The concept of Edgewalkers truly seems to be one that is embraced internationally. And this makes sense given the way we are increasingly becoming a global society.
Several years ago, I was in beautiful Mallorca, Spain running a 3 day Edgewalker workshop with Kimberly Hunn. 14 incredible Edgewalkers from California, Washi
ngton D.C., the U.K., Switzerland, German, and Spain joined us on a journey of exploring leading edges and what it takes to live to the edge of all your possibilities. We began with a cross-cultural experience where participants walked through a local Mallorquin village called Andratx (pronounced “An-dratch”). They were instructed to interact and connect with people in the village and to observe themselves as they were “walking between worlds.” As you can see from this photo at an outdoor cafe, it was a very positive experience.
ngton D.C., the U.K., Switzerland, German, and Spain joined us on a journey of exploring leading edges and what it takes to live to the edge of all your possibilities. We began with a cross-cultural experience where participants walked through a local Mallorquin village called Andratx (pronounced “An-dratch”). They were instructed to interact and connect with people in the village and to observe themselves as they were “walking between worlds.” As you can see from this photo at an outdoor cafe, it was a very positive experience.One of the most important things for Edgewalkers to do in order to keep their edge is to take time for silence and reflection. In each “Walking the Leading Edge” workship, participants are given the opportunity to walk the bridge between the everyday material reality into a non-material reality. I often talk about walking between the two worlds, but Tami Simon, CEO of Sounds True, told me in an interview that her experience is that there are not two worlds but one reality, with the invisible or spiritual world integrally interconnected. The bottom line is that it is important to take time to see and experience this interconnection between seeing only the physical or material aspects of reality and a form of seeing that allows you to know both the physical and non-physical aspects at the same time.
In Mallorca, we had the privilege as a group to go to the top of a mountain outside of Port Andratx where each participant could spend time in nature contemplating their own Edgewalker journey. This is something any of us can do, and should do, on a regular basis, but often in our busy lives we don’t take the time to listen to what is calling us from the future.
Nature is a powerful teacher, and I encourage you to take time by yourself on a regular basis to be in someplace that nurtures your soul and allows that inner monkeymind to settle down. When you let go, for a short while, of the daily to do list, and the thoughts about what you should do, and what you wished you had done, a deeper wisdom has room to rise up and be recognized.This is Stefan, a German engineer living in Switzerland, who rode his motorcycle to the workshop. He has a deep spiritual life, and found that sitting on the mountain gazing over the Mediterranean created the space for a powerful, uplifting experience that will guide him in his journey in profound ways.
In our workshops, we are not always able to provide people the opportunity to be in nature, but we always provide time for one form or another or a short Edgewalker Quest. In London I facilitated an Edgewalker retreat (See details on the Edgewalker website.) In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to walk through the city while holding a questions in their hearts and minds about their own leading edge. They will be asked to look for signs and metaphors as they walk through the city, basically becoming urban shamans.
A new kind of human is emerging on the planet today; one that would prefer to build bridges rather than walls. One that sees all the people on Earth as brothers and sisters. One that wants to live by deeper values and create sustainability for organizations, cultures, and all sentient beings. These Edgewalkers do not think of themselves as Spanish or Chinese or American, they think of themselves as Global Spiritual Citizens.
There is so much strife and conflict and need in the world, and we need Edgewalkers to serve as global leaders of positive change. Often an Edgewalker feels alone and not valued, frequently marginalized by mainstream organizations. But times are beginning to change and people are beginning to understand that we need totally new ways of thinking and being if we are going to be able to solve the personal, organizational and planetary issues that we are facing.
For many years, the International Association for Spirit at Work held an annual conference to honor organizations that have learned to bridge the worlds of bottom-line success and spirituality in the workplace. The leaders of these organizations are pioneers in Edgewalking. Over an 11 year period, we identified 47 organizations representing over 39 countries, that have an explicit commitment to nurturing the human spirit.
These international organizations and their leaders provide evidence of early signs of a new more sustainable and holistic way of doing business.
Business is the most powerful institution on the planet. Therefore business has a huge responsibility in helping to solve the myriad of complex problems that we face in the world today. We have created an organization called Edgewalkers International to provide training, coaching, and consulting services to organizations that want to be on the leading edge of this new paradigm shift. Please contact us if you want to be involved.
I invite you to make comments below. What signs or examples do you see that provide evidence that Edgewalkers are emerging in many different countries? Why do you think this is?
