When someone deeply listens to you it is like holding out a dented cup you’ve had since childhood and watching it fill up with cold, fresh water. When it balances on top of the brim, you are understood. When it overflows and touches your skin, you are loved. ~ From John Fox’s poem, When Someone Deeply […]
Category: facilitating & hosting
I’ve been reflecting on my experience in a session I co-hosted and the connection with philosopher Paul Tillich’s concept of power and love: Power: The drive of everything living to realize itself, with increasing intensity, to achieve one’s purpose and grow. It isn’t “power over” but about achieving “the whole in itself”. Love: The drive […]
“I worked in government for three years, doing third party consultations on the British Columbia Treaty Process. It was coalface level democracy. I was talking to citizens – some of them with truly odious opinions – about a historic public policy initiative that had the possibility to permanently change their way of life. They were not […]
Appreciating this conversation that unfolded on the Open Space Technology email list about invitation and who comes. Lisa Heft writes: I am passionate about invitation. True invitation. Not just ‘everyone is welcome’ but what it takes for the host team’s reflection, tasks, strategy, actions to truly really welcome people into the room who are not […]
“Tell me a little more about what you hope for from the practicum?” This is a question that pops up during our phone calls with the people who have applied to attend The Circle Way practicum happening on Whidbey Island, Washington this August. One of the common themes in the answer to this question is […]
One of the questions my friend, colleague and co-teacher Tenneson Woolf has held over the years is about why there are often few(er) men in Circle. I love that he is holding an intention to explore that and shift it. From Tenneson: I wrote this short article to be deliberate about inviting men and women to […]
Excited to share this video of me talking about hosting real conversation, the ancient practice of circle, hosting yourself, and using powerful questions. Gratitude to Ryan Mah & Mahyar Saeedi for their talented video production and editing, and for including me in the Designed to Speak series. If you are curious about learning about circle process, consider joining […]
Categories
Why Circle is the Core
Two recent experiences I’ve been reflecting on about the power of learning “just a little bit of circle”. One was with a group of community peer ambassadors who will be engaging with families on literacy and wellness. The topic for their evening together was “Leadership and Facilitation” – a BIG topic for a two hour […]
Categories
Learn Circle in New York
The Circle Way: A Leader In Every Chair Leading Engaging and Transformative Meetings Sharing a great learning opportunity in New York with very accessible rates thanks to our partnership with Good Shepherd Services. Join Nancy Fritsche Eagan, Alexandra Cukier, Mayra Lopez and myself in NYC on December 7th and 8th, 2015 for a 2-day Circle training. We […]
Categories
Practicing Circle
In the Art of Hosting we refer to a core pattern known as the Four Fold Practice. It is simply an observation that great conversations happen when people are present, when they participate, when they are hosted well and when they co-create something. – Chris Corrigan When it comes to circle practice in particular, I […]