Author: Tenneson Woolf

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This Time Of Life — From My Coffee To Yours

A few words of wonder, over coffee this morning.

This time of life and of living,
it is familiar,
isn’t it.

Because, well, it’s connected to all the other times.

You’ve learned how to persevere before.
You’ve learned to lean to friends before.
You’ve learned to start again before.

But then, this time of life and of living,
it’s also new,
isn’t it.

Because it asks us to go beyond the known 
aaperseverances,
aafriendships,
aaand new starts.

Beyond all those good and sensible compromises.
Beyond all those convenient animosities and outrages.
Beyond most of those things that keep us busy and distracted.

I sit with my cup of coffee.
Perhaps you do with yours.

And we think of living heart-filled lives, 
living with kindness in the knowns and the news
in these times, don’t we.

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A Couple of Nuances on Intentions and Agreements

Good morning. We’ll, almost afternoon now where I live.

I’m pulling myself up from a morning of AI geeking (creating questions for a program I want to offer). That kind of framing is one of the great gifts of AI. Sometimes the questions are good to go. Sometimes they need just a little tweaking to bring to alignment.

And I’ve been reading. My buddy Chris is distilling a couple of important maps and ways of practicing. Check out his posts on his site about Four Fold Practice and Two-Loops. And read The Tao of Holding Space — it’s one of my favorites.

And, I’m reading some more. Marti Beddoe, a practitioner from The Circle Way tradition that writes about SoulCollage. And she offers some nice evolutions of agreements.

It’s Marti’s writing that has be nuancing some beloved ways of speaking intention and agreements. I won’t speak the whole journey of these. Rather, I want to write what is sparked this morning (and with particular anticipation for a group of men coming to my home next week for a 1/2 day Flow Game.)

Intentions:
– to practice and create time + space + process for thoughtful, honest, serious, playful learning
– to practice and create time + space + process for life to flow, and for us to be flowed

Agreements:
– confidentiality: we need to create a container for our unpolished, unfinished, still-moving selves to be present. It’s important in most dialogues where we are meant to discover what is unknown.
– speak from your experience and curiosity: this is different than offering, or worse, imposing, judgements, fixes, and rescues. We do better when we stick with our stories, and of course connect them in principle to others in their stories.
– offer witness, often silent: this one I just lifted from Marti (thank you). This agreement counters the ever so prevailing tendency to say too many words, comments, and other well-meaning forms of support. Trust the power of the silent witness.
– pause from time to time: it’s been so powerful in the Circle’s I host to let people know that they can call for short pause (tingsha bells rang twice; or the one minute timer). It’s not just for facilitators to decide. The shared tending is rich.
– welcome being moved: and surprised. Moved by life. Moved by what emerges. This is one of the primary possibilities and delights, right.

Good morning again. Thx for reading.

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Wander Wednesday — What Parts Of Unplanned Do You Like?

That’s Marmalade the cat. In her own wander I suppose. She’s an indoor cat looking rather regal on the outdoor back fence.

What parts of unplanned do you like?

Wander so often connotes a bit of unplanned. Meander. Not so rigid. Not so time-enforced.

As before, I’m inviting practice — be it for five or fifty minutes today — and, reflection. Give the prompt your attention. Let insight come. Let associations surprise you. Sit with them. Or walk with them.

Here’s my reflection to today’s Wander Wednesday prompt:

Let’s be clear, I like a plan. For the clarity. For the purpose. But, for me, it’s also true that I like not having a plan. I like having spontaneous choice. I like feeling a bit less rigidly prioritized. Or, I suppose reprioritized to lift up what is moving now, not just what was planned. On the weekend, Dana and I walked for breakfast (a place about a mile away). I love the leisure of that. I loved waking up Monday (bonus day, Labor Day) to Dana’s proposal — “what say we walk to breakfast?” I like feeling moved by the spontaneous. I like the spontaneous to be a deliberate part of the operating system. I like feeling that ideas show up, easily, to fill the void. I love celebrating the proposal from the void.

You?

Interested in more Wander? I run several lightly structured online Circle formats to lift and encourage Wander.

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Dinner, Gratitude, Reflections

Dinner. Summer harvest. Simplicity. Colorful. Healthy. Easy. Gratitude.

Dinner one night last week. Tuna in avocado mayonnaise. Includes some finely chopped red onion and pickles. Lightly peppered. On green leaf lettuce — giant leaves. Cucumber and tomatoes from a friend — summer generosity. Avocado. Corn cut from summer cob. A few olives. A drizzle of olive oil. Another drizzle of chocolate balsamic vinegar. Yup, yummy.

Grateful.

Gratitude is many things. This I learn. It’s a way of being. An attitude. And a disposition. And an orientation of kindness and appreciation. A contribution. A discipline. A commitment. An energy. A way of seeing. A way of acting. A gently fierce orientation to seeing good. An exercise. Self care (cause, it activates the appreciative way). Gratitude is a way of learning. It’s a way of activating.

Well, I’m learning all of that. Delighting. Failing crazy. Yet, gratitude still remains a direction that proves so fruitful. So life-giving.

And so, a poem, as so often is my offering and expression.

On Gratitude

There is life.
I’m so grateful for it.

There are friends.
I’m so grateful for them.

There is meaningful work and community.
I’m so grateful.

There is surprise.
I’m so grateful.

There is coffee.
Yup, grateful.

There is a todo list for today.
Grateful.

There is pause.
Grateful.

And, and.
Grateful.

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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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asd
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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