I’ve reconnected with an old friend I haven’t seen in 30 plus years. We were having a conversation the other day and we got into a dialogue about the value of speaking in the first person. That the first person allows us to take responsibility for what we are saying and allows us to be more present with ourselves and each other.
First person gets to the more we can be present to what we are experiencing in the moment, we can be present to richer possibilities that can emerge. Almost like the spirits of our own inner landscape can only reveal their guidance when we can be very in touch with them in the moment. As much as I love stories and sharing ideas, I get really jazzed when I can dive deeper into the experience in the moment. This can drive some people nuts, who just want to get on with life, I suppose. Maybe this can feel like too much work. It’s one of the things that drew me to depth psychology, one arena that totally supports being in the moment and learning from these experiences.
I have been writing about my own philosophy of ‘Facilitation Arts’, I also am owning up to how much I am motivated by the sublime. Not to marginalize everyday life, but to stand up for that which is unique and distinct and often just below the surface in each of us. This includes for me the art and music and food and places I bring together in my life . Also, the relationships and dialogues that we create together. I have this belief that there is a natural impulse in all of life to evolve toward beauty and the sublime, even the world in a grain of sand, as William Blake said. My role and passion is to help be a catalyst for these little evolutions in myself and my surroundings.
This first person gets at some of the heart of good facilitation for me. Listening past the debates and challenges in ourselves and projects and listening for what is below the surface and wanting to emerge. That if we pay attention, there is this wisdom in us and groups that can create work that is special and that will more deeply engage people and endure. And to me this is also the heart of ecology, creating outcomes that have character and uniqueness and that will endure.
Reflection: Notice places you or a project you are working on is not being personal enough, that is focusing on big picture or little details without tapping how the people really feel about what is happening. It can be risky at times sharing our very personal reactions and desires in the middle of projects, yet it can be very helpful and powerful.
….feeling honored to be part of a teaching moment!…In reading your blog, I am touched by the word”endure”. As I was beginning the process of rebuilding my property(which is really about rebuilding my life), I had the opportunity to write something in wet concrete. I had just returned from a trip to Malta where I had visited the 6000 year old Goddess Temples. I couldn’t help but wonder what I was building in my life that would last (endure) anywhere near 6000 years…..so in the concrete slab that was to receive my water tanks that would hold the water pumped from my well by my newly refurbished 1933 windmill, I wrote, “May the Sacred Be Held”. I felt that I was treating the water as sacred(because it is)….and I was energetically holding anyone who happened to drink from my well. The mechanics, the structures, the buildings may not endure but my hope is that the intention which holds it all will endure for many generations to come.
….I also enjoy hearing you speak of” going below the surface”……while I am mentioning my windmill, I might add that it’s restoration provided a wonderful metaphor for doing just that. Whether or not I had water on the property I was about to buy was a huge issue. As much as I fell in love with the windmill I had wanted all of my life, I couldn’t purchase the property if the windmill was to be an elaborate yard ornament….I needed it to be form and function.The windmill was not working….it was not responding to the wind and was wasting 1/2 gallon to every gallon pumped. Finding people with a passion for windmills to restore it with me was a peak experience. Working side by side with them as we explored the depths and condition of the well….replacing what was worn and no longer functional…inserting parts that were built with materials that were made to last…removing the oppositional motorized pump that the previous owner had installed in an attempt to power through the problem without really looking at the outcome and cause….it was an incredibly moving experience!….To step back from the completion of that project and have to wait for the wind to blow…such a lesson in patience and understanding in a power greater than ourselves. Each time the wind blows and I watch the 24 petals of my Aermotor windmill spin, I am filled with gratitude and awe….and I give thanks that I was willing to go below the surface.
So….I have never responded to a blog…..if you were expecting a short answer…oops! I blew that!…what I found myself responding to is the beautiful invitation you send out inviting such exploration of self, others and life in general….so thanks!…..