Illustration: Richard Reed
Scroll down to see photos and comments from participants
Date: Thursday 29th April 2010
Political power. Personal power. Economic power. Sexual power. Spiritual power. What's behind our desire for it? Who has it? Who wants it? Who needs it?
Is it true that "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely"?
On The Panel We Had
Chris Johnstone, a specialist in the psychology of personal power. He worked for nearly twenty years as an addictions specialist in the NHS before focusing on teaching, training and writing. Addressing both personal and planetary issues, he organizes the annual Bristol Happiness Lectures and produces the free newsletter The Great Turning Times. He is author of Find Your Power – a toolkit for resilience and positive change (Permanent Publications, May 2010).
David Saunders of Zero Carbon Bristol, working on projects that include renewable energy, eco-building and sustainable communities. David is a member of the 'momentum group' backing Bristol's 'European Green Capital' initiatives. His interest in environmental action grew out of experience in the chemical and computer industries in the UK, Silicon Valley and Europe. He has studied and taught the works of several popular business gurus (Tom Peter, Stephen Covey, Scott Peck, Peter Senge), and focuses now on zero emissions development (holistic, waste free growth) and appreciative inquiry (conversations that create a shared vision).
Philip Raby, who has successfully run his own business for the last 24 years. Before that he was part of Harvest Wholefoods and was instrumental in achieving cooperative status for the business. He has taught film for managers, psychotherapists and evening classes, and also has an MA in European Film Studies. He has been Chair of the Bath Film Festival since it started twenty years ago, and is heavily involved in the detailed work of putting the festival together.
As a strong believer in personal power, he has spent many years in various men’s groups, trained in the Native American tradition with Rainbow Hawk and Wind Eagle and has participated in more forms of psychotherapy than any sane man should attempt. He believes that we are all searching for both purpose and meaning, and that the search is what is important. His one experience of Enlightenment was dazzling, but will probably never happen again.
Elisabeth Winkler, a journalist, editor, communications specialist and real food lover. She has been published in all the UK’s broadsheets and most of its women’s magazines. She wrote about relationships for the Independent on Sunday; survivors of genocide for the Mail on Sunday; women and Islam for Options; the lives of Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre for Marie Claire and interviewed Boy George for The Sunday Times Magazine.
From 2001 to 2008 she was editor of Living Earth, the Soil Association‘s membership magazine.
The Entertainment Was
Live music from Dirk Landish and his band, recently born out of the Bristol folk scene, who have been transfixing audiences with twisted tunes and stories of love, lust and revenge. Dirk, having recently returned from adventures in other countries, reunited with his long time musical partner Jimvincible (Bass). The result was "somewhere between Tom Waits and Rage Against the Machine unplugged".
Performance poetry from George Faina-Dixon.
Our apologies to the performers for not managing to get any photographs of you on this occasion.
A Big Thank You To
Chapel Arts for supporting the event, Jonathan Turton-Smith for doing the lights for virtually no cash, Chris Day for the sound, Cori Bona for production managing, Fiona Joyce for helping put out posters, SuperMegaActionPlus for the video animation, and JR Ryan for the original concept.
"Thanks for a wonderful evening last night. I got so much out of it and met many wonderful people."
Arabella Tresillian, Hemisphere UK
