There was no choice. Even allowing for Vaclav Havel being an unusually gifted man, this description shows how powerfully history and extreme situations can draw out untapped qualities. Situational changes can stimulate lasting personal change. The example above suggests a modest revision to present ideas of development in adults. If personal and situational are not divided, but seen together as one realm, then changes in one part of the field will automatically lead to changes in other parts of the field as well.
New conditions foster developmental shifts.
As Vaclav Havel did, people literally invent new ways of being to deal with new contingencies. The field perspective is contrasted with a dualistic outlook that separates individuals from human systems. Instead, individuals can be regarded as embodying systems, both affected by them and affecting how they are. Implications for practice, for ideas of adult development, and for dealing with political and social issues are all discussed. The paper concludes by underlining the sociopolitical priorities of the founders of the Gestalt approach.