"It was so clear to me in that moment that the river was the more powerful force. It flowed on uninterrupted, no matter how many bombs went off. The bombs couldn’t affect the flow and trajectory and stillness of that river. It was more powerful than anything going on around it.
~Former CIA Analyst, Janessa Gans Wilder
Janessa Gans Wilder spent 21 months in Iraq during the war's most intensive fighting as a CIA Intelligence Analyst. Eight months in, "the futility, the violence and the confusion of war" left her feeling drained "emotionally, physically, spiritually." Then came the experience that changed her life direction forever: one that opened her up to a different possibility, a different way of seeing and being.
After listening to the podcast, check out the global peace-building non-profit Janessa founded after returning from Iraq: The Euphrates Institute.
_________________________
For more insights into the art and science of difficult conversations, check out my website. You can also sign up for my free newsletter.
A more powerful force: A conversation with ex-CIA analyst Janessa Gans Wilder.
difficultconversations.substack.com
Difficult Conversations, with Kern Beare
Talking to people we disagree with can be fraught with fear and anxiety — triggering our fight or flight survival drive. We fight by arguing to win, or we flee by avoiding the conflict altogether. But to resolve our differences, we need to move beyond this ancient instinct and access our capacity for connection, creativity and compassion. Join Kern Beare, founder of the Difficult Conversations Project, as he explore how we can have conversations that can actually heal divides and change hearts and minds.
Talking to people we disagree with can be fraught with fear and anxiety — triggering our fight or flight survival drive. We fight by arguing to win, or we flee by avoiding the conflict altogether. But to resolve our differences, we need to move beyond this ancient instinct and access our capacity for connection, creativity and compassion. Join Kern Beare, founder of the Difficult Conversations Project, as he explore how we can have conversations that can actually heal divides and change hearts and minds.Listen on
Substack App
RSS Feed
Appears in episode
Kern Beare
Recent Episodes
A more powerful force: A conversation with ex-CIA analyst Janessa Gans Wilder.