By Sara Barnes
About 40 years ago, right around the time she began writing her seminal article The Logic Behind the Magic of Mediation, Albie Davis came to Martha’s Vineyard to help provide training for the court-sponsored program, which was then just one year old. In that journal article Davis wrote: “I’ve never mediated a case where I didn’t see a little piece of myself in each of the parties, the best and the worst of their qualities. I knew I could be in their shoes . . .”
Do you remember 40 years ago? I think I do, though I remind myself that memory is a fickle partner that blurs and distorts in unknowable ways. Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Prince’s Purple Rain were all the rage. Hair, clothes, and attitudes were BIG. We had no cell phones, computers were unusual, greed was all of a sudden supposed to be good. It was around that time that I met a new group called “The Resolving Conflict Creatively” program. I was a third grade teacher and the promise of peer mediation programs seemed an empowering possibility. Magic.
When I came to live on Martha’s Vineyard, almost 30 years later, I had read Davis’s article, and had used it for many years with emerging mediators. Mediation and conflict resolution had become a through line in my teaching career. There’s something about the phrase logic behind the magic that captures my love of mediation and conflict resolution. My admiration of this phrase has lasted for almost 40 years, and I thank Albie Davis now so many years later, along with the hundreds of others who helped to make our organization what it is today.
Mediation is an art, a craft, a science, and a logical procedure. It’s also a little bit of magic with endless possibilities. The magic of people. Talking. Thinking together. Trying to work it all out. As for our ancestors before and the generations to come, there’s magic afoot when we work to create peace and fairness with each other. We’ve been at it for 40 years. More magic to come.
Here is a longer version, with a look into life as a teacher from 40 years ago, and a copy of Albie Davis’s full article, as referred to in the column. Continue reading here.
