My Soul’s Journey to Redefine Leadership: A New Phoenix Rises from the Ashes of 9/11 (Xlbris 2016) (Audible 2022) pdf here, chronicles why Virginia Swain brought all her resources from 30 years training Reconciliation Leaders at the United Nations to the United States and Quakerism at this critical moment of our history. Reviews below:
“We have much to learn from each other about how we have traveled—and sometimes travailed—through our life journeys. Virginia Swain’s story of her own development through time as a peacemaker and a compassionate human being will be inspiring and helpful to many. Her sense of calling is very strong and rightly guided. I have been very interested in how Virginia’s innovative approach to leadership and peacebuilding in highly stressful conflict has risen from her life journey. The Reconciliation Leadership Certificate Program and the Global Mediation and Reconciliation Service are important contributions to the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace.” Elise Boulding, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Dartmouth College, Former Secretary-General, International Peace Research Association, Nobel Prize Nominee and Quaker Peacemaker
“Virginia does not see a dichotomy between working locally and globally, between loving one’s country and loving the world, between national citizenship and global citizenship. Nor does she separate her inner journey from her work in the world. They are in unison. Her spiritual path bridges these dichotomies and is grounded in a consciousness of the oneness of life. Again, she quotes Dag Hammarskjold: ‘Everybody today with part of his [sic] being belongs to one country while with another part has become a citizen of a world which no longer permits national isolation. Seen in this light, there could be no conflict between nationalism and internationalism, between the nation and the world. The question is not either the nation or the world, it is how to serve the world by service to our nation and how to serve the nation by service to our world. (p.74).’ Mische, Patricia (2024) “Review of My soul’s journey to redefine leadership,” The Journal of Social Encounters: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, 27283.
“Virginia Swain’s memoir, My Soul’s Journey to Redefine Leadership, is inspiring. It’s rare for us mere humans to know God directly, far more rare to repeatedly receive divine guidance throughout life. Virginia’s willingness to listen and obey God leads her back and forth across the country, into and out of relationships and very different tasks. She is led and supported by God’s loving affirmation. The book answers both what a Spirit-led life looks like and how a loving God nurtures individuals.” Michael Resman, Quaker and Co-Editor, What Canst Thou Say.
The story of an ordinary woman with extraordinary experiences, Virginia Swain’s soul journey takes her from the devastating loss of her brother to moments of peace, visions of a new future, and after a harrowing day in New York City on September 11, a vivid dream of a phoenix rising from the city’s ashes, calling her to a new definition of leadership — one of empowerment, reconciliation and peace.
Virginia was found clear to go to the United Nations by Friends Meeting at Cambridge during the 90s. Reflecting on a series of deeply spiritual encounters, Virginia recounts how she evolved from an overworked corporate executive to a woman who learned to live with integrity, purpose and confidence, experiencing a calling she couldn’t ignore — to bring leadership, wholeness, balance, and peace to a world torn by conflict.
Bringing the spiritual to the practical, she shares stories of moments of grace on mountaintops and by the sea, and of healing experienced by groups as diverse as attendees at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, consulting clients in California, United Nations staff, United Nations peacebuilders addressing religious conflict in the Philippines, and refugees from the former Yugoslavia.
As her journey unfolds, she finds her vocation, a life partner, a new perspective on death, and a sense of her own worth and capacity to contribute to her country and our world. Throughout this compelling narrative, Phoenix invites the reader to undertake their own soul journey, closing each chapter with journal questions to prompt further reflection. Virginia transitioned her 30 years experience in peacebuilding and leadership to Friends and New England Yearly Meeting in 2023. There is a curriculum for Friends and other spiritual seeks on Google Classroom available on request. For more about Virginia’s leading go here.
The table of contents is seen in a spiral:
Buy the Book at Barnes and Noble
Book Endorsements | Read the Foreword | Afterwords
“Master coach, leadership trainer and spiritual director, Virginia Swain is a dedicated and determined activist, devoting herself to making our planet a better place to live for all.”- Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is the Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations & Founder of The Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP)