Storytelling as a means of Transformation

Derry/Londonderry - UK City of Culture 2013

From November 2012 to the start of the new yew year I took part in a training course for facilitating storytelling and positive encounter dialogue with Towards Understanding and Healing. The ethos behind this process promotes the restoration of dignity to victims and offers a process of diverse storytelling as a catalyst for forgiveness and transformation. The potentials have been realised for a number of those in Northern Ireland affected by the Troubles, where people whose paths had crossed in a negative way in the past had an opportunity to change the narrative for their future. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to take part.

One particular session that had great inspiration for me was the Beads Workshop, where we made a bracelet to signify our life story, where each bead carried significant elements of our lives, which we then shared in small groups. The power of creative tools to draw upon memories, in all of their positive and negative forms, and the value of feeling heard in empathy is great. There aren't many opportunities in this life to speak to reflect on what has been and to express that to others. There was something unique about the intimacy of discussion, where we all shared in one anther's stories and felt the ups and downs of others just as we would our own. Empathy and human relatedness was harnessed throughout these sessions in a way that made me a true believer in this process.

This weekend a friend from my training group and myself travelled to Derry to meet with Teya Sepunik the founder and artistic director of Theater of Witness and take part in a workshop to explore the meaning of sanctuary (http://www.tovatheaterofwitness.org/). The Theater of Witness in Northern Ireland has transformed stories of pain and loss into meaningful works of art, where those who were victims and/or perpetrators of terrible circumstances become actors who bring their own narratives to life on the stage for others to experience. Our discussion of sanctuary was focused on creating ideas for a new production underway for this Autumn by the same name. The potential for strangers to spend two hours together and engage in storytelling to create value and art from dire circumstances is proof that there is hope for transformation in Northern Ireland as in other parts of the world. 

This process of human interaction is very intense and because it is highly organised it can feel somewhat unnatural. However, in its core, storytelling is an organic act we all take part in each and everyday. Truly sharing, listening, valuing and empathising with oneself and others does not happen nearly enough in this world, but it's very clear to me that it can happen and when it does, the potentials are great.

Reconciliation Monument - Derry/Londonderry

Where War Ends

Today i was walking past New Lodge in North Belfast and I noticed an abrupt end in peaceline fencing between two houses. It made me wonder - who decided where the war ends?

‘If there is no hope – create some!’: The 15th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

Iconic image of Northern Ireland's peace

There have been a number of events and talks over the past weeks to mark the 15^th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

On 28 March (Good Friday by the Pascal calendar), President Obama released a statement:

As Easter approaches, we mark the 15^th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.  The people of Northern Ireland and their leaders have traveled a great distance over the past fifteen years.  Step by step, they have traded bullets for ballots, destruction and division for dialogue and institutions, and pointed the way toward a shared future for all.  There is urgent work still to be done – and there will be more tests to come.  There are still those few who prefer to look backward rather than forward – who prefer to inspire hate rather than hope.  The many who have brought Northern Ireland this far must keep rejecting their call.  From building cross-community trust to bringing opportunity to hard-to-reach communities in Belfast and beyond, every citizen and every political party needs to work together in service of true and lasting peace and prosperity.   And at every step of the way, the United States will be there as a friend and partner.  That is the message I will carry with me when I visit Northern Ireland and attend the G-8 Summit in June.  

On behalf of the American people, I salute the people and leaders of Northern Ireland and the model they have given to others struggling toward peace and reconciliation around the world.  I pledge our continued support for their efforts to build a strong society, a vibrant economy, and an enduring peace. - President Barack Obama

Trans-Atlantic Connections

As an American working with peacebuilding efforts in Northern Ireland, this message speaks to my core cultural understanding of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the hope it lends to other conflicts around the world. As a global citizen, I was even more inspired by the presentation delivered today at the University of Ulster rooted in the ethos of Daisaku Ikeda and Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist philosophy of peace-building which reaches across the globe and into the hearts of millions of individuals and peace practitioners. 

The seminar, ‘Building Peace Locally, Making Peace Globally,’ was comprised of messages from keynote speaker, Dr Olivier Urbain, Director of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research in Tokyo and respondent, Dr Duncan Morrow, from the Institute for Research in Social Sciences at the University of Ulster and former Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council for Northern Ireland. The event began with a message from Daisaku Ikeda himself who spoke of his memories of 9 April 1998 when he was sitting with South Africa’s Mbeki and discussing hopes that Northern Ireland would meet its deadline for developing a peace accord. In the end of his letter he gave his respect to the people of Northern Ireland for refusing to give up hope and he gave his support to the seminar marking this special occasion today. 

From SGI’s philosophy, Olivier explained the meaning of Soka, or value creation, which in conflict work is the effort to infuse value into a mindless act or period of violence. Art was a suggested method for transforming intense suffering into something of value. I have seen storytelling act as a tool for restoring dignity and creating value out of a situation of destruction, whereby victims and perpetrators alike can be strengthened through the process. Ikeda explained an example from the US where over one million students joined a campaign of victory over violence after the school shooting in Columbine. Similar experiences can be seen across the globe whereby light comes from darkness.

 

He described to us the transition from Individual Peace to World Peace – marking the journey from

·         Inner Transformation - courage, wisdom, compassion,  

·         Dialogue - making an effort to bring out the best in yourself and others, and

·         Global Citizenship – universal connections  and interdependence

This ethos of the peace within, rooted in Eastern spirituality, was a central principle to the World Peace Festival in Berlin I attended in 2011. The focus on meditation and self-reflection as a necessary component to peacebuilding is a compelling thought. One to which Duncan spoke directly when he identified the need for Northern Ireland to develop an ethical meaning for peace – one that surpasses the secession of violence and speaks to the need for compassion whereby people choose not to collect their pound of flesh, even though they can. He spoke of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as a ‘work of wisdom’ because of its ‘radical’ allowances for nationality and identity. He reminded us that the political leadership and citizens alike committed to finding democratic means for promoting change and working towards a shared future for Northern Ireland. Duncan suggested that while we celebrate a decade of centenaries for events where violence and division dominated the stage, it’s time now to celebrate the difficult choice Northern Ireland made for peace. 

I appreciated this discussion of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the introduction to Daisaku Ikeda’s inspiration in the world. Importantly, I was reminded of my dichotomous roles here in Northern Ireland as both an outsider and a global citizen. While Olivier explained himself as a citizen of Northern Ireland for this week because of his geography, Duncan identified both the difficulty for outsiders to appreciate Northern Ireland’s dilemma with choosing peace and the necessity for international values for peace and solidarity, as embodied by SGI, to enter the Northern Ireland discourse. It is between these two identities of outsider and global citizen that I find myself oscillating in understanding my role in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland. While my motivations for moving to Northern Ireland and much of my inspiration for seeking international comparisons and cross-community cooperation is driven by my sense of global citizenship, it’s important for me to acknowledge as well my role as a young American, who was 10 at the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and who has taken dialogue and human relatedness to be the norm, whereas in actuality peace is a choice individuals and society must  make.

'Peace can only be achieved by understanding.'

The question posed, ‘What would you like to see 10 April 2018?’ is an important consideration we all must make. The spiritual framework Daisaku Ikeda proposes hinges on a tenant that we must respect dignity for life for all people whereby we share in the joys and sorrows of one another, have faith in limitless possibilities, and defend and celebrate diversity. These are the tenants on which I have been raised and educated and I appreciate this opportunity to reflect upon their potentials for making value from the suffering of conflict, as in the case of Northern Ireland.  

In the words of Ikeda, ‘If there is no hope – create some’. Just as Northern Ireland has done this for the world in the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the following 15 years of peace-building, so too can each of us.