An Esalen community member hoping to influence the course of the Institute is showered with the language of gratitude — “heard” and “appreciated” — only to find that nothing of their contribution will be taken into true account.
This pattern of interaction abuses the language of process, the spirit of the human being, and the whole notion of personal human potential.
The failure of the community to influence the direction of Esalen through established process containers should no longer surprise us. Esalen process succeeds in transforming human beings, but no longer the Institute.
Bored of even perpetuating the illusion, the management will make this year’s Staff Week the first ever to lack a facilitated management-community process. Perhaps direct action will fill the void.
—Anonymous
I hope that there can be community meetings with a neutral facilitator. We need to create it ourselves, we needn’t wait for the paternalistic administrative class to allow us to have it.
That’s the spirit!
Actually, I’m not clear on that last point. Wasn’t there no management/staff facilitated process last year, too? Didn’t it get replaced by the Cheri Huber thing?