These values and subsequent principles are my orientations in the messy topology of life. I hold them both seriously and lightly at the same time. I stumble against them regularly, a bit like you stumble over a root that has made you aware of the tree’s presence. The question that interests me is not whether I uphold them perfectly, but how I meet myself when I don't.

They are also a continuous work in progress. Values and principles that aren't pressure-tested in real relationships, real conflict, and real stakes are just beautiful words. For me, that is the practice ground where they come to life.

And there is another notion that guides me: Arnold Mindell calls it worldwork: the understanding that the troubles we see in the world are also alive in us. Conflict, polarisation, rupture, injustice, disconnection - these are not only out there - they are also in here. Before going out to work on something in the world, I try to find where it lives in me first. Not as a reason to stay inward forever, but as the most honest place to begin.

What follows is where I currently stand: a short definition, yeses and nos (even though things are rarely that binary or clean) and a guiding question.

Relationality

The understanding that self and other are one and the same - interconnected parts of a bigger whole.

Because I am not separate, I am accountable to my web of relations - to human kin, non-human kin, ancestors, descendants. My individual story is held within the larger relational web, and I hold in my awareness the notion of Nikrmana, which in the old nature-based faith of Slovenia is the organising and connecting principle of Nature and the Universe.

Yes to: designing work that builds capacity, not dependence · considering ecological and social costs alongside financial ones · accountability to life, not only to markets

No to: the isolated, individuated story as the whole story · extractive relating · ancestral language used as aesthetic

Whose voices am I not yet considering in this?

Creativity

Life’s impulse to take form.

The aliveness signal of Nature expressing itself through us. It is what moves through me when I am deeply present. Following that impulse honestly - letting it shape my voice, my presence, my way of being in the world is what I call Wild Devotion to my authentic expression - in service of the whole.

Yes to: emergence over perfection · silence and play as crucial parts of the process · letting my expression be particular and unfiltered · allowing it to change as I change · surrendering to and trusting the flow and infinite possibility

No to: “pushing the river” · optimising soul-work · performing an outdated version of myself · treating creativity as a productivity tool · watering down my creative expression to be palatable

What is alive in me right now, and am I giving it room?

Learning

The ongoing practice of shifting perspective.

Curiosity as a way of being - staying genuinely open to new perspectives, new information, new ways of seeing, even when they unsettle what I thought I knew. It includes unlearning: questioning my own assumptions at the root level, asking how I might be wrong, noticing what I used to believe and why I no longer do. The real sign of true learning is changed behaviour - something I do differently now.

Yes to: wild curiosity · deep listening and presence · synthesising something new from many vantage points · embodied, practised knowing · allowing myself to be changed

No to: repeating the same mistakes over again · gripping beliefs because they feel safe · going along with the programme of the status quo · being the Expert

How might I be wrong and what other perspectives are available to me?

Courage

The willingness to act from an open heart.

Heart-forward presence. Staying open without becoming porous. Naming what is true, especially when it costs comfort. Insisting to lead with love, not fear. And also knowing when the courageous move is to let go.

Yes to: naming tension early · staying in hard conversations · letting fear inform rather than drive · sitting in the fire of conflict · practising relational repair

No to: pushing through and against · saviourism and heroism · forcefulness · opening so much that it replaces my own truth · allowing people to walk all over me in the name of compassion

What does love ask of me in this moment?

Sovereignty

Authority over your own ground.

Standing on your own feet without standing on anyone else. Minding my own issues, allowing other people to mind theirs and together minding our shared ones - without force, coercion or manipulation. Having the final say for what is true for me and my life. Deep self-authority, self-respect and clear boundaries.

Yes to: building root-level structures that allow real choice · distinguishing leadership from control · mandate to make own decisions about my life, body, mind · being in service of something bigger than myself · reclaiming my ancestral legacy and culture

No to: going against myself to fit external expectations · needing to be needed in order to belong · saviour dynamics · mistaking self-sufficiency for disconnection · appropriating practices I have no claim to without permission

What ground am I standing on as I make this choice?

Agency

The capacity to initiate, choose, and respond.

The capacity to respond - and allow others to do the same. Not rescuing, not over-functioning. Holding space for someone's becoming and walking with them, not walking instead of them or carrying them.

Yes to: clients moving from insight into action on their own terms · naming what is mine to hold and what isn't · designing for choice, not compliance · full-body yes · remembering that I can figure it out

No to: managing others' emotional reactions · carrying what was never mine · mistaking proximity for responsibility · taking over · power-over · taking more than my share

What is mine to carry here - and what belongs to someone else's process?

Integrity

Consistently aligning what you say and what you do.

Values made visible in everyday behaviours and actions - across relationships. Embodied alignment, and honesty about the gaps.

Yes to: revising what contradicts my values even when it "works" or is beneficial to me · accountability without self-punishment · noticing urgency and tendency to shortcut

No to: values as aesthetic · purity and moral high horses · pretending alignment · confusion and overwhelm as excuse to letting myself off

Where is the gap between what I say I believe and how I actually live?