Creating Space for Wholeness
13 Sessions to Reflect on the Journey Home to Who We are Meant to Be
Facilitated by Karen Hilfman, Author of the Mended Mirror
INTRODUCTION
INVITATION
In these 13 sessions we are invited to hold space to empower a vision that reflects our deepest yearnings for wholeness and well-being, a vision that calls us as the people of the Earth to make choices wisely, intentionally and courageously. This time of reflecting provides opportunity to energize this vision together. Our intention will weave through our everyday lives as we focus on discerning the pathways home to who we are meant to be and how we will show up in the world to consciously impact the world around us as it evolves.
BACKGROUND
On January 1st, 2020 I shared that my book The Mended Mirror is available online. In December 2019 I had an aha or epiphany moment that clarified for me that I don’t want to just use the taught marketing strategies to promote my book – I want to engage people with the concepts and learnings in the book in a way that is rooted in relationship. In the outline for the Book Circles at the end of the book I invite people to consider how the thoughts, experiences and insights in the book intersect with their lives in order to deepen the conversation. I long to engage in conversation where we share experiences, quotes, poetry and comments about how we are creating wholeness in this world.
While the book tells the fullness of the story of how Authentic Connection Culture developed in my life through my relationship with my Mom and the impact of discovering there is an extra biological father in our family, the stories and quotes from the book that are included in these reflections on creating space for wholeness, are summaries of my learnings about the theme as we seek to live in community in healthy life-giving ways where the well-being of all is a key commitment.
I speak about the impact of my mother on the development of my thinking and my passion early in the book:
Wholeness in brokenness; I have become aware through the writing of this book that my relationship with my Mom is a primary source of the learning that is at the core of my life’s work, which focuses on the power of connecting to wholeness and authenticity. Mom is also a significant contributor to my life being filled with profound hopefulness. As I look back over my life, I realize these may sound like surprising insights because, from my perspective, my relationship with my mother is impacted by the disruption of a series of disconnected personalities, a reality I do not recognize until a year before her death.
My understanding is that Mom’s many personalities form as coping mechanisms when crises and trauma are too much for her to bear. One of the blessings of the alter personalities is that they are the ones who cope with trauma while Mom’s core personality remains strong and dynamic. It is through her core personality that Mom impacts the community around her with a passionate vision of inclusivity and her adamant perspective that our world can and must shift toward ways of being that enhance all of life on Earth.
Page 8 The Mended Mirror by Karen Hilfman Millson
PROCESS
We are invited to join together to intentionally hold sacred space as we listen deeply, acknowledge the vision of wholeness amongst us, and commit to walking pathways that lead to life and love and light rather than death and hatred.
Each session for reflection will include a step from the Connection Strategy for Self and Community: From Disconnected to Connected, plus a quote and a story from The Mended Mirror where I share the epiphanies and insights from my life about creating space for wholeness.
We are all invited to offer quotes, insights, alternative perspectives, stories or comments on Facebook or on Course page on website www.AuthenticConnectionCulture.com or www.TheMendedMirror.com. Or simply be intentional about holding prayerful space together knowing we connect heart to heart across the miles and across time as we empower and strengthen the things to which we give our attention.
Please share this invitation with others.
I look forward to connecting with you on this ongoing journey of living into the fullness of our capacity for wholeness rooted in love.
INFORMATION
My website contains downloadable resources from my life work on creating authentic connection culture. AuthenticConnectionCulture.com or TheMendedMirror.com
Read the opening of the book www.TheMendedMirror.ca
RECOMMENDATIONS for The Mended Mirror:
After I read this book, I told myself never to forget it. Its powerful vision of the authentic life. It’s a testament to the transformation that awaits humanity on the other side of egoism. There’s hardly a person alive who doesn’t need this book.
Julie McGonegal, PhD, author of Imagining Justice:
The Politics of Postcolonial Forgiveness and Reconciliation
This is a stunning piece of work by Karen Celeste Hilfman. Karen’s voice shows us the journey of compassion as she comes to understand the multiple facets and personalities of her mother, and her own determination to use this experience of the fractured self to integrate her own being. Bravo – as in brave.
Christina Baldwin, author of Storycatcher:
Making Sense of our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story
The Mended Mirror is searing autobiography, keen analysis, and a very uncomfortable metaphor for the world today. It is a serious read, not for the faint-hearted—but with rich rewards for those who persevere.
Harrison Owen, Originator of Open Space Technology
Karen Celeste Hilfman is a master story-teller. We learn from her experience as well as feel with her to the heart of what really matters.
Dr. Nancy Roof, Founding Editor Kosmos Journal for Global Transformation
The Mended Mirror is a beautifully written and gripping family story and compelling account of what awaits us in the deeply human journey from brokenness to wholeness.
Michael Jones, author of
The Soul of Place: Reimagining Leadership Through Nature, Art and Community
The Mended Mirror is inspirational. Part searing memoir, part spiritual wisdom, and wholly entrancing, this book invites us to glean deep insight from the pains and challenges of our lives.
Tanis Day, PhD,
The Whole You: Healing and Transformation through Energy Awareness
The Mended Mirror goes beyond an interesting read to be inspiring to people dealing with challenges in their lives, to people who have learned to follow their intuitive nudges and to anyone wondering how to bring love and curiosity to those members of our families, or close circles that we might describe as difficult or challenging.
Kathy Jourdain,
A Worldview Intelligence Approach to Building Trust and Relationship at the Speed of Change
The Mended Mirror weaves together memoir, spirituality and the courage, love and frustration of a unique family life. It brings together Wise Woman teachings, lessons from a mother’s fragmented life, and a glimpse of other ways of being in the world. Karen Celeste Hilfman’s deft fingers create both tapestry and mosaic that will resonate with readers seeking ways to re-craft their own lives. I highly recommend this book for study groups, writers and seekers of wholeness.
Carolyn Pogue, Hilwie’s Bread
The Mended Mirror is AVAILABLE ONLINE. There are links on the website: www.AuthenticConnectionCulture.com or www.TheMendedMirror.com