Greetings, and Welcome!
My name is Leif, and I am a bridge builder.
I reach out across the rifts of misunderstanding, fear, and ideological divides, nurturing and coaching the tendrils of empathy to span that gap and allow each side to witness
the incredible humanity of the other.
To be clear, Living Bridge Consulting is the breadwinner and current top priority of a much larger mission for peace in the world, The Living Bridge Project. The Living Bridge Project is based on a vision that I choose to caretake, everyday.
It is a vision for a future of peace in this world.
In this vision, when conflict emerges, it is met with curiosity and quickly melts into a collaborative conversation focused on creating new possibilities for meeting everyone’s needs. In this vision competition is still a potent force for growth and innovation, only it does not come at a loss of compassion and mutual esteem. Instead, it serves as a motive to push outside of one’s comfort zone and to excel in a game of honor-filled striving toward a goal.
A core belief of the Living Bridge Project is that the best idea is not my idea, OR your idea; it is the 3rd idea that emerges when each of us shares our perspective, allowing a richer understanding and a more precise solution to emerge.
A core belief of the Living Bridge Project is that the best idea is not my idea, OR your idea; it is the 3rd idea that emerges when each of us shares our perspective, allowing a richer understanding and a more precise solution to emerge.
Land Acknowledgment
It is the land, first and foremost, that supports each of us with our basic needs of life everyday. For time immemorial it has been the indigenous stewards of the land that have maintained and honoured our relationship to it, with care and reciprocity for all it offers to all of us.
I, and Living Bridge Consulting, want to take a moment to deeply acknowledge and thank the stewards of this land on which we live and work, namely the Hul’qumi’num, Musqueam, Qayqayt, Tsleil-Waututh, and Stz’uminus, for their care and stewardship of the land. As well, we acknowledge the immeasurable hurts of their forced removal to reservations by the Canadian government, and the tragic tearing of families and culture through the potlatch ban, residential schools, and the ongoing practices of the MCFD.
If there is a way you believe that our Living Bridge team may be of service in healing people, families, and/or land, please reach out to us directly or apply to our Living Bridge Bursary program here.
If you wish to support the renewal of indegenous stewardship, please consider signing this statement and engaging with this and other movements in the ways that fit for you.
Living Bridge Values
Curiosity
Curiosity is the antidote to judgement, and the seed of humility. By remaining curious we help others feel comfortable being honest with us and we remain open and able to learn and improve our understanding. Every interaction is an opportunity for connection through shared needs, interests, and understandings, but conflict can arise when our strategies (i.e. belief, position, stance, persona) for meeting our needs (e.g. safety, freedom, health, fairness) are in opposition. By responding to conflict with curiosity of their needs and interests we begin to connect and build trust at the exact moment when they begin to believe that we truly care and value their needs, even if we don't agree with their strategies.
Compassion
Compassion is what connects us. Compassion is core to what makes us human. And compassion is most important and powerful in the exact moments it is hardest to find. It is compassion for those who would fight us that diffuses the conflict. It is compassion with those who expect us to take a side that keeps the opportunity for trust and understanding open.
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Collaboration
No one has the ‘right’ answer, but we can all bring something valuable to the table. It is through the creative merging of all perspectives that the best-yet answers can be found. I.e. it's not my idea, it's not your idea, it’s the 3rd idea that emerges when we share our perspectives and begin to collaborate. Additionally, as the old adage goes, “Anyone convinced against their will is of the same opinion still.” So, for example, if a person or group chooses to strong-arm an idea through without inviting the engagement of alternate perspectives in order to co-create it as a COLLECTIVE idea, then one group will feel imposed upon under the force of the other, and will invariable look to gain power and ultimately revoke the changes. Collaboration creates lasting solutions.
Courage
Courage is NOT fearlessness. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. The most powerful form of courage is a friendship with fear. One where your friend cares about you and offers advice to keep you safe, but does not control you or dominate the conversation. Bridge building can be terrifying. It requires wading into a turbulent river that pulls you in two directions at once, each side trying to sweep you off balance and into their perspective. It can be hard and scary, and it requires great courage, resilience, and love.
Integrity
Without a foundation, any bridge would be swept downstream in the next rainstorm. Integrity is the foundation of a Living Bridge. True to our word, steadfast to our values, unwavering in our service to the greater good of each moment we are in.
Safety and Stability
Safety is the foundation of creativity, generosity, collaboration, and the possibility for abundance! Safety is perceptual. There is no definitive situation that is safe. It is the perception of safety that allows for the blossoming of connection. However, safety becomes hollow without some form of stability. Unstable safety creates betrayal. With sensitivity to the context of the moment of the experience of the other, we can support the feeling of safety to remain stable in a dynamic environment. This is mediation. The art of maintaining trust and facilitating understanding in conversation.
Wholism
If you wish to go fast, go alone, if you wish to go far, go together. -African Proverb. In this globalized and interconnected world, we are mostly out of options to go anywhere alone. Cult groups sometimes try to by moving to land as remote as possible and maintaining their distance, trying to live far into extreme ideals. But for mainstream society, that is not an option. If we wish to create lasting change for the better, we have to bring everyone with us, which means aligning our values and collaborating our strategies. We need to have the WHOLE conversation in order to grow into a brighter future together!