There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. –Leonard Cohen
I was delighted to see this quote in The Crossroads of Conflict: A Journey Into the Heart of Dispute Resolution by Ken Cloke, the brain and soul behind Mediators Beyond Borders, inter alia.
Canadian song-poet Cohen is one of those semi-underground iconic figures with an evangelical following who are quick to point that while he never got his due, he was (is) massively influential nonetheless. One critic referred to his work as “music to slit your wrists by,” because he delves into some dark stuff. But he’s also funny and celebratory. (My young writer cousin Dan, evangalized by me, reviewed every Cohen album here: http://tinyurl.com/3hxy3yk)
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I recognize this slavic melancholia as it lives strongly in Finland too. When I hear, what people are saying in mediations (especially in those cases, where we talk about domestic violence) my greatest sorrow arise of the hopelessness the participants sometimes are feeling. In the same time if I have listen and be present and help them to find even a faint ray of hope, that can create amazing amount of joy. I see, that my most important work as a mediator, is to make hope visible. Hope that conflicts can be resolved, hope that people will be active actors in their own lives, hope that there will be better days still to come. And I must believe it myself too. Hope is the light and joy in our lives. 🙂
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