This past week has been a trying experience for many of my colleagues at school, and for me as well.  That’s because we’ve confronted our fears, however real or imagined their source, and have taken steps directly into, and not away from, what we fear.  We’ve done this together, holding hands and joining together in a “circle of dignity,” which helps both increase our fear and overcome our fear.

By holding hands and forming a group we make ourselves known and that alone makes many of us feel more vulnerable. We become visible as we stand our ground, rather than cowering in isolated and hopeful hiding.  Holding hands may make us a more visible target, but it also makes us stronger.  The circle replaces cowering to fear with looking fear in the eye. As a group, if fear hits one of us it hits all of us.  But we’re only partly brave, and our knees shake, our stomachs roil, our hearts race.  But, thankfully, the circle still stands.

When we stand looking into the circle, with our backs to the outside, we see a space (created by us) where everyone is welcome and accepted as they are, so long as we welcome others, treat others with respect and accept others as persons who are equally welcome into dignity. In the circle we support each other, sharing notes, studying together, talking about ways to achieve our goals, listening to each other and helping each other in many other ways.  Here we are a community of learners, learning how to be together, how to work in dignity, how to support each other, how to be powerful, how to think and talk about ideas together, and how to make history according to our values and beliefs.  Dignity is human, and the circle of dignity is a space for realizing human potential.

This past week has been a trying experience for many of my colleagues at school, and for me as well.  That’s because we’ve confronted our fears, however real or imagined their source, and have taken steps directly into, and not away from, what we fear.  We’ve done this together, holding hands and joining together in a “circle of dignity,” which helps both increase our fear and overcome our fear.

By holding hands and forming a group we make ourselves known and that alone makes many of us feel more vulnerable. We become visible as we stand our ground, rather than cowering in isolated and hopeful hiding.  Holding hands may make us a more visible target, but it also makes us stronger.  The circle replaces cowering to fear with looking fear in the eye. As a group, if fear hits one of us it hits all of us.  But we’re only partly brave, and our knees shake, our stomachs roil, our hearts race.  But, thankfully, the circle still stands.

We hold the circle of dignity.  When we stand looking into the circle, with our backs to the outside, we see a space (created by us) where everyone is welcome and accepted as they are, so long as we welcome others, treat others with respect and accept others as persons who are equally welcome into dignity. In the circle we support each other, sharing notes, studying together, talking about ways to achieve our goals, listening to each other and helping each other in many other ways.  Here we are a community of learners, learning how to be together, how to work in dignity, how to support each other, how to be powerful, how to think and talk about ideas together, and how to make history according to our values and beliefs.  Dignity is human, and the circle of dignity is a space for realizing human potential.

If we turn ourselves around, so that we are looking outside of the circle, we see fear, mistrust, bullying, competition, scarcity, judgment and abuse of power.  There people are treated as objects and learning is treated as commodity. Authority is declared and imposed, rather than being earned and shared.  Fear is used to defeat others, to prevent people from taking action or securing dignity. Instead of healing there is hurt. Instead of trust there is fear. Instead of relationships there are rules. Instead of love there is indifference.

Outside the circle mistrust is rampant, in part because so many people feel separate and vulnerable. People avoid trust to avoid hurt.  Bullying thrives in this environment of chaos and competition. Onlookers and victims cower in fear. And matters are made worse in our situation if bullying is combined with raw economic power through the authority to deny access to an occupation. The illusion of scarcity, such acting as if there are a limited number of “good marks” is coupled with dehumanizing treatment of the vulnerable and creates a toxic environment. This combination wears down even the most robust and resilient person. A maze of humiliation and compliance is built so that those in authority can build and use power to get their way.

This week has been trying as we have mustered our courage and strength to form a circle of dignity and turn our backs on fear, mistrust, abuse, bullying and hurt.   Even as we overcome our fears, doubts persist.

We ask: Will our circle hold?  Will our sweaty palms and shaky knees give way to the fear that surrounds us? Will the space within the circle be healing, or just a repeat of the space we want to leave behind?  Can we expand the circle wide enough to bring the root causes into our circle so that abuse ends and things become better?  Can we trust each other?  Will the person to my right or left grow tired, give up, back down and leave me standing alone and lost, totally vulnerable and unable to protect myself?

These are the questions racing through our minds, and despite these fears our hands are still touching, our space still stands, and the circle of dignity still grows.

Outside the circle mistrust is rampant, in part because so many people feel separate and vulnerable. People avoid trust to avoid hurt.  Bullying thrives in this environment of chaos and competition. Onlookers and victims cower in fear. And matters are made worse in our situation if bullying is combined with raw economic power through the authority to deny access to an occupation. The illusion of scarcity, such acting as if there are a limited number of “good marks” is coupled with dehumanizing treatment of the vulnerable and creates a toxic environment. This combination wears down even the most robust and resilient person. A maze of humiliation and compliance is built so that those in authority can build and use power to get their way.

This week has been trying as we have mustered our courage and strength to form a circle of dignity and turn our backs on fear, mistrust, abuse, bullying and hurt.   Even as we overcome our fears, doubts persist.

We ask: Will our circle hold?  Will our sweaty palms and shaky knees give way to the fear that surrounds us? Will the space within the circle be healing, or just a repeat of the space we want to leave behind?  Can we expand the circle wide enough to bring the root causes into our circle so that abuse ends and things become better?  Can we trust each other?  Will the person to my right or left grow tired, give up, back down and leave me standing alone and lost, totally vulnerable and unable to protect myself?

These are the questions racing through our minds, and despite these fears our hands are still touching, our space still stands, and the circle of dignity still grows.