FIVE QUESTIONS FOR VIVIAN

What is your professional background?
“My childhood experiences of traditional life in a Balinese village left me with the impression that the universities of the rich industrialized nations would not be the place to learn what I was truly interested in. Therefore, after completing my international baccalaureate in 1995 in the U.S., I took a very different path. I spent years studying and developing in India and Indonesia, traveled Central and South America, and finally returned to Europe in 2003 to contribute to a much needed shift in consciousness here.”

What is the source of your insights?
“My years of study confirmed what I had suspected as a child: different cultures have different ways of generating knowledge. I appreciate the scientific method that has made our culture so successful, and to this day I enjoy reading about the latest findings in various fields. Yet I also know that there are other ways of thinking. These have become increasingly accessible to me through decades of profound introspection and training. In my opinion, this form of knowledge or wisdom is of paramount importance for dealing effectively with the current crises in modern society. Much of my work therefore focuses on accompanying others in developing this access within themselves. A transrational approach to knowledge is also the source of my books, seminars, lectures, and projects. It’s been complemented by and tested through my own life experiences and what I learn accompanying others.“

How do you aim to contribute to social change?
“By starting the Be the Change Foundation for Cultural Change in 2009, the development of society as a whole increasingly became the focus of my work. The foundation aims to promote a new definition of prosperity, opening our eyes and hearts to how much better life could be for everyone if we as a society placed ecological sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfilment at the center of our efforts. To this end, we collaborate with organisations from around the world, offering transformational educational formats such as the Be the Change Symposium. The foundation also continues to initiate implementation oriented projects such as Trees for Change. From 2011 to 2020 I worked as a consultant for the Terra Institute, a systems change consultancy, which gave me valuable insights into the mechanisms that enable or hinder systemic change.“

How and when did you write your books?
“In December 2007, my first book was published: ‘The Power of Feelings – A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence’. I chose this topic because at that time I perceived the lack of understanding about feelings as the greatest deficit in our society . From 2014 onwards, I devoted more time to writing, so that a new book appeared every year until 2019: ‘A Parent’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence’ (2014), ‘The Art of Relating’ (2015), ‘Sacred Sex – The Intimate Prayer’ (2016), ‘Feelings@work’ (2017), ‘The Emotional Backpack’ (2018) and ‘Your Inner GPS’ (2019). In March 2021, my latest book ‘True Prosperity’ was released. Some of my books are only available in German, but titles continue to be translated.“

What are you working on today?
“My heart aches for change. Since inner and outer change are mutually dependent, I consider the personal and collective development of consciousness as a prerequisite for the urgently needed systemic corrections towards a sustainable way of life. Here I am a cartographer, storyteller, researcher, companion, and initiator. I listen to my own inner GPS, every moment anew, and practice following it.”