Blog — Jan Dworkin

On Orlando: Some Feeling-Thoughts

Last Thursday night, four days after the deadly massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, I attended a vigil at the Q Center in Portland Oregon. Like many people, I had been moving through the week in a daze of grief, anger, fear and hopelessness, trying to wrap my brain around the complexity of the intersecting, colliding and exploding issues that ended in the horrific rampage. Over 100 shot and 49 killed, mostly LGBTQ, mostly under age 30, the worst massacre ever perpetrated by an armed US citizen with a legally purchased assault rifle designed to destroy as many people as possible in as short a time as possible.

Power, Deep Democracy, Leadership, ProcessworkJan DworkinJune 19, 2016 Comments

The Gift of Taking

Sometimes we do things we don’t feel great about. Well, perhaps I should speak for myself.

It started with sneaking out a few pens and some travel-sized toiletries—toothpaste, mouthwash, mini dental flosses. The habit ramped up and five years down the road, when there was no way I could get caught, I was slipping unopened 5 packs of notepads, sturdy paperclips that they just don’t make anymore and a box or two of zip lock bags— into my bag. Hey, it's not like I went rifling through her bedroom drawers while she was sleeping; these items were all out and obvious.

Personal Growth, Processwork, Deep DemocracyJan DworkinMarch 22, 2016 Comment

Some Notes on Privilege and Oppression

Picture this: Week 3 of a five-week Intensive Course. About forty people—from different (and warring) countries, cultures, religions, races, genders and socio-economic backgrounds—are in attendance. The students have different levels of education, health, physical abilities, English language capacity and range in age from twenties to seventies.

Power, Leadership, Deep Democracy, Processwork, Teamwork, PsychologyJan DworkinFebruary 10, 2016 Comments

The Impossible Other

Certain people drive us crazy. We all have at least one in our lives. A demon with our name tattooed on its face. An entity so powerful it demands nothing less than our total attention. Its impact on our well-being is often way beyond what makes logical sense.

I call them phantoms. We find them at home, at work and at play. Whence they come, they work their magic in the invisible world—the world of our psyche.

Deep Democracy, Personal Growth, ProcessworkJan DworkinSeptember 22, 2015 Comments

To Think about: 6 Processwork Ideas

Processwork is a unique approach to personal development and collective change. It ideates, it addresses a broad range of issues, it penetrates layers of experience, and it dives into the deepest nature of things. Below, learn about some of its most foundational ideas, think about them critically, and find my accompanying advice.

Processwork, Teamwork, Deep Democracy, Creativity, Processwork PrinciplesJan DworkinApril 4, 2015