Sites of Shaping/Sites of Change
For the past several years, I’ve used the popular “spheres of influence” framework as a foundation for bringing my inner work and activism together in a holistic way.
But I was recently introduced to a new model – one that I think is a lot more helpful.
It’s called Sites of Shaping/Sites of Change and here’s how it works:
We are always living our lives within a broader social context.
Our individual life has been shaped by our families, communities, institutions, and so on. On the other side, because of our presence and the ways in which we participate in both private and public spaces, we have a role in shaping our families, communities, institutions, and so on. Each of these sites holds great possibilities for change within us as well as, through our participation, within them.
This is why inner work can’t be isolated work – we live and breathe within a web of interconnection and relationship.
Staci Haines, author of The Politics of Trauma, speaks about the model this way:
It’s a combination of many of these places that taught us to embody what it is we embody. So the more conscientious and conscious we can be about these different sites of shaping, the more quickly we can understand our conditioned tendency [our automatic behaviors and unexamined shadows that impact us and our communities] and also move into transforming it.
So how can we use this model to go deeper into our inner work?
First, I invite you to do a quick brainstorm: who resides in each of these sites for you? What are the names of the people within them? What is the quality of your relationships within each site? What is the vibe? What is the feel?
Then, after you've textured the sites a bit for yourself, think about how you and the sites have shaped each other.
Below are two questions I’ve found myself working with – if they resonate, try starting with them and see what other questions and stories emerge.
📝 Questions:
In what ways have I have been shaped within each of these sites?
How can I respond to the invitation toward healing and solidarity and justice within each of these sites?
🧰 Resources:
"Sites of Shaping" with Staci Haines (video)
"Anger, Activism, and Healing" with Lama Rod Owens and Nova Reid (extended video)
Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown (book)
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