios.
“Responding effectively to peacemaking opportunities depends on getting to the field quickly with the right kind of expertise,” said Mr. Menkerios. “The Standby Team is helping us to do just that.”
The six-member team “should be used more widely as a resource by envoys in the field,” he said at a luncheon honouring departing members of the team who serve one year terms. " UN News Center - Read More Here....
Thinking more on this. I have considered what work the 2008 UN Meetings on UFO-Contact Paradigm Disclosure may have initiated. If the interservice groups aren't already developing relationships with international mediators perhaps the value and experience gained by the UN's team will open that as a possibility at a later date....
"Some of the world’s most experienced mediators, high-level decision makers and key peace process actors will meet in Oslo, Norway, from 16-18 June 2009, to share their experiences of peacemaking and reflect on current mediation processes.
The focus of this year’s forum is “Reasserting diplomacy and mediation in a fragmented world”, focusing on the utility of mediation versus that of military force to resolve conflicts. How can mediation and diplomacy be made more relevant and effective? Issues will include experiences of negotiating with organised Islamist groups; " Read More - Click Here
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Seeing The Forest, In Spite of the Trees...
By Michael A. Melton, Psy.D.,
Compass Morainn Journal
Please distribute freely.
I guess this is more of an opinion paper than an article, per se. Perhaps it is a plea. I feel, however, that we need to really understand some fundamentals about the way things are. I have always asked “Why?” I have never been afraid to ask. We must learn to pay close attention to our existence, and our place in this world. I want us to stop being used, and become empowered, in order to take back what is ours, namely, the earth and all of it’s resources and wonders. So, bear with me, and I hope you get on board and take action. It’s the only way we’ll get out of this alive…
Did you ever have a day where you had an overall goal you wanted to reach by days end? What normally happens with me is that I get caught up in the details, and by the time lunch rolls around, I forget what it was I wanted to accomplish that day, until it’s too late. Laying in bed at night it suddenly hits me! I did nothing to reach my goal, and I feel frustrated and cheated. And of course, the only one I have to blame is myself. Now, I want you to remember this little snippet of my life, because it comes to play a little later on in this article – like, when it comes to the moral of the story.
I have bad news. We are all being grossly mismanaged. We are allowing ourselves to be manipulated, and fed, and gagged, on details that have no relevance to our reason for being, living, and surviving. It is pervasive. On our TV’s, radios, billboards, and anywhere where the consumer is afoot. I think everyone has read an article at one time or another recently that points this fact out. We are an intelligent species, and yet, we fail to learn even the most fundamental lessons. Those who don’t study and learn from history are bound to repeat it, for whatever it is worth. Or perhaps what we learn as history is not quite how it happened. Perhaps it is an embellishment on the facts, created to suit some nefarious purpose. What if I am correct? What if the truth were something so shocking, so culture-shaking, so strikingly different than what we are used to, that we have been kept from it? What if the “what if’s” are what is?
I refuse to focus on religion or politics in a direct way, although those institutions are affected. But our faith, well, that is something that might just get us through the revelation of the truth – the forest, if you will. Remember – the truth will set you free, or will it? There are no guarantees, only the chances we take in our quest for answers.
Whether you agree or not, in my estimation, the last president of the United States elected by the people with any validity was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was just a tree in the forest, but my God, what an important tree. After his assassination in 1963, reality changed significantly. In my lifetime, that was one of the first major jolts I suffered that woke me up. I was only 8 years old then, but I still recall the anguish I felt as I saw both of my parents, and my aunts and uncles in tears, wondering if this would be the end of the world. Well, to me, it was. I held on to that anguish, and I never forget it, even to this day. It is the foundation on which I have built my reality. There occurred a true break from the innocence felt by many Americans, which at first we appropriately focused outward upon some strange and foreign culprit, bent on taking away our way of life. As time went on, I think I, along with many Americans realized that it was the first signs of a cancer growing from within. Every president since then has been pre-selected, in order to suit a particular elitist group of individuals who think they are intelligent enough to tell everybody else how to live. In 1963, the cancer attacked the Sovereign United States of America in a visible and open manner. And we stood by and watched, helpless.
It is solely my expression of feeling, but what is being held back from us in terms of technology, energy, as well as science, is incredible. We must all learn to follow the money if we want to find this incredibly pervasive cancer. Did you ever stop and ask yourself “Why don’t we have more electric cars?” “Why don’t we have a more efficient way to deliver electricity?” “Why are my energy bills so high?” “Why am I paying so much for fuel?” Well, the answer is, that we are all being grossly mismanaged, as I said earlier. And we are to blame. It is time for all of us to begin reading between the lines, to ask questions, and not be afraid. It is so important to wake up, because this will help us move on as a race and a species. We must live by the assumption that you can’t always believe what you read, what you hear, or even what you see. Allowing ourselves to be more sensitive to the evils in the world will help prevent it taking hold, but we must do more. We must call out to our fellow humans, and loudly let them know of the injustices we see and feel. We must set the example and take care of each other, and fight against being told what our reality is, and what we are allowed to think and feel. Wake up, my brothers and sisters, and with our Creator’s help, and a strong faith in a positive outcome, we shall prevail. Time is short, and we are many, many more than they are. Stand tall and strong, and know that truth is the only answer we will accept. And do not worry. When we work together as a people with a purpose and goal in sight, we are invincible.
The Big Picture
“Okay,” you say, “What the heck are you trying to say?” Well, in this small space, I am trying to say that each and every one of us are responsible for our own behavior. If we succeed, or if we fail, it is our work or lack thereof that created the outcome. The catch is, that we are also responsible for our fellow man, or, as the Youngbloods sang in that anthem of a sadly passed era “Come on, people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now.” So, in the future, if we fail as a species, or propagate, we are all responsible. For every child that is starving, every heart that is breaking, every job lost, every marriage failed, every soul lost, we are responsible. We live in a difficult and “dis-informed” time. We live amongst the greedy, the power grabbers, selfish ones, people out for themselves, and we need to stop, and come together. We need to do simply that. If we want to get anywhere in this world, in this universe, we must first come together. Remember that little snippet I asked you to remember? Well, tonight, I shall lie down to sleep knowing I did something I planned today. I took responsibility, and I ask you to do the same.
Compass Morainn Journal
Please distribute freely.
I guess this is more of an opinion paper than an article, per se. Perhaps it is a plea. I feel, however, that we need to really understand some fundamentals about the way things are. I have always asked “Why?” I have never been afraid to ask. We must learn to pay close attention to our existence, and our place in this world. I want us to stop being used, and become empowered, in order to take back what is ours, namely, the earth and all of it’s resources and wonders. So, bear with me, and I hope you get on board and take action. It’s the only way we’ll get out of this alive…
Did you ever have a day where you had an overall goal you wanted to reach by days end? What normally happens with me is that I get caught up in the details, and by the time lunch rolls around, I forget what it was I wanted to accomplish that day, until it’s too late. Laying in bed at night it suddenly hits me! I did nothing to reach my goal, and I feel frustrated and cheated. And of course, the only one I have to blame is myself. Now, I want you to remember this little snippet of my life, because it comes to play a little later on in this article – like, when it comes to the moral of the story.
I have bad news. We are all being grossly mismanaged. We are allowing ourselves to be manipulated, and fed, and gagged, on details that have no relevance to our reason for being, living, and surviving. It is pervasive. On our TV’s, radios, billboards, and anywhere where the consumer is afoot. I think everyone has read an article at one time or another recently that points this fact out. We are an intelligent species, and yet, we fail to learn even the most fundamental lessons. Those who don’t study and learn from history are bound to repeat it, for whatever it is worth. Or perhaps what we learn as history is not quite how it happened. Perhaps it is an embellishment on the facts, created to suit some nefarious purpose. What if I am correct? What if the truth were something so shocking, so culture-shaking, so strikingly different than what we are used to, that we have been kept from it? What if the “what if’s” are what is?
I refuse to focus on religion or politics in a direct way, although those institutions are affected. But our faith, well, that is something that might just get us through the revelation of the truth – the forest, if you will. Remember – the truth will set you free, or will it? There are no guarantees, only the chances we take in our quest for answers.
Whether you agree or not, in my estimation, the last president of the United States elected by the people with any validity was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was just a tree in the forest, but my God, what an important tree. After his assassination in 1963, reality changed significantly. In my lifetime, that was one of the first major jolts I suffered that woke me up. I was only 8 years old then, but I still recall the anguish I felt as I saw both of my parents, and my aunts and uncles in tears, wondering if this would be the end of the world. Well, to me, it was. I held on to that anguish, and I never forget it, even to this day. It is the foundation on which I have built my reality. There occurred a true break from the innocence felt by many Americans, which at first we appropriately focused outward upon some strange and foreign culprit, bent on taking away our way of life. As time went on, I think I, along with many Americans realized that it was the first signs of a cancer growing from within. Every president since then has been pre-selected, in order to suit a particular elitist group of individuals who think they are intelligent enough to tell everybody else how to live. In 1963, the cancer attacked the Sovereign United States of America in a visible and open manner. And we stood by and watched, helpless.
It is solely my expression of feeling, but what is being held back from us in terms of technology, energy, as well as science, is incredible. We must all learn to follow the money if we want to find this incredibly pervasive cancer. Did you ever stop and ask yourself “Why don’t we have more electric cars?” “Why don’t we have a more efficient way to deliver electricity?” “Why are my energy bills so high?” “Why am I paying so much for fuel?” Well, the answer is, that we are all being grossly mismanaged, as I said earlier. And we are to blame. It is time for all of us to begin reading between the lines, to ask questions, and not be afraid. It is so important to wake up, because this will help us move on as a race and a species. We must live by the assumption that you can’t always believe what you read, what you hear, or even what you see. Allowing ourselves to be more sensitive to the evils in the world will help prevent it taking hold, but we must do more. We must call out to our fellow humans, and loudly let them know of the injustices we see and feel. We must set the example and take care of each other, and fight against being told what our reality is, and what we are allowed to think and feel. Wake up, my brothers and sisters, and with our Creator’s help, and a strong faith in a positive outcome, we shall prevail. Time is short, and we are many, many more than they are. Stand tall and strong, and know that truth is the only answer we will accept. And do not worry. When we work together as a people with a purpose and goal in sight, we are invincible.
The Big Picture
“Okay,” you say, “What the heck are you trying to say?” Well, in this small space, I am trying to say that each and every one of us are responsible for our own behavior. If we succeed, or if we fail, it is our work or lack thereof that created the outcome. The catch is, that we are also responsible for our fellow man, or, as the Youngbloods sang in that anthem of a sadly passed era “Come on, people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now.” So, in the future, if we fail as a species, or propagate, we are all responsible. For every child that is starving, every heart that is breaking, every job lost, every marriage failed, every soul lost, we are responsible. We live in a difficult and “dis-informed” time. We live amongst the greedy, the power grabbers, selfish ones, people out for themselves, and we need to stop, and come together. We need to do simply that. If we want to get anywhere in this world, in this universe, we must first come together. Remember that little snippet I asked you to remember? Well, tonight, I shall lie down to sleep knowing I did something I planned today. I took responsibility, and I ask you to do the same.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Testing and Attending to Group Coherency In Exopolitical Mediation
Testing and Attending to Group Coherency In Exopolitical Mediation
By Cyrellys Geibhendach
06/12/09
Copy & Distribute Freely
Compass Morainn
Compass Morainn Journal
The exopolitical mediator closely observes participant coherency or group coherency in mediation situations. The observations are used to manage the group communication perspective. A litmus test for evaluating the dialog compares and applies the most useful communication questions to the trends or events within each revolution of the discussion or communication event. This allows the mediator to recognize the development of new levels of stress associated with unfulfilled needs, and the subsequent trends transcending fair reason in participant expectations.
“Taking a communication perspective, the most useful questions are not "can you hear me?" or even "do you understand me?" They are "what are we making together?" or, referring to specific events or objects such as a person, an organization, or a culture, "how is it being made in the process of interaction?" or, "how can we make better social worlds?"” ~ W. Barnett Pearce (1)
W. Barnett Pearce discerns and illustrates the root intent of modern group communication. These questions being descriptive of the effort embodied in exopolitical communications regarding the contact paradigm can then be applied in the evaluation of the following exopolitical trend issue: would exopolitical researchers be reasonable in expecting or demanding that Insider disclosers of the Contact Paradigm violate national security in order to produce a proof of paradigm along with their communication event in order for the event to be seriously receivable by the exopolitical community? It has been suggested that due to past disinformation campaigns, information obscuring, the use of exit strategies, the preponderance of unverifiable stories, and the heaps of community conjecture thrown upon every event which researchers must wade through, that the future of insider communications is in severe jeopardy. Rather than engage in the formulation of an equitable solution such as an Amnesty for insiders or the contact control structure itself as has been requested repeatedly by insiders, some participants in the exopolitical community have agreed with the following in regards to unproven communications (communication events without verifiable proof of paradigm claimed), “If they are intending to obscure, then they have. For now, we are no further in knowing the truth. Perhaps we should put a sign out in the front: "Proof, or no entry".” (2)
The individuals who would consider this constriction are indeed asking, "what are we making together?" In their perception the Insiders communication events fail to fulfill (with 50 years of routine consistency) the expectation of working together; producing clear forward movement. However, asserting such restrictions upon the communication event, without first providing an avenue for them to legally produce and release that level of expected proof (without undue risk to personal self-injury), is certainly unreasonable. It is an example of failure to partake in a team effort or the outright withdrawal from group coherency. In promoting such restrictions they may be asking "what are we making together” but they are not allowing an equitable joint effort to occur. Therefore their response becomes self-defeating for their particular needs.
Of serious concern, when participants retreat from group coherency, they open themselves to follow with even greater emotional responses, exerting their personal power of self-assertion and aggression in order to cut through barriers, penetrating the consciousness of the other participants, such as considering more extreme requirements or actions which violate the sovereignty of other participants. An example in this manner of a further reach for proof and power can be found in the suggestion that abductees, contactees, and MILAB victims relinquish their sovereignty by allowing themselves to be chipped with a device like the RFID tag made by Verichip which can then be tracked via GPS. According to this suggestion, such a device would be formatted to output a minute by minute log of where the device has been and could even be networked into Google Maps to track its movements in real-time. Verichip’s human implant device has been almost wholly rejected by the major public whereas in contrast it has been toyed and experimented with on a small scale by elites and their high security facilities. It’s blatant violation of human rights and privacy has largely restricted its use despite international governments plans to implement it as a data gathering, security and control staple in human society. Allowance of this suggestion to manifest into real use could carry consequences which legally impact a population subgroup of unknown size around the globe and then traverse the scope of application to enact itself upon a determinedly unwilling global population which creates a spiral of conflict outside of the contact paradigm. Such a conflict would be a detriment to both the Disclosure process and the secrecy maintenance proponents.
In exopolitical mediation, the participants are struggling for their legitimate rights to power and affirmation. We tend to look on power in a negative way and associate it with abuse. Rollo May, however has a different take on it. Mr. May, a psychologist of distinguished career, “whose contributions to the humanistic movement are highly significant, contended that power is a fundamental aspect of the life process. Indeed, he believed that powerlessness corrupts the human personality by robbing the individual of a sense of meaning and significance…He argued that power occurs in an individuals life in five functional forms.” (4)
Those forms are the ‘power to be’, ‘power as self-affirmation’, ‘power as self-assertion’, ‘power as aggression’, and ‘power as violence’. A legitimate use of power can include actualizing one’s own self in a perceived hostile environment. Many in the public, and the exopolitical/ufology community view the secrecy paradigm as a hostile environment. Therefore a leap to the destructive use of power occurs when tolerance to powerlessness is exceeded. This can be seen when exopoliticians leave the group coherency in aggression to inflict injury, unjust restrictions, or the taking of power simply to increase the range of their control. In the personal experience of these exopoliticians the sense of meaning and significance they gain through the mediation event has been lost.
The application of the communication perspective questions, open the door to an extended depth of dialog regarding what limitations or extent should be applied to the pursuit of truth and participant expectations, in order to maintain human liberties and ethical conduct on all sides. In the evolution of the contact paradigm, wide ranging impacts and consequences to participant approaches, touch everyone on the planet. It has the potential to set disconcerting precedents that can be applied even beyond the management of the paradigm’s direct influence. It is therefore highly important for Exopolitical Mediators to be very conscious of the directions communications among participants take.
An exopolitical mediator may choose, upon perception of these trends, to intervene with a directional comment or open the floor to a discussion of the larger picture where the consequences of the limits or extents of the pursuit of truth are addressed. If the participants can discover for themselves through topic interaction, an understanding of how their expectations and efforts impact the other participant members or the wider global scope then a reformulation of group coherency may evolve with positive results.
“that which is utopian is not that which is unattainable; it is not idealism; it is a dialectic process of denouncing and announcing; denouncing the dehumanizing structure, and announcing the humanizing structure.” ~ Paulo Freire (3)
Notes:
___________
By Cyrellys Geibhendach
06/12/09
Copy & Distribute Freely
Compass Morainn
Compass Morainn Journal
The exopolitical mediator closely observes participant coherency or group coherency in mediation situations. The observations are used to manage the group communication perspective. A litmus test for evaluating the dialog compares and applies the most useful communication questions to the trends or events within each revolution of the discussion or communication event. This allows the mediator to recognize the development of new levels of stress associated with unfulfilled needs, and the subsequent trends transcending fair reason in participant expectations.
“Taking a communication perspective, the most useful questions are not "can you hear me?" or even "do you understand me?" They are "what are we making together?" or, referring to specific events or objects such as a person, an organization, or a culture, "how is it being made in the process of interaction?" or, "how can we make better social worlds?"” ~ W. Barnett Pearce (1)
W. Barnett Pearce discerns and illustrates the root intent of modern group communication. These questions being descriptive of the effort embodied in exopolitical communications regarding the contact paradigm can then be applied in the evaluation of the following exopolitical trend issue: would exopolitical researchers be reasonable in expecting or demanding that Insider disclosers of the Contact Paradigm violate national security in order to produce a proof of paradigm along with their communication event in order for the event to be seriously receivable by the exopolitical community? It has been suggested that due to past disinformation campaigns, information obscuring, the use of exit strategies, the preponderance of unverifiable stories, and the heaps of community conjecture thrown upon every event which researchers must wade through, that the future of insider communications is in severe jeopardy. Rather than engage in the formulation of an equitable solution such as an Amnesty for insiders or the contact control structure itself as has been requested repeatedly by insiders, some participants in the exopolitical community have agreed with the following in regards to unproven communications (communication events without verifiable proof of paradigm claimed), “If they are intending to obscure, then they have. For now, we are no further in knowing the truth. Perhaps we should put a sign out in the front: "Proof, or no entry".” (2)
The individuals who would consider this constriction are indeed asking, "what are we making together?" In their perception the Insiders communication events fail to fulfill (with 50 years of routine consistency) the expectation of working together; producing clear forward movement. However, asserting such restrictions upon the communication event, without first providing an avenue for them to legally produce and release that level of expected proof (without undue risk to personal self-injury), is certainly unreasonable. It is an example of failure to partake in a team effort or the outright withdrawal from group coherency. In promoting such restrictions they may be asking "what are we making together” but they are not allowing an equitable joint effort to occur. Therefore their response becomes self-defeating for their particular needs.
Of serious concern, when participants retreat from group coherency, they open themselves to follow with even greater emotional responses, exerting their personal power of self-assertion and aggression in order to cut through barriers, penetrating the consciousness of the other participants, such as considering more extreme requirements or actions which violate the sovereignty of other participants. An example in this manner of a further reach for proof and power can be found in the suggestion that abductees, contactees, and MILAB victims relinquish their sovereignty by allowing themselves to be chipped with a device like the RFID tag made by Verichip which can then be tracked via GPS. According to this suggestion, such a device would be formatted to output a minute by minute log of where the device has been and could even be networked into Google Maps to track its movements in real-time. Verichip’s human implant device has been almost wholly rejected by the major public whereas in contrast it has been toyed and experimented with on a small scale by elites and their high security facilities. It’s blatant violation of human rights and privacy has largely restricted its use despite international governments plans to implement it as a data gathering, security and control staple in human society. Allowance of this suggestion to manifest into real use could carry consequences which legally impact a population subgroup of unknown size around the globe and then traverse the scope of application to enact itself upon a determinedly unwilling global population which creates a spiral of conflict outside of the contact paradigm. Such a conflict would be a detriment to both the Disclosure process and the secrecy maintenance proponents.
In exopolitical mediation, the participants are struggling for their legitimate rights to power and affirmation. We tend to look on power in a negative way and associate it with abuse. Rollo May, however has a different take on it. Mr. May, a psychologist of distinguished career, “whose contributions to the humanistic movement are highly significant, contended that power is a fundamental aspect of the life process. Indeed, he believed that powerlessness corrupts the human personality by robbing the individual of a sense of meaning and significance…He argued that power occurs in an individuals life in five functional forms.” (4)
Those forms are the ‘power to be’, ‘power as self-affirmation’, ‘power as self-assertion’, ‘power as aggression’, and ‘power as violence’. A legitimate use of power can include actualizing one’s own self in a perceived hostile environment. Many in the public, and the exopolitical/ufology community view the secrecy paradigm as a hostile environment. Therefore a leap to the destructive use of power occurs when tolerance to powerlessness is exceeded. This can be seen when exopoliticians leave the group coherency in aggression to inflict injury, unjust restrictions, or the taking of power simply to increase the range of their control. In the personal experience of these exopoliticians the sense of meaning and significance they gain through the mediation event has been lost.
The application of the communication perspective questions, open the door to an extended depth of dialog regarding what limitations or extent should be applied to the pursuit of truth and participant expectations, in order to maintain human liberties and ethical conduct on all sides. In the evolution of the contact paradigm, wide ranging impacts and consequences to participant approaches, touch everyone on the planet. It has the potential to set disconcerting precedents that can be applied even beyond the management of the paradigm’s direct influence. It is therefore highly important for Exopolitical Mediators to be very conscious of the directions communications among participants take.
An exopolitical mediator may choose, upon perception of these trends, to intervene with a directional comment or open the floor to a discussion of the larger picture where the consequences of the limits or extents of the pursuit of truth are addressed. If the participants can discover for themselves through topic interaction, an understanding of how their expectations and efforts impact the other participant members or the wider global scope then a reformulation of group coherency may evolve with positive results.
“that which is utopian is not that which is unattainable; it is not idealism; it is a dialectic process of denouncing and announcing; denouncing the dehumanizing structure, and announcing the humanizing structure.” ~ Paulo Freire (3)
Notes:
___________
Toward Communicative Virtuosity: A Meditation On Modernity And Other Forms Of Communication; page 3 © W. Barnett Pearce, 2005, School of Human and Organization Development Fielding Graduate University http://www.humiliationstudies.org/documents/PearceCommunicativeVirtuosity.pdf- Fore - Reply #1864, Re: UN / Source "A" - Discussion & Follow Up III; Open Minds Forum, http://lucianarchy.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=unitednations&action=display&thread=4806&page=125#186977
- Communication for Social Change Anthology: Historical and Contemporary Readings, A Farewell to Aristotle “Horizontal Communication”, Lewis Ramiro Beltrain, © 1979, pg 157 http://books.google.com/books?id=85WbPmx9QlcC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=percieving+communication,&source=bl&ots=6BGLQatRbP&sig=krL_ZSeeX344i9EmJSmtNLcl9QE&hl=en&ei=ATwUSunGBKCc8QTl-5CKBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA158,M1
- Power and Society, Thomas R Dye & Brigid C Harrison; © 2005 Wadsworth – A Division of Thomsan Learning Inc. page 159
Saturday, June 6, 2009
An Abstract on Rise of Assumptions in Exopolitical Mediation
By Cyrellys Geibhendach
06/06/09
Copy & Distribute Freely
My Website: Compass Morainn
It is amazing how difficult we make human interactions when we use assumptions within environments in which the adherence and protection of the integrity of details is so incredibly important to the disclosers and to the long-term effects of the information beyond the original communication event. The relationship between exopolitical mediators and the participants in their mediation depends on the objective receipt, relay, & extrapolation of facts. In a tenuous inter-group social climate which ensconces the parties involved, any misunderstandings which result from assumptions can cause those communication events to literally fall apart as stress levels shred the veins of trust built through the act of mediation.
There has always been a limit of tolerance for disbelief, fact-twisting, emotional-grandstanding, and sensationalizing no matter which end or version of the participant spectrum is involved. Participant sensitivity, particularly when Insiders or Whistleblowers are involved, is rife with communication apprehension. The importance of cognitive listening is rarely understood by public observers or public participants in particular. Cognitive listening is the opposite of assuming. It is the mental process of understanding and remembering another’s message clearly and concisely.
The benefits of cognitive listening are the same as they are in other relationships. Lorna Doone of the blog “Something Good” wrote the following series of articles in which she explains that assumptions can be avoided by asking questions and verifying or clarifying the responses by asking them once again:
The Four Agreements Part Four: Don't Make Assumptions
Part One - An Introduction
Part Two - Be Impeccable With Your Word
Part Three - Don't Take Anything Personally
Part Four - Don't Make Assumptions
Part Five - Always Do Your Best
In part four, “Don’t Make Assumptions,” she gives a very nice list of the benefits of cognitive listening without defining the term as the opposite to the making and use of assumptions. She says, “This actually has a lot of benefits. First of all, you’re spending more time actually communicating with those you care about. They are able to see that you are willing to take time and effort to really listen to what they have to say. Secondly, you are going to be able to avoid a lot of stress and drama by not making assumptions. Finally, you can help create a great example for how you want to be treated. In fact, you can use your new-found ability to ask questions in order to let others know what you want in life.”
In exopolitical mediation, the participants are communicating for the very purpose of expressing what they want in life. Therefore the leap to assume which is a natural human tendency or habit inhibits this form of communication. This use of assumptions occurs during the maturation phase or middle phase of relationship development in which the participants learn each other’s idiosyncratic nature and develop a sense of identity through symbolic labels of the relationship. The assumptions are synonymous or indicative of the labels that are being developed. It might therefore be suggested that the participant’s inherent understanding of the information providers involved may be flawed. It may be useful to return to that foundation introduction for a revitalization of that understanding or to modify the interaction to expound and improve upon the perception of the information provider(s) among them.
It is within the Mediator’s legitimate power to direct the conversation where improvements in or reiteration of information, or even the use of mnemonic devices may assist the participants to more appropriately and accurately recall or understand information in the way it was intended. The assigning of symbolic labels or connotative meaning to information given will elicit a personal emotional response on the part of the information giver(s). The mediator can work through the detriments of assumptive responses or returns on given information by developing a cooperative strategy with willing participants that is complimentary to the communication purposes early on, fully understanding that this occurrence is not atypical in exopolitical mediation.
By Cyrellys Geibhendach
06/06/09
Copy & Distribute Freely
My Website: Compass Morainn
It is amazing how difficult we make human interactions when we use assumptions within environments in which the adherence and protection of the integrity of details is so incredibly important to the disclosers and to the long-term effects of the information beyond the original communication event. The relationship between exopolitical mediators and the participants in their mediation depends on the objective receipt, relay, & extrapolation of facts. In a tenuous inter-group social climate which ensconces the parties involved, any misunderstandings which result from assumptions can cause those communication events to literally fall apart as stress levels shred the veins of trust built through the act of mediation.
There has always been a limit of tolerance for disbelief, fact-twisting, emotional-grandstanding, and sensationalizing no matter which end or version of the participant spectrum is involved. Participant sensitivity, particularly when Insiders or Whistleblowers are involved, is rife with communication apprehension. The importance of cognitive listening is rarely understood by public observers or public participants in particular. Cognitive listening is the opposite of assuming. It is the mental process of understanding and remembering another’s message clearly and concisely.
The benefits of cognitive listening are the same as they are in other relationships. Lorna Doone of the blog “Something Good” wrote the following series of articles in which she explains that assumptions can be avoided by asking questions and verifying or clarifying the responses by asking them once again:
The Four Agreements Part Four: Don't Make Assumptions
Part One - An Introduction
Part Two - Be Impeccable With Your Word
Part Three - Don't Take Anything Personally
Part Four - Don't Make Assumptions
Part Five - Always Do Your Best
In part four, “Don’t Make Assumptions,” she gives a very nice list of the benefits of cognitive listening without defining the term as the opposite to the making and use of assumptions. She says, “This actually has a lot of benefits. First of all, you’re spending more time actually communicating with those you care about. They are able to see that you are willing to take time and effort to really listen to what they have to say. Secondly, you are going to be able to avoid a lot of stress and drama by not making assumptions. Finally, you can help create a great example for how you want to be treated. In fact, you can use your new-found ability to ask questions in order to let others know what you want in life.”
In exopolitical mediation, the participants are communicating for the very purpose of expressing what they want in life. Therefore the leap to assume which is a natural human tendency or habit inhibits this form of communication. This use of assumptions occurs during the maturation phase or middle phase of relationship development in which the participants learn each other’s idiosyncratic nature and develop a sense of identity through symbolic labels of the relationship. The assumptions are synonymous or indicative of the labels that are being developed. It might therefore be suggested that the participant’s inherent understanding of the information providers involved may be flawed. It may be useful to return to that foundation introduction for a revitalization of that understanding or to modify the interaction to expound and improve upon the perception of the information provider(s) among them.
It is within the Mediator’s legitimate power to direct the conversation where improvements in or reiteration of information, or even the use of mnemonic devices may assist the participants to more appropriately and accurately recall or understand information in the way it was intended. The assigning of symbolic labels or connotative meaning to information given will elicit a personal emotional response on the part of the information giver(s). The mediator can work through the detriments of assumptive responses or returns on given information by developing a cooperative strategy with willing participants that is complimentary to the communication purposes early on, fully understanding that this occurrence is not atypical in exopolitical mediation.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
On Taking Care of the Self: relaxation, Centerdness, and Effectiveness
By Michael A. Melton, Psy.D.
Compass Morainn Journal
Print and distribute freely.
In the talks and discussions you read on this blog you frequently come across many references to being “in control,” and “maintaining neutrality,” and “knowing one’s self,” and the like. All of these are so very vital to the task at hand, whether it be negotiations, research, or investigations into phenomena. I might even allude to the fact that successful grocery shopping, for example, is only accomplished by employing the above conditions of the self. So, the question posed in this discussion concerns how to conceive, achieve, and maintain a relaxed, centered and effective stance, and thus, project this stance into the situation it is applied to. I will give the reader a simple primer. The concepts are all one might need to begin building their own defense against stress and anxiety.
Core Concepts:
The first concept I want you to understand is “incompatibility.” Simply put, incompatibility is when two of anything simply will not go together. Think of oil and water. The absolute best you can do to get these two substances together (in everyday applications) is to shake vigorously, and even then, separation, or their incompatibility, shows itself almost immediately. They separate. Now, let’s think of emotions for a moment. When we are nervous and excited, or unsure, we feel stressed, we act stressed, we are, in fact, stressed. However, what if we learned how to behave in such a way as to thwart that anxiety? What if our thoughts, attitude and behavior reflect incompatibility with the onslaught of a stressful situation? Exactly – just like the oil and water, stress slides off our backs, and we remain cool, calm, and collected, ready to accomplish the great things we set out to do.
The second concept is “breathing.” Controlled breathing is essential to maintaining a cool head. Begin by allowing yourself to empty your lungs of stale air, and inhale deeply. Hold for a count of five, and release completely. Repeat this a few more times, and you are ready to tackle a stressful situation. The extra boost of oxygen energizes your brain, and assists you in making critical decisions, educated choices, and the like. Practice breathing awareness. Notice how, when you are under duress your respiration increases, depending on the stress. Using the “incompatible behavior concept, and integrating “breathing” in a controlled manner, you are already ahead of the game.
The third concept is “thinking.” To coin an old, time warn phrase, “don’t get caught up in stinkin’ thinkin’!” We set ourselves up at times by predisposing our situation to the realm of negative thoughts. Adding the concept of positive thinking to the mix is vital to maintaining calm. We give those automatic thoughts such power at times, that they literally drive us into an anxious state. Additionally, if you notice, all of these little functions are beginning to work in harmony. Knowing that staying relaxed is incompatible with feeling stressed, adding breathing awareness, controlling our breathing, and thinking positively, we are well on our way now to success.
The fourth concept is “staying loose,” in a muscular sense. For just a moment, clench your fists. Pay particular attention to just how far up your arms, into your chest, and so on, that tension spreads. Notice your thought pattern. You might complain that your wrists hurt. You have a pain in your neck, or even how you might use one of these fists to settle some dispute that is still on your mind, even though you’re not aware of it. Remaining loose and flexible is another way, added to the above, we can thwart anxiety and stress from overtaking us. Our musculature becomes stiff, and motor memory kicks in – we are feeling stressed, and tight, and irritable. “Shaking it off,” literally, is one way to stay relaxed and to prevent stressful muscle memory from kicking in.
The fifth concept is simply “being.” Awareness of being is perhaps the most important concept. I don’t want you to think of it as being applied in a grandiose and overinflated concept of self. I simply mean to maintain a high level of confidence in your skills and abilities. As a mediator, you are an important cog in a massive system of wheels and gears that have to turn in order to meet a mutually beneficial resolution. As a mediator, you are the cog that unites the two systems to run in harmony. Your role is vital and important in the outcome, and taking pride in the importance of your functioning in this complex system is in no way a boast or an overzealous gesture of self importance. You are needed in this process by both sides. So, it helps one to stay loose, and harbor positive self affirmations and thoughts, and to breathe easy.
Conclusion:
The result is a competent, confident interface for negotiations – an impartial mediator who is well aware of self, and ready to meet the challenge that lay ahead. The complex role that exopolitical mediators will face in the future demands a relaxed and confident stance. We might find it hard to imagine the possibilities we will face! And it is good, prudent and timely to “be ready!”
Compass Morainn Journal
Print and distribute freely.
In the talks and discussions you read on this blog you frequently come across many references to being “in control,” and “maintaining neutrality,” and “knowing one’s self,” and the like. All of these are so very vital to the task at hand, whether it be negotiations, research, or investigations into phenomena. I might even allude to the fact that successful grocery shopping, for example, is only accomplished by employing the above conditions of the self. So, the question posed in this discussion concerns how to conceive, achieve, and maintain a relaxed, centered and effective stance, and thus, project this stance into the situation it is applied to. I will give the reader a simple primer. The concepts are all one might need to begin building their own defense against stress and anxiety.
Core Concepts:
The first concept I want you to understand is “incompatibility.” Simply put, incompatibility is when two of anything simply will not go together. Think of oil and water. The absolute best you can do to get these two substances together (in everyday applications) is to shake vigorously, and even then, separation, or their incompatibility, shows itself almost immediately. They separate. Now, let’s think of emotions for a moment. When we are nervous and excited, or unsure, we feel stressed, we act stressed, we are, in fact, stressed. However, what if we learned how to behave in such a way as to thwart that anxiety? What if our thoughts, attitude and behavior reflect incompatibility with the onslaught of a stressful situation? Exactly – just like the oil and water, stress slides off our backs, and we remain cool, calm, and collected, ready to accomplish the great things we set out to do.
The second concept is “breathing.” Controlled breathing is essential to maintaining a cool head. Begin by allowing yourself to empty your lungs of stale air, and inhale deeply. Hold for a count of five, and release completely. Repeat this a few more times, and you are ready to tackle a stressful situation. The extra boost of oxygen energizes your brain, and assists you in making critical decisions, educated choices, and the like. Practice breathing awareness. Notice how, when you are under duress your respiration increases, depending on the stress. Using the “incompatible behavior concept, and integrating “breathing” in a controlled manner, you are already ahead of the game.
The third concept is “thinking.” To coin an old, time warn phrase, “don’t get caught up in stinkin’ thinkin’!” We set ourselves up at times by predisposing our situation to the realm of negative thoughts. Adding the concept of positive thinking to the mix is vital to maintaining calm. We give those automatic thoughts such power at times, that they literally drive us into an anxious state. Additionally, if you notice, all of these little functions are beginning to work in harmony. Knowing that staying relaxed is incompatible with feeling stressed, adding breathing awareness, controlling our breathing, and thinking positively, we are well on our way now to success.
The fourth concept is “staying loose,” in a muscular sense. For just a moment, clench your fists. Pay particular attention to just how far up your arms, into your chest, and so on, that tension spreads. Notice your thought pattern. You might complain that your wrists hurt. You have a pain in your neck, or even how you might use one of these fists to settle some dispute that is still on your mind, even though you’re not aware of it. Remaining loose and flexible is another way, added to the above, we can thwart anxiety and stress from overtaking us. Our musculature becomes stiff, and motor memory kicks in – we are feeling stressed, and tight, and irritable. “Shaking it off,” literally, is one way to stay relaxed and to prevent stressful muscle memory from kicking in.
The fifth concept is simply “being.” Awareness of being is perhaps the most important concept. I don’t want you to think of it as being applied in a grandiose and overinflated concept of self. I simply mean to maintain a high level of confidence in your skills and abilities. As a mediator, you are an important cog in a massive system of wheels and gears that have to turn in order to meet a mutually beneficial resolution. As a mediator, you are the cog that unites the two systems to run in harmony. Your role is vital and important in the outcome, and taking pride in the importance of your functioning in this complex system is in no way a boast or an overzealous gesture of self importance. You are needed in this process by both sides. So, it helps one to stay loose, and harbor positive self affirmations and thoughts, and to breathe easy.
Conclusion:
The result is a competent, confident interface for negotiations – an impartial mediator who is well aware of self, and ready to meet the challenge that lay ahead. The complex role that exopolitical mediators will face in the future demands a relaxed and confident stance. We might find it hard to imagine the possibilities we will face! And it is good, prudent and timely to “be ready!”
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