Just because I don't see it, does not mean it does not exist.

The Unconscious within

Quite recently, I attended a Conference that explored ‘Meeting Oneself, Meeting the Other’. 

The primary task was to study the exercise of authority and the nature of leadership that emerges in taking up roles – through the interpersonal, intergroup and institutional relationships that develop within the conference as an organization within its wider context. 

I became even more aware of the following realities:

1. That we all carry ‘baggage with us’ from our past.

2. That Because I do not see it, does not mean it does not     exist.

3. What I see, also what I choose NOT to see is significant.

4. There is no ‘slip of tongue’ or ‘forgetting’ or ‘coincidence’. 

5.  Insights come laced as ‘finished products’ yet also contain with it messiness.

6.  How our narrative of ourselves or the other can shape ‘group think’. 

7.  We can delve into intergroup exploration, but there is further exploration at the systems level that must be explored. 

8.  No matter how much we feel we are being objective there is always judgement and assessment.

9.  Hierarchy exists in the mind.

10.  By keeping silent, not confirming our ‘Ayes’ or ‘Nays’ we are colluding with the system. 

11.  Not just the other, the self can also cause itself to be ‘othered’. 

12.  Collective Conscious is a reality.

13.  Conflict does not have to be scary.

14.  Aggression can be explicit, even covert as in ‘holding back and being silent’. 

15.  Being silent, can impact me and the other.