Courage and LightExploring Passion, Renewal, and Creativity
The Center for Servant Leadership (CSL) invites the campus community to take part in a unique workshop series, "Courage and Light: Exploring Passion, Renewal, and Creativity” this fall. The multimedia program, which the Gustavus Center for Vocational Reflection (predecessor to the CSL) helped to produce, features a series of filmed conversations between acclaimed author and educator Parker J. Palmer (educator and author of The Courage To Teach and Let Your Life Speak) and renowned National Geographic nature photographer Jim Brandenburg, whose photographs from his famed “Chased by the Light” project are the heart of the series. This workshop series will provide a powerful learning experience to re-ignite passion in one’s work, reclaim mission and vision, enhance communication, and enrich creative thinking and problem solving.
The starting point and context for the series is the internationally award-winning PBS documentary "Chased by the Light," which chronicles an extraordinary experience of personal and creative renewal undertaken by Brandenburg: at the height of his career, he found himself exhausted and having lost passion for his work. For 90 days he set out to document life in the Minnesota/Ontario wilderness surrounding his home by following a strict discipline of taking a single photograph -- one click of the shutter -- each day.
There will be five sessions in the series, facilitated by Chris Johnson, Director for Vocation and Integrative Learning in the CSL; feel free to come to as few or as many as you're able. We will meet in Linner Lounge at 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. each of the following Wednesdays:
October 19 : "Seasons as Metaphors" uses the cycle of the seasons as a framework for individuals and teams to assess where they are in the cycle of their work and helps them regain the passion that brings out the best in all of us.
November 2: "Paying Attention" reclaims the power of paying attention through listening -- to others and to our own wise council -- and by refocusing attention on the often neglected things that matter the most.
November 16: "Working on the Slant" offers powerful approaches to creative problem solving and to deepening group communication, trust, and effectiveness.
November 30: "Finding the Gold in Failure" works with the concept that failure can allow us to confirm and reconnect with our commitments and provide opportunities to learn, discover, and innovate.
December 14: "On Risk Taking" explores how taking appropriate risks can awaken passion and stimulate creativity.
To help us get an accurate count for materials and refreshments, please rsvp to Amy in the CSL for the sessions you plan to attend (phone x7169 or email apehrson). But don't let that keep you away: walk-ins are fine, and everyone is welcome.