if we practiced conflict, would we still choose war?

Last week’s inaugural Conflict Clinic was a dream and a delight.

Together, we shaped a space that felt considered, tender, and deeply nourishing. We explored what it means to hold it all in this season of polyconflict and polycrisis. It’s rooted me through the last few days — and from the “this is such a needed space” that filled that chat as we closed, it has for others, too.

I have this belief that if we were to diagnose our conflicts, we wouldn’t find ourselves three years deep in bitter silence and resentment, wondering who will crack first.

If we were to deconstruct the stories, examine the facts, treat the symptoms, tend to the root causes, nourish ourselves and each other well in the process — we wouldn’t end up overgiving to the brink of despair, guilt eating away at our insides.

If we were to practice relational skills, enter spaces of generative conflict, and steward power well — we wouldn’t replicate colonial patterns in our intimate relationships.

If we were to embrace the conflicts in front of us, we wouldn’t choose illegal wars, apartheids, genocides.

Utopic, perhaps — maybe even myopic.

But I have this belief that conflict at its best is something that creates, not destructs. A method, an approach. A capacity to build, a space to choose — not inherently a problem to solve.

This is what we practice together. I can’t wait for our next Clinic. See you there?

with care,

Shivani

ps — Join us at next month’s Conflict Clinic: a free monthly space to practice power-conscious, integrity-rooted leadership in moments of rupture, tension, and transformation.

✨ invitations from kin

AORTA’s Black Feminist Praxis Study Circle is open for applications. from AORTA: “The Black Feminist Praxis Study Circle is a free, 3 week cohort designed for organizational staff who work in HR, People, Culture, or Operations within their workplaces. We invite workers that are invested in prioritizing the well-being of Black workers within organizations to apply and especially welcome applications from Black and POC staff.”
For NYC-based young people ages 14-20: Join the Liberation Summer Advocacy Training Camp, hosted by Echoes of Incarceration and the American Friends Service Committee. via Restorative Justice Initiative: “This is great for youth who want to learn how to be an activist-artist by learning to use filmmaking and photography to make change in their neighborhood. Participants will explore organizing skills and receive education on systems of incarceration. Participation is free, and stipends, MetroCards, and breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Trans Affirming Training & Consulting is hosting a donation-based webinar session of Trans Affirming Actions on June 25. via Equity in the Center: “This webinar is specifically designed to offer concrete guidance for cisgender allies who are wanting to better understand how trans & non-binary people are being impacted in the evolving climate, find ways to be the helpers, and identify opportunities for engaging in meaningful trans advocacy.”

tulsi strategies is an equity and justice studio for people at the intersections.

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