Presenting: The Vibrant Center: A Healing Alternative for our Broken Times

This talk focuses on what I term the “vibrant center.” The vibrant center is an existentially informed consciousness that is based on three pillars of depth psychological wisdom accrued through history—the cultivation of presence to self and others; the openness to experience that emerges from such presence; and the discernment that characteristically follows a personally and socially attuned engagement with the world. I also define the vibrant center as a pivot point of choice amid diverse facets of a given situation. In the balance of the talk I will elaborate 1) the urgent need for a vibrantly centered alternative to both the growing extremism (or polarization) of our times, as well as to the deadening moderation (or superficiality) of our times; and 2) how a vibrantly centered consciousness may be lived out across major sectors of our (that is, chiefly Western) society—from childrearing to education to the work setting and religious/spiritual settings. But I will reserve the bulk of my time to propose a fresh vision of a vibrantly centered political movement, as this domain has the potential to impact vast aspects of our lives, and hold in the balance the very sustenance of our lives. Ample time will be allotted for audience discussion following the conclusion of the`talk.