Summary

Kenneth Silvestri introduces himself to the Illumination community, reflecting on his background, professional journey, and philosophical influences, while expressing his passion for systemic thinking, personal growth, and interdisciplinary learning.

Abstract

Kenneth Silvestri, a systemic psychotherapist with a doctorate from Columbia University, joins the Illumination community with a rich history shaped by the industrial and cultural environment of Paterson, New Jersey. His professional life spans teaching, community organizing, and a private practice in psychotherapy, influenced by anthropologists like Paul Byers, Margaret Mead, and Gregory Bateson. Silvestri is also a certified classical homeopath, an educator, and an author, having published a book titled "A Wider Lens: How to See Your Life Differently" and contributing to Psychology Today. His interests include Aikido, Qigong, TaiChi, photography, and poetry, and he is dedicated to fostering mutual learning and systemic change. He emphasizes the importance of understanding our ecological existence and the interdependency of all things, advocating for improvisation to address the challenges faced by humanity.

Opinions

Silvestri believes in the profound impact of nature's functioning versus human thought on global issues, as quoted by Gregory Bateson.
He values the poetic essence of the world, aligning with Aldous Huxley's view that the world's significance is intrinsic to its existence.
His personal history is deeply intertwined with the industrial and social heritage of Paterson, New Jersey, particularly the Great Falls, which he poetically describes as a formative influence.
Silvestri is passionate about systemic thinking and change, which is evident in his professional and personal pursuits.
He sees relationships as crucial for self-knowledge and transitioning into new possibilities, highlighting the concept of liminality as a way to understand our part-to-whole ecological existence.
He advocates for celebrating interdependency and embracing quantum possibilities to make positive changes, drawing a parallel to the Greek mythological concept of Gaia.

Kenneth Silvestri: By way of Introduction

My favorite quote is “The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think”

Gregory Bateson

“The world is poetical intrinsically and what it means is simply itself. Its significance is the enormous mystery of its existence and of our awareness of its existence.”

Aldous Huxley

Hello to all, I am Ken Silvestri and I am very much looking forward to being part of the wonderful Illumination community. My upbringing, as is the case with all of us, was influenced not only by my family of origin, but the wider context where I was raised. For me it was the red brick factory town of Paterson, New Jersey where I experienced its working-class essence. Paterson is unique in that it not only was the birthplace of industrialization in America, founded by Alexander Hamilton, but also the home of many social activist, inventors, artisans, and poets who evolved and created in its gritty existence. The heart of the city was its Great Falls, the second largest in northeast America, that powered its factories and provided emotional energy to its many diverse immigrant pioneers. Here is a poem that I wrote that best explains its effect on me.

oh the zen like great falls

stepping out of my front door

the mist of the great falls caressed

my prelude

to the day to come.

its multi-appearances

dressed by seasonal nuances,

like ice coated cotton clouds.

also suds and old derelict debris

circling in whirlpools.

a gathering red brick history

of my grandparents soaked in its spray,

their tilting looms ten hours a day,

the churning turbines

of my parents’ child labor.

near smoldering fire remnants

that found their way there.

a block down

steam locomotives were built with her power.

shinning unused trolley rails

peeking through cracks

on McBride Ave covered by her droplets.

the only all-the-way-onion-sauce-hot dog-stands

were always there.

as were the potential floods along her raceways.

she was part of my walk to school,

sitting at stationary wooden sepia coated desks,

looking out of windows covered with her grime.

she was always showing

either a drip

or thunderous pummeling

over the gray geology

where I found native arrow tips

and 19th century glass bottle pieces.

her persona wavering

her shadow side devastating

her rainbows soothing…

*Originally published in The Great Falls: An Anthology of Poems about Paterson, New Jersey, Edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan, 2014

Much has gone on in my life since traversing the Great Falls, I can share with you that I have been a teacher, administrator of educational programs, community organizer and for the past thirty-five years in private practice as a systemic psychotherapist. My doctorate, from Columbia University is in Family Cultural Studies (anthropology and psychology) and was mostly influenced by the work of anthropologists Paul Byers, Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. I am also a Certified Classical Homeopath, taught at the graduate level for twenty years and currently serve as a Clinical Professor for Daybreak University’s Graduate Counseling Program as well as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the New York Medical College.

My passions, besides enjoying my family and friends are writing/advocating for systemic thinking and change, being a black belt student of Aikido (a martial art based on peace and harmony), enjoying Qigong, TaiChi, photography and poetry. In addition to my practice I conduct numerous workshops on family therapy, alternative education, communication skills, forgiveness, and homeopathy. My book, A Wider Lens: How to See Your Life Differently was released 2018. I write a blog for Psychology Today and have authored many professional articles and monographs, as well as several chapters for books on mental health and homeopathy.

I am interested in mutual learning, since I believe that it is in relationships that we can know ourselves and transition into the realm of new possibilities. Although the word is not the thing, I like the sound of liminal, because it gives me a sense of zooming in and out of understanding our part-to-whole ecological existence. My sense is if we are to celebrate the rewards of respecting our interdependency, we will have to do much improvisation to even begin to understand the many quantum possibilities we have to make changes for the better to what Greek mythology refers to as Gaia.

To all my best,

Ken