The Nature of Things || Oct 2020

10/6/2020

I have a confession to make: I’ve been struggling with Authentic Communication in this pandemic political season.

The goals I've set for myself and my business and my clients – communication as an act of love, listening through difference, cultivating trust by speaking truth – can sometimes feel like very high and far-away ideals. One woman recently told me that truth has vanished from American society. Can that be right? It makes my whole being quake. So – like most people – I'm tolerating a lot of uncertainty and discomfort right now. A lot.

I’m finding that it helps to stay focused on what I do know and I can do. I can deliver workshops. I can be kind. I can love my family – even when their views are different than mine. I can find joy in being where I am. I can write. I don’t have to solve every problem, or even pretend that I have any answers at all. I can be messy and still claim my place as a communication consultant. I can release perfectionism – every day, release more and more. I can hold space. I can collaborate with other people – and together we can support each other – together we can stay with it, even when it’s uncomfortable and challenging.

Doing this is the seeding and watering. I don’t know how Authentic Communication will grow in the months ahead, but I will continue to show up, for myself, my business, and my amazing clients. And I will do my level best to keep doing that with acceptance, curiosity and humility. I will do this because – even though it's messy and hard – it's also worth it. Just like Love.

#CommunicationIsAnActOfLove
#AuthenticCommunication
#MessyHardWorthIt
#JustLikeLove

6 Comments

Dottie Whipple

10/7/2020 08:03:31

Hi Jennifer,
I think you've described how many of us are feeling.
We are in uncharted territory, and daily our lives are being challenged in one way or another. Unfortunately we don't know what to believe or who to trust.
Between the pandemic, the raging fires in California (and lack of consideration of climate change), the political landscape, and the economy (people losing jobs, restaurants and companies closing) I wonder what our world will look like when the dust settles.

Jennifer Wasmer

10/7/2020 16:12:52

Hi Dottie. Thank you so much for sharing from your heart. I think you're showing us just what this time calls for: Connecting from that deeper place where we have more similarities than differences, and being there for each other.

Renato Arruda

10/7/2020 16:46:21

Loved your humbleness and self-awareness! I can relate to your struggle and I'm sure most of the world does to. Watching "The Social Dilemma" in netflix also broadened my perspective on how it's difficult to have one single truth as each one of us is dealing with "reality" in their own individual personalized feeds and algorithms.

10/8/2020 13:03:35

Thank you, Renato! The concept of truth has come under extreme pressure. I wonder how things would look if we consider to universal truths as a touchstone. What happens, for example, if we make our starting place Love, and then move into the world from there?

Bret Gallaway

10/19/2020 18:23:36

Hi Jennifer-
Thanks, as always, for your earnest wisdom. Gosh, I hope truth is not vanishing from American society. It seems election results will help us guage that theory. I have faith in the American people.
Authentic Communications is more relevant and needed than ever. Seeding and watering, indeed. Good fortune to you and all other kindred apostles!

10/21/2020 16:00:44

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for your support, Bret. I join you in having faith in the American people. Like Love, Democracy is messy, hard and worth it.

Jennifer's Blog

The Nature of Things || Oct 2020

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