ABSTRACT
Moving Stability is the story of how and why a short-term service group struggles during three weeks of cross-cultural volunteering. The Alaskan town’s collage of indigenous peoples, armed services’ retirees, and seasonal workers at the 24/7 salmon cannery makes for heightened miscommunication and mucked up goals. As hopes plummet, the prospects for service melt into burnout. A contemplative practice to redefine interactions by taking a third person perspective emphasizes non-judgment and increases empathy, which fosters increased self-knowledge about long-cherished resistances. As flexibility grows, re-grounding in humility and interdependence helps us realign our service priorities, reorganize resources while acknowledging struggle, and discover new pathways to service we never envisioned.
