Draft

Common Fire's work is designed to serve our mission by powerfully motivating and supporting people in their development in each of the five key areas that are the foundation of their ability to have a positive impact in the world.

First is a person's motivation. Whether referred to as "compassionate spirit," "altruistic personality," or by some other term, the essence here is the desire to support the welfare of all other beings and the planet for their own sakes. Different stages in the development of a compassionate spirit relate to two variables, the question of how strongly one considers the interests of other beings and the planet, and why, namely for one's one sake or the sake of those being considered.

There are seven stages in the development of a compassionate spirit that are explored and built on in Common Fire trainings and presentations. Each stage represents a broadening of who is considered when one makes decisions and takes action in the world, and an incresing selflessness in these considerations.

Many studies have explored the factors that nurture or hinder the development of a compassionate spirit. One in particular that was in part the inspiration for the name of this Foundation is Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World, by Laurent A. Parks Daloz, Cheryl H. Keen, James P. Keen, and and Sharon Daloz Parks.

Common Fire consciously applies the lessons of these studies to the activities it offers at trainings, as well as in making decisions about the environment created for the trainings and the staff selected to participate.

Click here for a summary of these lessons.

There are common challenges shared by most people in develping a truly compassionate spirit, so Common Fire pays particular attention to them in the trainings. These include transcending cultural and geographic barriers, identifying and moving beyond the ways our egos get caught up in our work, and being sensitive to patterns of avoidance including addiction to work and stress when aspects of our lives or personalities are troubled or out of balance.

Second is a person's knowledge. Even with the best of motivations, a person must have knowledge of the world in order to have a positive impact in the world.

Most people move through the world ignorant of how other beings on the planet live and of the profound and desperate struggles they face individually and collectively. And to the degree people are aware of these struggles it is usually an intellectual abstraction spanning geographic, cultural, socio-economic and other distances that leave their emotional lives highly disconnected from those struggles. The result is that most people go about their lives disassociated from the urgency of the sufferings and aspirations of others--they not only do not actively support others in their struggles but passively feed into the causes underlying much of their suffering.

Even people who are dedicating large portions of their time, money, and other resources to trying to help create a better world often act in isolation, focusing on one issue, constituent group or geographic region, ignorant of how their actions and lifestyles frequently undermine the efforts of others, and ignorant of the diverse ways others are struggling that could help them be more effective in their own work.

And not only must people have knowledge of the issues at hand, they must have a knowledge of the context in which the issues exist and of the viable opportunities that exist to impact the issues. Without this knowledge of the context and opportunities, a person may not only waste effort and resources without having much impact on a situation, the person may actually have a negative impact.

Every Common Fire program explores a broad range of some of the most urgent issues of our times and of the diverse ways people are affected by and are actively addressing those issues. Beyond that, Common Fire nurtures a deep emotional connection with the people and places affected by those issues and with the pain, injustice and destruction they experience, as well as the joy and peace.

Third is a person's power. Each of us has a degree of power to achieve what we would like in the world. There are a broad range of factors that affect the power we each have -- some cannot be changed while others are more flexible and can be built on.

For example, one's race conveys a certain amount of power in different cultures and contexts, and is something that is relatively fixed, even though cultures and contexts certainly change over long periods of time. Similar are such factors as one's sex, age, sexual preference, nationality, etc. But one can be aware of how these various factors affect one's power in different contexts and by recognizing their importance those people who have greater power can more fully appreciate the tremendous power they have and their corresponding responsibility.

Meanwhile factors relating to one's skills, perspectives and personality, knowledge, and access to resources are, relatively, far more flexible. People who want to affect change in the world, who are truly motivated by the struggles and aspirations and suffering and joys of beings throughout the world, must make consistent efforts to develop these assets so they may have a greater impact in the world.

Common Fire's trainings raise people's awareness of these assets and involve activities specifically aimed at further developing them. For example, there is a broad range of very effective work done around successful leadership, advocacy, and organizational skills that is generally developed for and applied by for-profit ventures. This work is not frequently or effectively shared with people performing service work due to both a lack of resources and cultural norms in the service world. As a result, much of the work that is done by very dedicated and talented people nonetheless is not as effective as it could be.

Likewise, people's relationships with money, ways of making money, and consumption represent one of the largest -- if not the largest -- focus of people's time and energy in this world. They can also represent one the greatest sources of individual power to create positive change in the world. Powerful philosophies for living and strategies for relating to money and material goods in a vibrant and healthy way have been articulated in different business, personal development and religious contexts.

The potential for simplicity to give us greater power in our lives in terms of money, time and happiness, as well as in terms of greater freedom, is one of the core principles of the Commmon Fire Foundation and is revisited frequently in trainings.

Drawing from leading texts and programs such as "The Five Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Your Money or Your Life," as well as philosophical and spiritual traditions, Common Fire promotes the adoption of best practices in relationships and communication, advocacy, personal and organizational effectiveness, financial and time management, and more.

Fourth is a person's sustainability. This really has to do with being able to sustain and continue to develop in each of the other areas. Most people tend to lead lives that are out of balance, where they are not adequately taking care of themselves physically, mentally or spiritually.

Their ability to be compassionate through diverse and challenging circumstances is compromised by the imbalance in their own lives. Their ability to stay energized and inspired to learn about the world is undermined. And their ability to bring their power to bear in the world effectively, especially when it comes to interacting with the people around them, is hampered. In this way even people with the best of intentions often end up reinforcing patterns of behavior and cultural norms that feed the very issues these people wish to address.

These imbalances often culminate in burnout among even the most committed and socially conscious of people. In this way society loses many of these people whose service it so desperately needs.

Common Fire works with people to develop physical, mental and spiritual practices that help to sustain them and imbue their work and presence with the peace, compassion, and health they wish to bring to the world. The programs and the environments in which the programs take place are designed to inspire participants to integrate these practices and outlooks into their daily lives, rather than regarding them as 'luxuries' to be used only at 'retreats' or in dire times of burn-out.

Fifth is a person's initiative. At the end of the day everyone is guilty to some degree of inaction. We all have some desire to help others, some knowledge of issues in the world, and some power to act for at least small periods of time in some way. Yet we act on only a fraction of this potential.

In our inaction we are complicit with what occurs in the world. We are not honoring ourselves or others by not living more fully into our potential, by more effectively aligning our values and our visions of who we want to be with who we are and what we actually do in our day-to-day lives.

Even with a wonderful blending of the four other areas in a person's life, there are a number of factors that directly relate to whether a person takes action in the world or not.