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The Tension of Emergence: Thriving in a world that remakes, not breaks
What if the tension in your life isn’t something to resolve—but something to revere?
Welcome to Tension of Emergence, an audio sanctuary where we meet the fertile edge of transformation—not by bypassing discomfort, but by alchemizing it.
Hosted by Jennifer England—human rights advocate, Zen practitioner, and former executive—this podcast explores the friction that arises when we’re called to lead, create, or heal during times of profound change.
A space for holding paradox, Tension of Emergence invites you into intimate conversations with artists, philosophers, scientists, and change-makers. Together, we expose the fault lines of outdated paradigms and imagine new ways of being with creativity and embodied wisdom.
If you’re craving subversive happenings and radical encouragement as you walk the edges of personal and collective change- come join us.
The Tension of Emergence: Thriving in a world that remakes, not breaks
Overcome a Challenge with a Different Kind of Power (A Practice) with Jennifer England
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Jennifer offers a practice, inspired by her conversation with modern-day mystic and teacher Cynthia Bourgeault.
Instead of virtues being a static object we have, they can be thought of as active agents of change. Jennifer offers a two-part practice to help you leverage your unique personal virtues (and power) to transform a current challenge.
In this episode, Jennifer shares a personal example and emphasizes the importance of practice as a dynamic process of learning from your direct experience.
If you play with this practice and have an insight you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you!
Links & resources—
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Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.
S3. Ep. 18 Confront a Current Challenge with a Different Kind of Power (A Practice) with Jennifer England
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Jennifer: This week I spoke with modern day mystic, Episcopal priest, author, and teacher, Cynthia Bergeau. And in part of our conversation, we talked about virtues, those qualities of our character that are typically known as embodying a high moral standard.
And if I use a dictionary definition, a quality considered morally good or desirable in a person,
the beneficial quality or power of a thing. And some examples of virtues are courage, patience, Beauty, compassion, kindness, you get the idea. And Cynthia's reframing of virtues that I really appreciated was, they are not just a positive quality we have, but they're actually, the agency in something.
They have the power to act on a really subtle, energetic level. And so here's a practice for you this week.
This practice has two parts. The first part is a reflection. And the second part is an experiment. Feel free to get out a journal if you'd like to follow along in real time, So here's the first part. I want you to consider a virtue that others have long associated you with. probably goes way back since you were a kid, something deeply integrated in your being.
And I want you to reflect on a time when this virtue had power,
Maybe it shifted the dynamics of a room. Maybe it allowed attention on something that really needed to be seen. Maybe it shifted the experience of someone you were caring for.
Maybe it altered a decision on something that was really important. Something about this virtue or quality of yours actually set in motion something different. I invite you to consider how this virtue of yours is not just a trait you have or own,
but is a subtle, active agent that can work you and also offer something to the world
It has movement, it has power, it has agency.
And with this shift in perspective here's the invitation for the second part. Consider something in your life right now, a challenge, a feeling of lostness, maybe confusion, heartbreak, or uncertainty.
Whatever challenge that you feel is alive for you right now, how might this virtue, thinking of it more like an active agent of subtle power, how might it guide you into a different kind of action? How might you intentionally use it to gain clarity, to move something forward, to shift some dynamics that need shifting?
How yours, if potency and agency of subtle help you
To move through this challenge in a new way?
I'll offer you an example in my own life recently. I just noticed last night, super subtle. My teen was in, a grumpier mood from my perspective, and had spent a lot of time on their own. And my husband and I were looking at each other wondering who is going to go up and check in. And I could feel my resistance.
I could sense that I was feeling a little bit unsure about how to do it well in a way that fostered connection. And one of my virtues is gentleness. Without realizing it, only now, as I talk to you in this moment, do I realize that I leaned on it. But I, I yielded to this gentleness, just a softness as I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.
And checked in, offered a few perspectives about what we might do, how we could connect. And the gentleness, I could tell just softened the space. It softened my approach and it created a micro connection without any pressure expectation. And I think this is the awake intentionality of when we're in the dark.
In these little ordinary moments in our day, or in the really big, big difficult periods of time in our life. How can these virtues be considered potent agency for shifting things into greater connection, into deeper presence. and to watch how they nourish.
My hunch is that this practice is going to help you think about your gifts in some new ways and I hope, unleash more intentionality about how we can be active agents of change in our everyday lives.
Enjoy. A few final words about practice. Practice is different than a tool or a technique or simply a mindset shift practice is like an ecosystem unto itself. It's more like a world that invites your playful curiosity. It invites you to pay attention differently.
What can you learn, see, feel, sense from a new doing, a new action? What you'll experience will be different than me or a friend who does the same practice. It's experimental. It's designed to be fresh and alive, dynamic, and relat. And what I emphasize is practice is a gift of learning from your own direct experience, not from experts, coaches, sages, teachers, but from you.
Practice centers, you as the awake, and attuned one that you already are. Practice is the invitation.
And direct experience is your greatest teacher. So if you play with this practice and discover that you've had an insight that you'd love to share with me or others, please reach out. Email me with any observations or questions@jennifersparkcoaching.ca in. If you know someone who'd appreciate the wisdom and gift of this practice, please share this episode with a.
I'm Jennifer England. Thanks for practicing and being on this journey on the tension of emergence