GV in June: Making the Invisible Visible (or: Hilma af Klint has stolen my heart)

I’m reading: Hilma af Klint: A Biography. Earlier this month, one of my very best friends came to town and we went to MoMA, where we saw an exhibit called Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers. All I knew was that there were some botanical illustrations I wanted to see - nothing more. And WOW. We both lost our minds (in a good way) - I can’t yet fully describe the exhibit’s impact on me, but I think there will be a “before I knew about Hilma” and an “after I knew about Hilma” delineation in my understanding of my life. It’s an exploration of gender, science, the spiritual realm, and other things I can’t quite grasp. I went back to the exhibit by myself a week later, and I’ll probably go again this weekend.

I’m listening to: Alabaster DePlume’s To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1. My dear friend (mentioned above, who also fell in love with Hilma) introduced me to Alabaster DePlume and I cannot get enough. So mellow, so lovely, so complex and also simple? I love art and I love experiencing art with my friends.

UPDATES:

MORE NYC-BASED WORK, PLEASE

Through my work with GV Advisory, I’ve lucky enough to work with folks all over the U.S., which has taught me a lot and allowed me to see some neat parts of the country! I will continue my National work, but I’m making an intentional push to work with more NYC-based organizations. I’m working with one client whose office is on the Eastern border of Prospect Park, and WOW I love riding my bicycle to work! I’d also forgotten what working casually together in person felt like - I usually reserve in-person work for big events: retreats, design sprints, etc… it was nice to be reminded we can have a low-stakes weekly meeting in person, and it’s wild how much we can get done when sharing physical space.

If you or your colleagues are open to facilitating any introductions to some NYC-based social change orgs, collectives, or people, I'd love it!

LEARNING:

STILL COOKING - CHECK BACK IN JULY (OR AUGUST)

I’m in that gooey cocoon phase, where I know I’m learning a lot, but I don’t know how to articulate it yet. Some of what’s in process (I think):

• Hilma af Klint’s work is helping me realize/remember that I am obsessed with making the invisible visible. That’s so much of what Knowledge Management, Organizational Effectiveness, and Facilitation work has been - making our assumptions explicit, showing our work, making hidden knowledge accessible and usable to others …. this feels like a “well, yeah, that’s obvious” kind of a learning, but it’s feeling different somehow. hmm.

• I don’t want to make all of the invisible visible - I still believe that there are certain things that aren’t meant for everyone to see, know, or access.

• I’m starting to approach my work (and life) through the lens of the question: “what if there isn’t anything to fix?” This feels a little bit bonkers, given the state of the world - I’m not talking about things like authoritarianism and the fascist state - in that regard, there are absolutely things to fix (or build entirely new things). What I’ve been thinking about (this is classic asset-based thinking, it’s just hitting me a bit differently these days) is: how do we really start where we are and use what’s working to build the futures we want? jeez, as I type this out, it feels so obvious. It’s not that I haven’t thought this way before - maybe I’m just finally present enough in my body and the world to understand it more deeply? hmm.

I think these will start to form more concrete learnings to share, but while they’re cooking, I offer you a photo from our garden: a place that’s helping me remember to be present and stay hydrated. Watching bumblebees cover themselves in pollen like little dogs is one of my favorite activities. As Hilma af Klint wrote: “…there is a connection between the plant world and the world of the soul.”

QUESTION:

No question this month - brain too full, cocoon too gooey.

ABOUT GV:

Genevieve (they/them) runs GV Advisory - Guided by collaboration, humanity, and joy, they help social impact organizations embrace data and cultivate a learning culture. This work enables organizations to evolve into entities that operate based on evidence and relationship to community. Reach out to Genevieve at [email protected].