Written by Gerry Sikazwe | Zambia
My experience in the Byron Fellowship at the Uplands Center was nothing short of life changing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will fuel me throughout my life. There, I saw the bountifulness of life when lived in tandem with one’s truest sense of self, sense of connection with others, and sense of purpose. Initially, I was living as a whole of fragmented parts, distant from each other, but the fellowship, like a furnace, pulled all my parts and melded them back into one whole.
For a self-acclaimed optimist, I have not always seen life and the world as beautiful but the Byron Fellowship helped me peek at the beauty of our human condition. I saw this in everyone there, and for the duration of the fellowship, care, interest, and love were our weather. I felt cared for like a garden—aerated, manured and watered—such that I forgot there was even chaos in the world.
“In each seat, a leader” is an ideal that stuck the most with me and one that aptly sums up the aura in the fellowship. It was central in how we spoke to and amongst each other as fellows and in how our facilitators, an amazing ensemble of oracles, treated and led us into finding ourselves. Respect, dignity, and trust were also commonplace. Up until this point, I had never thought that leadership and the responsibilities that come with it could be light. I am coming from a background where the image of Atlas with the world on his shoulders is the image that leadership manifests in. That leadership can be so well shared with trust, hope, and, of course, a purpose was a freeing encounter.
The fellowship rooted and connected me with my whole self. I felt seen, and I saw myself amidst giants of varied personalities, interests, and industry. I was inspired while still being shown my own abundance. Every day, in every session, I was being encouraged and led to connect more with myself and my surroundings. Everyone was an extension of the universe. Everyone was her hands holding me, guarding me, and guiding me to follow my heart. Such that love became tangible there, something I not only felt but saw and held in each and every interaction. From feeling loved, I became loved and appreciated.
In all, there is a lot that could be said about the effect the Byron Fellowship had on me, but the ultimate gift of all was that it helped my cohort and I to come to terms with exploring who we were, who we could become, and why. At the fellowship, in conversations, laughter, poetry, music, dance, hikes, photos, and food, I met my better self and I believe other fellows did too. So, thank you Byron, for loving a stranger into wholeness.
First and third images by Truzaar Dordi. Second image by Michaela Cisney.