Meet Miriam Jones

We were lucky to catch up with Miriam Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Miriam, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

There is a poem by William Stafford called “The Way it is”. It goes:

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

My journey with purpose is an intimate one. Purpose has never been something or someone that can be given to me. It is more of an endless discovery of following the questions and desires that make bring me alive. Finding my purpose is more in the way that life and me move together in alignment rather than resistance to it. Being on purpose feels like riding a wave – everything seems to carry it and weird synchronicities occur to support its unfolding. The challenge has been to follow it especially when the choices it urges me to make seem crazy, take a hell of a lot of self acceptance and seem to take me further and further away from a set predictable path.

Following the thread of my purpose has led me always to question things that don’t make sense even if they are the norm. That has got me in trouble. Like getting evicted from my church confirmation class at 13 for questioning the logic of God being a him or being in my PhD class and questioning the hypocrisy of teaching leadership while only allowing us to follow their line of thought.

Following the thread of my purpose has led me to take risks. Like at the age of 40 moving from Australia to USA and selling a successful company to pursue a deeper meaning for how we approach change with no idea of where it would take me.. Or now in this moment turning aside from 30 years experience in corporate work towards the relationship between community, organizations and family in our non profit work. On so many levels these moves do not make conventional sense and have led again and again to walking into the unknown in my life. This is not theoretical – it is humbling, disarming and scary.

So why do it? Why have I taken such risks that in many ways have not benefitted me at all?

I think because in the end it is because regardless of the discomfort it is the difference between being deeply alive or slowly dying. I have long been an admirer of that 90 year old who goes off and treks mountains or does another degree. For me following my thread of purpose is a way of owning my life and being in it regardless of the push and pulls of popular belief. And in the end regardless of situations, following that thread seems the only thing I can do to not deny myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Open Circle is about the possibility of transformation with the simple tools of listening storytelling, nature and community. In 2026 we are launching Wayfinders – an intergenerational rite of passage program alongside the work we are doing with all of those who are serving on the frontlines of caring and looking after our environment, our wars, our social ills, our battles with mental health.

We are through Wayfinders playing our part in reweaving the social fabric through polarization and disarray. We do this work because it gives us hope and reveals the immeasurable power of our spirits beyond any categorisation.

We are excited to continue this work and progress research in the field. You can join our community and community events – take a look at www.weareopencircle.com and foundation.weareopencircle.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Get Curious and follow it – we all learn differently – get to know the way you learn and let that be your entry point
Pause and connect to the bigger story – when things seem most urgent, pause, learn tools to regulate your nervous system and learn to see the movement in the bigger story and where this point fits
Anchor yourself in your values and let them lead you – be very very cautious of sacrificing them for quick wins – I have found these decisions come back to bite you on the bum (technical term) later.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

If you are wanting to contribute to the work we are doing – we need you. We need resources and support and in turn be part of a movement towards clarity of purpose and meaning. We are looking particularly for those with marketing skills to help us get our message out there.

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