Art of Hosting practitioners – as well as others who use participatory process as part of their facilitation practice – are often familiar with circle mostly as a tool for check-in and check-out, or as a way of arranging the chairs to create an environment for something different to occur. And it is much […]
Tag: circle
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A Path to Connection
My circle friend and colleague Heather Plett has put together a beautiful free ebook: A Path to Connection. I was one of the fortunate thirty three people who contributed to this ebook – honoured to be included amongst such wise and thoughtful souls. The journey to connection has four paths – self, sacred, others, and […]
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Listening to Mind or Heart?
This is one of my favourite posts from Humans of New York. The caption reads “When I was younger, I thought listening was just about learning the contents of someone’s mind. I’d always try to finish their thoughts, just to show them that I knew what they were thinking. As I got older, I learned […]
It was a group of about 60 church leaders and lay people, gathering for a regular business meeting. They meet face to face like this only a few times a year. I was invited in to provide participatory design and hosting for the session. They wanted to use the time to look back and discover […]
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Springtime Circle
I’m fortunate to be part of a few circles that gather on a regular basis. One of those circles describes our purpose as: Time to slow down, reflect, connect on a deeper level, explore our inner journey and life path, our soul choices, our questions, our courage, where we are holding back or afraid, bringing […]
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The Groan Zone Journey
I’m preparing to host a session with a diverse group of passionate citizens committed to making change on an important community issue. The session is about co-creating a small number of strategies the group will move into action. One of the maps I carry with me is Sam Kaner’s diamond of participation. It illustrates the […]
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A Little Bit of Circling
A couple of weeks ago I set up two separate 45 minute conference calls to connect with some leaders who have embarked on a journey in a new role. When the calls started we began with a check-in question. Two years ago that moment would have brought butterflies into my tummy. Using a check-in within […]
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Spontaneous Circles
At my uncle’s last night; a gathering of family from far and wide (the second time in just over two weeks) to celebrate my Auntie Sylvia’s life. As more and more people arrived to give hugs, enjoy food and settle in some of us moved downstairs where it was cooler; plunked in comfy chairs, loveseats […]
Digging back through books I’ve read and came across this group activity from Joanna Macy’s Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World: Closing the eyes, they imagine moving forward thirty years in time; from that vantage point and in response to three questions from a child, they look back at the […]
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Stuff & Listening
Hanging out with some of my mom’s family for a couple of days in Saskatchewan. We got Gramma’s condo cleaned out faster than we thought so we headed to my Auntie Felicia’s farm. Two thoughts running through my mind this past day. One – you can’t take it with you. Gramma’s condo was full of […]