Author: Tenneson Woolf

Yesterday’s Becoming & Belonging session was a particular delight. Thx to those who were there live.

We used story. Yes, the stories that we each brought. That’s always true. There’s an overarching invitation to integrate.

Yes also, we used a story of long ago, a tale, from the time before time. It was of three sisters finding their knowing in the “River of Knowing” and then returning to their village.

There are particular words for this B & B format that I loved highlighting with the group yesterday:

• I, and I suspect you, need lanes of learning that are not restricted to the linear.
• Lanes that dwell outside of the planned and that lift a simple structure for “aha.”
• We welcome company that unapologetically explores nuance of the mysterious.
• We find the simple and meaningful in the complex and sometimes murky.

And then there was the telling of the story. In two parts, each about 5 minutes in length. It’s a time to be moved my story, and or course, by how our respective interiors connect with the outer material that is the story.

Some real gems of insight and intuition offered:

• “I am here for remembering. And helping others to remember too.”
• “Mini pauses…linger longers…try the simple.”
• “The ‘River of Knowing’ isn’t a pond. It is a river, flowing. We never step in the same river twice.”

A bow to those that participated.
What joy to be moved together.

Jump in as inspired. Small group sessions are most often 90 minutes. There are several ways to begin. And several ways to linger.

Dede Weldon Casad is mother and grandmother to people I know through Dana’s medical community. Yes, that’s a mother and son.

Dede writes in her book…,

“To be today what we want to become tomorrow
is the simplest formula for growth I know
and the idea holds subtle dynamics:
quiet perseverance, gentleness, and modesty.”

I’m glad for many versions of, “what we practice we become.”

I’m glad for reminders of the things we can do in most any moment that point to this longer arc.

A nod to Dede, her daughter Connie, her grandson Matthew.

A poem I had included in this collection. I’m glad for a stillness that speaks.

Still Speaks

Full.
Or portioned.

Light lifted from vast dark.
Or dark that nests focal light.

There is magnetic attraction.
To things whole, to things slivered.

I listen to the moon.
With slowness, and softness. 

To the things whole and slivered within me.
To what is full, or portioned.

The moon still speaks.
And speaks still.

This is today. There will be six of us that take the excursion together.

I like these lines from the invitation.
– Where Circle meets Story and Connection
– Where Curiosity meets What’s Next
– Where Courage meets What’s Now

It’s not a small thing touch life moving in us and among us. For the clarity. The artistry. The surrender. The delight.