So yesterday I went to London. I went to the Navy Rooms in Somerset House for my Clore Graduation. I am now officially a Clore Fellow. Thanks to the Arts Council of Wales. This is what I said and why I believe more people should have this opportunity.
YVONNE MURPHY – CLORE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME FELLOWSHIP GRADUATION SPEECH
9th October 2014
I have been on quite a journey.
I would like to read something which my coach shared with me and represents a key moment for me on that journey.
The following is by Marianne Williamson and was quoted by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech in 1994.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be?
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.
We are born to make manifest the glory that is within us.
It is not just in some of us.
It’s in EVERYONE.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
Automatically liberates others.
This is what the Clore Leadership Programme has done for me – it has liberated me. In the words of my inspirational mentor, Jude Kelly, it has allowed me to begin to become the person I have the potential to be. And in doing so, in giving me permission and empowering me to shine, it has indeed enabled me to give that permission to others to do the same.
The Clore Leadership Programme has:
- Opened so many doors I simply cannot go through them all quickly enough
- Placed an invisible stamp of approval and quality on me that has allowed me access to people, places, experiences and learning beyond my wildest dreams
- Allowed me to lift my eyes to the horizon and equip myself with knowledge, skills and experience and then feel entitled to use them to, in my own small way, make the world a better place.
I have learnt:
- To begin to feel comfortable with and embrace leadership and the fact that my ideas, words and actions can influence and inspire others
- To thread all parts of myself and my life together and make myself whole
- That I can stop waiting, the time is now
Finally, I have made many friends on this journey, all my cohort of fellows of course and many more.
But it is with thanks to Clore that I have reconnected with a very old friend who I had lost touch with. A friend who believed in me from the very start, who had confidence in my abilities and trusted my instincts and my values and beliefs and believed I could use them to make the world a better place.
That person that I have re-found – is me.
Thank you to the Clore Leadership Programme and the Arts Council of Wales.