14The Power of Presence

“We convince by our presence.”

Walt Whitman

Poet and journalist

“It's… Uhh… Ahh… Umm…”

The location was St Lucia, and it was the third day of one of my Life Transformation Retreats. One of the participants had just had a profound insight (signalled with a loud “OH!” and a look of sudden realisation). Everyone in the group turned to him, eager to hear about the pearl of wisdom that had just been revealed to him. He opened his mouth to speak and said “It's… uhh… ahh… umm…” He stopped, furrowed his brow, then tried again. This time, no sounds came out; his mouth just opened and closed as the expression on his face cycled through a variety of emotions: surprise, confusion, puzzlement, amusement, peace…

His contaminated ...

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