The Children's Village - beckoning to land and materialise
A picture 'came through' in deep silence in October 2020 that was a beautiful place, nestled in nature; with mountains in the background and lush green nature; a river and a cluster of natural, biophillic designed spaces; and a fire, with ellders gathered around. My friend Wynn encuraged me to make a picture for me; knowning of my work to make these for so many others as part of my work; and it was 'my time'; especially having had my natural motherhood journey take another knock just months before; and that had letft me with no horizon to move towards.
This became my horizon; a direction to move towards; for it felt so alive and nourishing; and utterly inpsiring - a cluster, nestled in nature, with deeply aligned and resonnat others; a future beckoning and at that time, many signals of Mexico were coming through; and after many attempts to 'cross the bridge', it
A message was received in the early hours of 21 December 2021; it woke me and brought a faqst flow of writting; thankfully my paper and pencil were next to the bed; it was a message about the children of the new earth; that as has happened at other major turning points in the history of time, there is a need now for safe havens to be created to protect our children; creating a highly loving, safe, and supportive environment for them to grow as seeds of the future time on earth. It was said that there needed to be many around the world; and that it was a shared effort of parents, loved ones, community members, enteprise and business; and that together we could sustain and nourish life independently from the predominant systems of today's societies.
There was a flow of synchonstic events that followed; as if to show me the way; people, places and projects that were in alignment with this; showing me all of the elements that were to be part of it; and it was my mistake to focus on finishing 'the sea change game' first; when another path was opening up very natrually. The consequences of this, were clearly evident in my health, energy and flow of re-sources; nature making it clear it waas off course from the flow of nature; and great difficultiles ensued. Recognising now, that, with the benefit of a deeper dive into my health; that my diaphraghm was under-developed from the very beginning of my peri-natal life; and that my chest breathing was keeping me in my limbic (survival) system ongoingly; and by addressing that, everything is now coming into view, much more clearly.
Evolutionary eldership
Being in a cluster of evolutionary elders in the mountains is my next step; with people who are led by love and guided by nature, and called to create clan in a cluster; and feel to the promise and the process of 'a children's village'; a call to gather as we have done since our tribal days ; going deeper into connection with all that is, all that beckons; and together, making a brighter future for our cluster and for children of the future.
Making our way to a brighter future
Venturing into a process of inauiry and action; moving with what beckons from the future for us as a team of evolutionary elders; creators; open-hearted, grounded, practical, radical in the highest sense; courageous; and connected to source.
Nature's innovation and earth-centred design
A natural process of being in nature, connected and aware, open to signals, in-formation and natural movements to go where beckons; for all that needs to happen for children, to be revealed.
My way of nature
People know me as someone who brings creativity, playfulness and meaning; seeing the connectedness of all things; and who has a perspective different to the norm.
My way of nature is to challenge the status quo, presence realities, and convey messages of truth and wisdom; to be opened hearted and caring; a creator by nature - making things that are useful, beautiful and therapeutic, curating boundless adventures and odysseys of learning, and innovating with the highest of ideals are my ways of creating; without doing, my natural way catalyses movement forward; clears energy and facilitates flow..
Making change
Making my to a brighter future has been my way of finding my way to higher ground in life; it was art, singing, music, sewing, craft and making spaces that got me through a very diffifult beginning in life.
In my work in change mansgement and facilitation, people knew me as having 'a creative leftfield approach' that was tehcnically sound, whilst departing from the usual norms; a natural creator, it makes sense that my approach to change and learning will be creative!
With a strong value for people being invovled and consenusal in the change that happens, and to do it with love and care, it meant a natural progression towards participative processes for change and away from the top-down culture of change management.
The gradual integration of my creativity with change now brings great tools and approaches that we can use together to make our way to a brigther future, thorugh these times of great change and co-creating a new time on earth.
A natural evolution
A growing discomfort with traditional approaches to centralised humanitarianism and system-led community development led to a natural evolution to move towards localised, sovereign communities with the essence and purity of humanitarianism, led by love, guided by nature; arriving at this point of a living process surfacing what is presencing and moving with a flow of 'source' through a creative process of 'making' to see what is beckoning from nature as needing to be in movement or materialisation.
Insights into child development & wellbeing
In jyotish astrology, a saturn period is gruelling in adult life; and there is a reliance on the tools and support from earlier in life, for people to make their way through; for me, it was straight in from conception to an 18-year saturn period; very rare, apparently; my mayan profile is 'I endure in order to reflect' and it seems this has been my chosen path; to gather the gold from 30 years of recovery and regeneration, research and action research and professional work with children and in service of children since 1992.
A turning point in placemaking
Working with a multi-disciplinary team of a leading architect, london city planner and development project broker in 2013 on a design proposal for a new garden city; a dawning realisation of the commercial priorities in traditional placemaking and planning, above the wellbeing and highest evolution of people and nature; cataylsing a turning point, marking my departure from mainstream projects and practices; gathering what was useful, to assist with a democratic, earth-centred approach to placemaking with sovereign, natured-based communities
Seeing through the eyes of love
The gold from this visit to a children's project in Ahmdebhad, in partnership the National Institute of Design (India) and British Council Fellows was the experience of a deeper, more harmonious way to approach change; with an invitation to 'see purely through the eyes of love'; with no desire or movement to 'change' anything; to be fully present 'with what is' and follow that which arises in awareness, that beckons for change; an unusual experience in 'design for change' circles!
Livelihoods for children was an interesting inquiry as to how to assist children who need to work, to do so in the best way possible for them.
Being part of UnBox was profoundly inspiring and rich by way of cross-pollination of practice and ideas for social change in communities through design.
Visions of the children's village
At 3am on 21 December 2021, a flow of writing came through for a funding application for a children's village; a safe haven for children in these times and the highest level of evolutionary environment possible; for them to develop as natural beings in connection with nature; restoring full harmony and coherence with the natural order.
Community partnerships for children
A one year maternity cover contract gave me a deep dive into community research, needs and developing projects with charities, social enterprises, community groups and schools to meet the needs of their children and young people through partnerships with businesses operating in their local area; including Sussex, London, Manchester and Mumbai.
First 1000 days
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Parents
Games for Change
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Engagement Programmes
Community through conversation
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Nature
EMF's
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Wellbeing & Resilience
Evolutionary engagement
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Engagement Programmes
Evolutionary enterprise
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enterprise development
Evolutionary community
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Community developement
Arts for wellbeing
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Localisation and decentralisation
Caring for locality
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First 1000 days
"Leela is utterly unique; I know no-one else like her. Each time we meet or work together, the experience leaves me inspired. She is so giving of her knowledge, her energy and unparalleled authenticity - that I find myself, as a storyteller, short for words. Leela is a firebrand, a soul-counsellor and superlatives aside, a great person to work with."
Martin Deakin - Storyteller
'Leela is like no-one else I have ever met; she's quite simply brilliant. She is a unique blend of creativity, intuition and smarts.
Her crystal clear process took me on an amazing journey starting from a spark of an idea - and ending in a fully formed business plan. Like a spiral, Leela's questions led me deep into the core of the idea. One of the keys of the process is the visual map that she creates for each session. These maps helped me to link things together in new ways, and see new possibilities - ultimately coming up with a better concept."
Dawn Gosling - Fundraising & Wellbeing for chidlren
"Thank you for your listening, creativity and knowledge all in a realm of authenticity and potency. What I got out of our sessions was the opportunity to create new out of chaos; to create future out of things that were ending; to give a new meaning to ambition.”
Annemieke Jonas - Pilates Specialist & Mother
"I never had such an experience before. I think many peoples in India need such coaching to take out their hidden dreams and show to them. And also showing them the possibilities and way forward.”
Shiva Prakash - Ayurvedic Practitioner & Father
How to describe working with Leela Grace?! Imagine the most creative, boundary-less brain, inside a whole-hearted human with a deep deep curiosity and care. ... Leela is brave in saying she sees the world differently and what an incredible perspective you will gain if you listen up.”
Aly-King-Smith
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Working Together
How you can get started with your work on A Children's Village
Currently, there are spaces for sessions for parents, professionals and people working on projects aligned to the work of A Children's Village; and for people in business and organisations seeking to explore how to bring A Children's Village into the workplace or to local communities.
You are wholehearetdly welcome to write to me at leela@achildrensvillage.org to make an enquiry or make a start on your own odyssey.
The future is in our hands
It is up to us
To make our way thorugh these times
To a future of our own making
For making a difference
For making a stand
For the children of these times
As sacred seeds of a new cycle and season on earth
You may be here to explore creating new possibilities of higher evolution for children & young ones
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
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These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
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These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
These times are catalysing us to stand even more steady and strong in our custodianship and eldership of children and young ones.
"
In these times, children are at the heart and centre of all of this work; a world in crisis they are in our care; and furthermore, they are essential to our evolution now; children of today are much more highly evolved in their consciosusness and their biology; they are naturally connected to nature's blueprint for perfection; each child is in some way, catalysing us in evolving our perspectives and approaches to their care as part of an overall evolutionary shift taking place.
My commitment is steadfast in assisting parents and professionals in the inquiry of how to best care for children and young ones in these times; and how to tend the environments and eco-systems that shape them. The main themes at this time are neurodiversity, education & learning, preparedness and navigating family seperation and blended families.
There is also infinite creativity and deep care here for innovating with entrepreneurs and innovators to meet real needs of children and young ones in these times and the future.
There is much to learn in these times.
And much to unlearn.
Recognising the enormous power and place that education and learning have in this evolutionary epoch; and enjoying the process of designing evolutionary experiences to be shared here.
There is great joy and inspiration for assisting evolutionary educators and learning facilitators with designing, developing, creating, evolving and conveying evolutionary learning experiences, environments, resources, platforms, productions and publications.
Also for assisting those engaged in self-directed learning who value and inquiry and action approach, with support with soundboarding and structure.
Recognising the deep need for elders in our communities as active custodians and guardians of values, cultures and communities; anchor points and guides for many through these times of immense change and transition.
There is a deep, wholehearted welcome in me to work with elders and those engaged in eldership to activate, strengthen and resource; to assist in further bringing gifts of wisdom, insight, expertise and experience to community; building and maintaining reslience and strength through this extended period of change; assisting in reflecting, soundboarding and decision making on the best ways forward.
Earth is in need of protection and restoration to the former state of purity; the actions of humanity have large been out of alignment with nature for some time.
Assisting earthkeepers in efforts and endeavours to tend to the restoration of earth and engage others in a collective effort to live in ways that are harmonious with earth, as earth.
'We shape buildings; thereater they shape us'. Winston Churchill.
A guiding principle in my exploration of environmental psychology and evolutionary environments over many years; informing my work on place-making projects and inspiring innovative designs for future developments.
You may value insight relating to a specific enivronment or place, welcome assistance in your inquiry for your own evolvitionary environments; you may want to work together to innovate with a new placemaking or design project.
Making a good start in life
'Start how you mean to go on'
We all know that making a good start sets everything up for a better trajectory. Powerfully so with human life; much of what we face in our societies today can be traced back to how we began our lives.
Through 30 years of professional work with adults, young people and children, It became clear that the best way to make a contribution in this life, is to focus on children; so much of what adults are grappling with in communities, business and in life, can be traced back to early years; it is these formative years that lay the foundations for life.
In the knowing that the natural intelligence of the earth is producing these new, more highly evolved seeds for a new future on earth, it is now up to us to create environments that enable them to still develop and grow within a context which is deeply challenging for most adults; and even better, for them to have the conditions and environments for them to evolve to the highest level possible.
The new future on earth, needs children to be in their natural purity, connected to nature, flowing and expressive in their creativity, candid wisdom and clear intuition; and for as long as possible, free of the distortions that mainstream society brings.
"In two sessions your work broke through a deep layer of palpable fear and upset... the analogies and metaphor your provided, allowed us to see the truth in the situation. And come up with creative ways of connecting with my children again through water.
I had the experience of just wanting to be the best version of me I can be in their eyes. A hero dad.
And so with the kindness and calmness Karen showed me and my blended family constellation, and the laser like attention to detail with a professional business hat on, she was able to diagnose, propose the path of greatest joy, and then get the post workshop feedback to fine tune for next time, all without us seeing the back of house that must take years to perfect.
It was a deep privilege and I can only bless this work as being inspired by spirit, for the pure goodness of humanity."
Benjamin - Father
"... it illuminated and released the potential of the thoughts, dreams and dynamics of my business. We created a visual structure which allowed me to see my business more deeply, and from new perspectives - and I immediately saw clearly where it needed to go.
Karen facilitated clarity for the future.. mapped out a visual roadmap ..this vision has been coming to fruition ever since and has become my reality.
Her way of working is very magical and unique. I can honestly say that that this is the absolute best money I have ever spent in terms of life and business coaching and encourage anyone at a crossroads, looking for direction, needing to make conscious decisions and being clear about next steps to embark on, you won't be disappointed, you will be blown away."
Emma Jackman - Founder of Conscious Chocolate
'Karen is like no-one else I have ever met; she's quite simply brilliant. She is a unique blend of creativity, intuition and smarts.
Her crystal clear process took me on an amazing journey starting from a spark of an idea - and ending in a fully formed business plan. Like a spiral, Karen's questions led me deep into the core of the idea. One of the keys of the process is the visual map that she creates for each session. These maps helped me to link things together in new ways, and see new possibilities - ultimately coming up with a better concept."
D. Gosling - Director & innovator for children
"Thank you for your listening, creativity and knowledge all in a realm of authenticity and potency. What I got out of our sessions was the opportunity to create new out of chaos; to create future out of things that were ending; to give a new meaning to ambition.”
A. Jonas - Pilates Specialist & Studio Owner and Mother
"Karen is utterly unique; I know no-one else like her. Each time we meet or work together, the experience leaves me inspired. She is so giving of her knowledge, her energy and unparalleled authenticity - that I find myself, as a storyteller, short for words. Karen is a firebrand, a soul-counsellor and superlatives aside, a great person to work with."
M. Deakin - Leadership Storyteller & Communications
"I never had such an experience before. I think many peoples in India need such coaching to take out their hidden dreams and show to them. And also showing them the possibilities and way forward.”
S. Prakash - Ayurvedic Practitioner
living in the gift
being like a tree
receiving what is needed
for me to care for seeds and saplings
