Tweets of the Week

Clear Principles — Activated Energy Centers

More on clear principles that my friend Helen Titchen Beeth shared recently on the Art of Hosting list-serve.

My experiences is that when these kind of principles are created together in a well-held social process, they transition from just words to activated energetic centers. A difference that comes to mind is that “just words” (though usually very lovely maxims) need a lot of push behind them to keep them alive. A kind of rote memorization to perpetuate more of their life. Whereas, “activated energetic centers” have a sustaining life of there own. A kind of imprinting and embodiment in the gut. I suppose in older terms, the activated energy is a deep level of buy-in.

In a very different context, here are the principles developed by the Elise core team that hosted Interinstitutional Workshops for translators to raise awareness of a communication tool for translators, in the context of translating EU legislation into 23 languages – a mammoth task that involves the European Commission, the EU Council and the European Parliament, and more thousands of translators than I care to contemplate…

“Our principles speak of the way we wish to work together.

•Our relationship is based on trust
•We sense, then we act, then we sense, then we act… When we don’t know what to do, we stop and sense until the next step becomes clear (OK, we might have a little panic, first… )
•Awareness is important: we pay attention to each other and to the process
•We trust each other to act when needed
•We pay attention to what is in the centre
•We have fun together, doing challenging, meaningful work
•Our mandate is to succeed, and we do whatever it takes
•We have a clear goal that makes sense to us
•We interact: we work together, we take each other’s advice, we are peers
•We are flexible and we support each other to become ever more flexible”

Dunbar’s Number

An interesting email from my friend Toke Moeller in Denmark. From this premise, I wonder if this number is changing with increased connection through social networks. I wonder if the size of the neocortex is growing / evolving because of this multi-layered level of connection, once sci-fi, that has now become a norm.

Dunbar’s Number

Dunbar’s number is suggested to be a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.[1] Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar’s number. It has been proposed to lie between 100 and 230, with a commonly used value of 150.[2] Dunbar’s number states the number of people one knows and keeps social contact with, and it does not include the number of people known personally with a ceased social relationship, nor people just generally known with a lack of persistent social relationship, a number which might be much higher and likely depends on long-term memory size.

Dunbar’s number was first proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who theorized that “this limit is a direct function of relative neocortex size, and that this in turn limits group size … the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained.” On the periphery, the number also includes past colleagues such as high school friends with whom a person would want to reacquaint oneself if they met again.[3]

People vs The State of Illusion

I’m not sure what the movie will be like (lots of drama in the trailer), but the title is irresistible. Thanks to my friend Sarah Whitely for sharing. Appeals to me in this long held sense that so much of what becomes pattern in our lives is simply engrained choice. What once was choice becomes “the way it is.” Consciousness is evolving beyond the walls. I hope for it in me. In others.

Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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