Learning to be a Human Being

Last year I spent 180 hours – or more than 30 six-hour days – on a professional skills course at St Luke’s Therapy Centre in Stroud, UK.

It wasn’t like anything I had done before: It didn’t offer me a qualification, accreditation, or diploma, no letters after my name and nothing but a ‘certificate of completion’ to show off in my ‘graduation photo’! And yet it was one of the best investments I’ve ever made.

What it offered was something far rarer: a sustained investment in Being.

In a world that measures progress by certificates and job titles, I devoted this time to the slow, patient work of becoming more fully human, of noticing how I live, create, and strive – and most importantly, how I relate to others.

The course drew on the thinking of philosophers Rudolf Steiner and leadership expert Bernard Lievegoed, on the poetry of Austrian Rainer Maria Rilke and the insights of many artists and philosophers who have wrestled with what it means to be alive. The group of 14 professional teachers, therapists, and learning individuals, also enjoyed the presence of great teachers throughout the year, Jane Chase, Pauline Marksteiner, Eleanor Holliday, and Mike Chase – as well as many guest speakers. Through their ideas, and through long conversations, movement, and silence, I began to see myself and others differently.

As I walked through Stroud each month for the residential weekends, I was reminded of the young girl I once was, visiting here in 1990 on holiday from the Netherlands, gazing out over the soft green hills with the Severn glinting in the distance. Dreaming of roaming those hills one day.

There are no coincidences, and as I walked through the year, learning new skills, extraordinary insights and reflecting deeply, I began to see the quiet unfolding of what I was meant to be.

I leave this experience with deep gratitude, for the teachers and companions on the path, and for the simple reminder that our greatest work is to grow into better humans.

From that place, I can help others lead with more awareness and offer new perspectives in every conversation I have.