It lends strength to the weary and faint-hearted on the struggle to embody the dreamer within the dream.

An artistic ensemble connects first through the strength of the pen

then combines with the music of the musician as he drums a new beat into his heart.

This I say, my friend,

This I say, my friends,

Is where strength begins.

It begins with the pen,

And it ends in the idealism of every drum beat that makes up the heart that cries forward to the dreamer from within -

to begin.

by Alison Pothier channelled poetry 15 August 2011

to give us insight into the present

to create a new future.

To remain in the past

is to be stuck in the present

and unable to access the future.

A ‘moment’ graced, is a blessing on your face.

To dance with time, is a ‘moment’ graced.

Alison Pothier, Dream 20 February 2011

God will ask, only this,

“Do you know my love for you?”

“Answer ‘yes’, when you know

that all that was sent to you,

in all that was surrounding you,

underneath all that appeared to fail you,

hurt you,

torture you,

what never left you,

was the love I hid inside your heart,

did you find Me in you?”

At the gates of heaven, should they exist

God will ask only this,

“Do you know my love in You?”

When I have nothing and may not seem all that you imagined me to be…

Hold a curiosity for Me.

Fall in love with Me when all that I am is still mystery,

When life’s memory of Me says little of who I am or will ever be.

Fall in love with Me -

as I am when I arrive.

Find beauty in my nakedness and the guise

of all that I seem not to be.

Fall in love with Me.

Don’t dress me in possibility because I hold your dreams in my hands,

Try not to enchant yourself with such intricate plans

nor find comfort in title, position, or name,

Don’t distract yourself with ideas of gain

Rather love me raw and unrefined,

a mystery left undefined

A flower, I will bloom for you

for in loving Me,

you are loving you.

poem by Alison Pothier

19 December 2010

Life is a cycle of changes.  Never-ending transitions full of growth and expansion.  If we orient our perception to recognise that each moment is our creation, the  eyes will begin to see that what we have been waiting for is already here.  It’s like realising that the beauty of the dream begins in the moment a seed is planted in the soil, rather than in its final moments of colour and scent.  To celebrate the magic of life from seed, to soil, to a moment of breaking and bursting forth from the ground, is to define the dream as the whole of its creation and have lived it to the height of its stem and the coming of its rose.  The fragrence of the arrival will mean all that much more in celebrating the magic of the whole cycle of its creation.

consciousness the question everywhere.

But what am I to do?

A profound and simple answer: Just be You.

You ask that the answer comes to you.

Yet the answer is to come through you.

Just do what you know to do.

Become your ‘you’ through and through.

The answer lies in your own hands.

The master of your own plans.

There’s nothing more to do, but be you.

Then let ‘em see – let ‘em see you…

knowing who you are,

the driver in your own car.

The answer lies simply in you

- simply in you being the you that is you.

Dream June 2010

Strengthens as we grow.

Courage lies before us.

Encouraging us to go

forward, laughter the language

nothing else to speak.

A breath, a magic moment

staring at the peak.

Seems so high above you,

or maybe far below.

But for the light of courage

gracefully you flow

with eyes gazing forward

whispering winds flow in your ears.

With a glance and a turn backward

the vision disappears.

Keep focused on all you brought here.

In your pockets keep your every charm.

For in this your very moment,

nothing can be brought to harm.

I gave you this magic moment,

the courage in your ears.

I gave you this friend to guide you,

to last throughout the years.

A Pothier, 10 June 2010

After decades of analysis of the value proposition for men versus women in the financial industry, especially at the executive levels, it may be time now to look at things through a different set of eyes.   In order to evoke more positive and inclusive change, is it possible that our enquiry should be geared toward making a different distinction:

What is the value proposition for the masculine versus the feminine in the financial industry?  … In any industry?

Both men and women exit organisations when they are no longer able to make the inspired or creative contributions they wish to make in order to feel fulfilled and motivated to remain.

For many, to achieve is not necessarily to be fulfilled, but to be fulfilled is certainly an achievement.

Fulfillment requires an alignment of both personal contribution and the organisation’s value proposition for that contribution.  At the moment, the reward and promotion structures in the corporate world are defined by the market and predominantly associated with the ‘left brain’ or the ‘masculine’ qualities of logic, sequence, analysis, rationale, intellect, power, and delivery.  The qualities of the ‘right brain’ or the ‘feminine’ include intuition, creativity, emotional intelligence, communication, perception, vision and strategy.  Though organisations incorporate the qualities of the ‘feminine’, in measuring performance, the masculine qualities are more often nurtured and rewarded, especially at the top as the corporation meets the market.

In today’s market, the logical wins out over the intuitive, and the rational wins out over the inspired.

The masculine qualities are valued over the feminine at the levels that matter most to the shareholder … so we think, but is this really true?  Is it not possible that the current model stifles its own potential as well as the interests of the shareholder and therefore, the market?

The change that needs to take place must start from the inside out.

To create change in the world around us, we must first create the change within us and then lead as an example of our own teaching. To create an environment that values, nurtures and promotes both masculine and feminine qualities requires the personal integration and embodiment of these qualities in one’s self.  For women with years of experience in mastering the masculine in order to succeed in today’s market, the integration of the feminine can produce as much of an identity crisis as it can in some men.  That said, to embrace both the feminine and the masculine qualities in all of us provides a sense of value for the whole.  This creates a wonderful opportunity to balance gender and culture representation in organizations today by broadening the qualities valued in everyone.  For women in the city, we are asked to begin by reconnecting with the power of the feminine in ourselves.

The inspirational leader trusts that the illogical, intuitive and inspired can produce astounding measurable results.

This is in the heart and soul of the individual who decides they are going to arrive in their greatness, dance in their nakedness, and ‘for you, for me, I need to be seen.  And if I fall, in front of you all, well maybe somebody was served by that too.’

Dream 11/08