Risktakers and caretakers

by | May 9, 2007 | Dresden | 6 comments

Did you ever want to do something but the risk was too great? Do you dream of taking a risk in the future but wish there was some support around you? What if the support was there already and we just needed to find it among ourselves?

Some of you might remember – during the dreaming harvest – I wished for a network of risktakers. This is because I hold myself back too often when the outcome is unknown. Often I don’t even know the path to get there. I think this should be a network of people who give moral support in a responsible way when the risktaker is surrounded by people who hold them back. This is why I like the name “caretakers”. Who is interested in this idea? What form do you think it should take?

6 Comments

  1. Martin Röll

    I like this idea. Of course there are already numerous and very different groups in which one can find responsible support when entering risk. But still your idea intrigues me. We could start by forming a group out of the participants of the Dresden gathering. I could set up a mailing list quickly and we could start the dialog from there. Is that a form that would work for you, Margaret? would it have to look differently? What do others that read here think?

  2. Ulrich Soeder

    Hi Margaret,

    I liked the idea too when you mentioned it in Dresden. I came up with the question on how to create a supportive network to exchange practical experiences and insights on innovation, on all the different levels we have been talking about: personal, team, organization and communities. There was so much wisdom present in the gathering!

    Risktaking and caretaking sounds like the personal level for me, maybe I’m wrong with this perception.

    I like the idea of online exchange, but to really get involved we should meet. From my background in psychology and bodypsychtherapy, I could contribute to the personal level. Or to be more precise: I would personally start from there.

    And Martin, we should meet, as we live in the same neighbourhood.

    Greetings from Dresden, Ulrich

  3. Margaret Warton-Woods

    Hello Martin, hello Ulrich,

    Thank you both for responding. Sorry I took some time to come back; I’ve been out of contact with the Internet the last three days.

    To be honest I haven’t a fixed idea of what form we should take. I prefer for this network to evolve in the way that suits people’s needs best. Martin, I’m very grateful for your suggestion of setting up a mailing list because this is something I don’t (yet) know how to do. I agree also with you, Ulrich, that this subject is at the personal level and that it is important to meet. For the near future, this is difficult for me for personal reasons, but your comments have given me an idea that I’ll reflect on and share with you when it’s clearer in my head.

    By the way, two other friends who were at the Gathering have mentioned to me they would like to be part of this. I’ll let them know about this blog.

    Warm wishes from Luxembourg, Margaret

  4. Mary

    This idea is too good to drop. we are often isolated, and often both risk-takers and care-takers which makes us confused at times. Is our duty so much to the care- part that the risk- part seems selfish? The other care-takers who have risk-taker experience should be there to whisper suggestions, offer their stories?
    (I wasn’t at the Dresden conference.)

  5. Margaret Warton-Woods

    Hello Mary,

    Sorry I’ve been slow to react, as I’ve been away from the Internet a couple of days.

    Your comment is encouraging, thank you, and wonderfully tuned in with the spirit of the Gathering in Dresden.
    First, I should give you some background. Dresden was meaningful for me because I stretched myself as a co-host further than I would normally have dared. This was made possible by the context and the people around me.

    This experience has made me wonder how much more we could achieve with the right support. It is still an exploration for me: I would like to learn how other people understand risk, how they deal with it, why risks are so big for some but not for others, and how we could support each other so that we can stretch ourselves beyond our perceived limitations.

    In response, I wanted to launch some open questions. First, I thought of asking:
    What makes us embrace risk?
    What makes us run away from it?

    Then I thought these are probably silly questions, because we are all so different and we respond differently at different times.

    So I try another angle:
    If our perceptions of our limitations and possibilities are not realistic, how could we shift to a more realistic view?

    This question is laden with assumptions. So it is an invitation just to play with it as we like, or to bring in other questions too.

  6. Amy Lenzo

    Margaret,

    I like your questions, especially the first two.

    The primary condition that makes it easier for me to embrace risk is being held in a field of Love. Having a safety net of people who care for me and want to see me succeed. I am much more likely to step out into a role that is beyond my comfort zone if I feel I am ‘seen’ in my fullness… it’s almost like being ‘called’ into being.

    What makes me run from risk is fear, which is exacerbated by the sense of being alone, exposed and uncared for.

    If I am seen as someone who is small and incapable, it will be hard to reach my potential while standing within that gaze.

    The truth is that I can usually do much more than I generally imagine I can, and all it takes is for me to believe something is possible for that possibility to start to grow inside me.

    Sometimes the pressure to embrace risk is internal, and has nothing at all to do with external forces, or how other people see me. At those times I have just come to a natural ‘jumping off’ point in my growth cycle and I HAVE to risk taking that next step; there is no choice.

    Sometimes the two come together and I am driven by an internal imperative AND surrounded by a supportive group that sees me clearly and can hold the container for my growth. That’s the best situation of all! 🙂

    Thanks for asking this question, Margaret. I think it’s an important one for all of us introverts, as many of us have no choice but to step into our best selves now, and make those contributions in the world that we are meant to made, do the things we have come here to do.

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