As I get ready to go to India tomorrow, I find myself torn between excitement about the project I am working on, and sadness at not being able to meet as usual with the Saybrook community as it comes together in person. This will be the first RC I have missed in nine years. I will miss the revitalizing energy, the sense of commitment that is so strong at Saybrook, and the collegiality of the three hundred folks whose learning journeys I have participated in.

In the last few months, though happy to be enjoying a different pace, and time to renew my own intellectual energy, I have discovered a new syndrome. As with “phantom limb,” where symptoms persist even after amputation, being severed from a community one loves invokes the same kind of sensation. Even though I am no president I find myself worrying, fretting and anticipating the pains and triumphs of the people I have been so close to. Watching it all from the sidelines feel weird. In my minds eye I look around the dining room and as I recall the colorful mixture that says Saybrook my heart fills with appreciation for the riches that the Saybrook community represents.

These are challenging times, my friends. But my mentor Carl Rogers once said that everyone and every community has within them vast resources with which to meet and transcend even the darkest challenges. I believe that, and I have confidence that the Saybrook vision still has something transformative to give to the world. We are all in this together. Have a great RC.   more »

Transcript of a presentation made on the occasion of receiving the Donald N. Michael Award from Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco, November 9, 2002.
Word version included as attachment.   more »