Jean Houston Remembrance
This past weekend, I attended an online remembrance for cultural leader, scholar, philosopher, and author Jean Houston, who made her transition in May. The event was hosted by Meridian University’s President Aftab Omer and Chief Academic Officer, Melissa Schwartz. Joining them were several colleagues and co-creators who shared their journeys with Jean.
Jean’s vision was to find a way to recreate the world so that it works for everyone. Integrating mythology, ritual, psychology, anthropology, and experiential learning, she sought to encourage the potential that everyone has within them. Recognized as a pioneer in the human potential movement, Jean was the author of more than two dozen books. She was mentored by and worked closely with philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Margaret Mead, Joseph Campbell, Buckminster Fuller, Alan W. Watts, and the Clintons, just to name a few.
Webinar attendees were asked to share a thought or concept from Jean’s leadership that resonated the most. Responses included:
Passion for the possible
Being a catalyst for the miraculous
Human journey as a pathway of wisdom and joy
Legacy of encouraging people to think bigger and be bigger
Mythologize, don’t pathologize
Embrace the lure of becoming and uphold the higher story and the higher dream
Jean’s Gift: Seeing the greatness in people
Greg and I had a very personal experience with Jean that demonstrated her desire to spark people’s realization of possibilities and potential. In 2020, Greg and I attended a Meridian University webinar called Igniting Collective Imagination. As the featured speaker, Jean guided us onto a new landscape of leadership she called social artistry. Responding directly to Greg and I about our Jazz Leadership Project work, she said:
“You have spoken the essence of making the new world. Truly, the two of you together. What a couple. Whoa. You have the gold of the psyche, you have the essence of new life coming together in social forms. I can learn so much from you. I am learning so much from you. Truly.”
We were deeply moved by Jean’s heartfelt words. Her statement was so genuinely professed and such a declaration of meaning and purpose that it beautifully affirmed all we intend to accomplish.
During the remembrance, a colleague shared Jean’s belief about reaching potential through this quote:
“Meeting with the infinite being within gives tremendous freedom to be.”
Jean as cultural leader: Social Artistry leadership for social complexity
The following is an excerpt from my 2020 post, which shares Jean’s social artistry for mutual flourishing and transformation.
Jean Houston said that many problems in societies today stem from leadership ill-prepared to deal with present complexities. She believed that it’s more than inadequate training: a lack of human resourcefulness has leaders operating from a limited field of awareness. The gravity of the moment requires greater and wiser use of their capacities.
“Social Artistry™ is the art of enhancing human capacities in the light of social complexity,” she said. “It seeks to bring new ways of thinking, being and doing to social challenges in the world.” As leaders in many fields, Social Artists engage with depth of passion and skills an artist brings to his or her art form to the canvas of our social reality.
Houston trained leaders in countries and organizations around the world with the vision of a society based on the principles of democracy, sustainable development, human-based needs and values, universal human rights, environmental protection, social justice, equality, and the sovereignty and dignity of all peoples worldwide.
The work of Social Artistry™ strives to provide a dynamic balance between inner understanding and outward expression to enable the same “focus, perspective, skill training, tireless dedication and fresh vision of the artist to the social arena.”
Houston said that the Social Artist leader:
Is able to see trends and the emergence of new patterns out of apparent chaos.
Is a “Contemplative Creator” who helps remove obstacles that prevent people from being all they can be, so they can realize their potential.
Serves the world by listening to the ideas, needs, aspirations and wishes of others.
Seeks innovative solutions to troubling conditions.
Is a lifelong learner—hungry for insights, skills, imaginative ideas, and deeper understanding of present-day issues.
Acquires the tools to help people work in collaborative networks, moving beyond hierarchies and old power structures
Observes and honor cultural differences
Using story, art, and metaphor to frame a complex array of processes and techniques, Social Artistry™ affirms our natural access to capacities such as thinking with many different frames of mind—visual, verbal, kinesthetic, interpersonal, subjective, intuitive, and logical-mathematical. This includes capacities that improve the physical use of the body to enhance memory, writing, creative expression, problem solving.
Jean’s vision of future humans blended personal transformation with collective impact. We have a choice in how we influence each other—for better or worse. Her words below, from 2020, seem all too fitting and appropriate for today’s uncertain times.
“This is our time. We can choose to surrender to fear or we can show the world what it means to be thoughtful, to be generous, and to be proactive in helping friends or strangers alike. Perhaps this is an initiation of sorts in which we are invited to step into a new experience of our interdependence and empathy.”
