The South, Central, and West Asian Pre-Pre-World Conference
I loved being at the Pre-Pre-World Conference for South, Central, and West Asian-Heritage People. This was a historic gathering. It was the first-ever South, Central, and West Asian event led by Tim Jackins for leaders who live in India, Iran, and Morocco. Also attending were two Palestinian leaders who live in Israel and a few South, Central, and West Asian leaders from Europe and the United States.
I loved all my mini-sessions, the longer sessions, and my support group. Niti Dandekar (the Regional Reference Person for India) and her team did a superb job of organizing.
Tim said there are over a hundred thousand RCers in the world—who care, think, and try to make the world go better. I thought about the impact that each of us has on our communities. We are potentially making life better for millions of people, and we want the tools of RC in the hands of millions more.
Tim spoke about deciding to adopt a rational perspective. Two pictures exist in our minds. One comes from the distresses that we could not discharge and is frozen. In that first picture we feel alone, not smart, and small. And we wait until someone, one day, “finds” us. The second picture in our minds is that of present-time reality, in which we are deeply connected and powerful and not small. But we have to dare to look for this second picture, and we have to discharge anything that gets in our way of holding on to it.
Tim spoke about the two big present-time crises that are affecting all of us—the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis—and how the world needs us to be as thoughtful and powerful as we can be as we take them on [confront and do something about them]. We know what to do, but our distresses can make us stay “small” and quiet. Also, in order to set up a world that works for everyone, we need to look at what separates us.
Tim talked about two universal distresses that have hurt every mind: isolation and domination. I heard him say that every one of us was dominated as a child, and since most of us did not have access to the discharge process, the distress remained in place. And now, every one of us acts out the domination distress on others.
I left the workshop deciding to try again and again to hold on to the second picture—to dare to look despite everything that happened. I have a choice now. A real choice.
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of South, Central, and West Asian-heritage people
(Present Time 204, July 2021)