POET — COACH — GROUP PROCESS FACILITATOR
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It starts best with a center.
A hearth.
A place to begin telling stories
of what we care about.
Photos, stones.
Putter covers, noodles.
A safety vest, a compass.
A marathon meddle won with a sister, and an orchid.
And, and.
When you start with a center
all of the learning after that is different and more.
More whole.
More opened to what really wants to happen.
So it is this week. Hosting. A closing retreat with a corporate leadership development cohort. On we Circle.
These days,
they are both quite ordinary,
and quite extraordinary,
aren’t they.
Today I woke to ants
trailing along the pantry back shelf,
a great chain of hundreds
that had found their way to an opened bag of chips.
OK, a bit of tending.
First things first.
Later today, extraordinary, I’ll plan a day long event for eighty people.
They wish connection and community,
a great chain to lift and love what is lasting.
I get to craft format for them.
More later today, at dinner,
my Sweetheart will return from her office day,
from her ordinaries and her extraordinaries.
We’ll listen to each other.
On it goes,
ordinary and extraordinary,
these days.
I suppose it is true
that I’ve felt inclination
to break,
or bend,
rules.
It’s funny.
I don’t feel
particularly rebellious.
My rule-breaking
most often comes from an intolerance
of a prevailing paradigm,
and its confinement.
“There’s always another way.”
That’s what I told my kids,
darn near tried to install it in them.
Two of my beloved teachers
taught me about rules.
First, Christina, from many years ago.
“Once you learn the rules,
then you can break them.”
She was teaching and sharing insight
as she so often did.
In other words,
don’t be flippant in your rule-breaking.
Be wise.
But know that in some circumstances
it will be wise to break the rules.
And then, more recently,
there is Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.
What a delight it was
to be welcomed by her joy
of writing, and of, well, humaning.
“All poems love breaking rules.”
Thank you.
Yes.
The rules make perfect sense.
In a lot of circumstances.
Particularly rules for human kindness.
OK, guidelines and encouragements.
Rules make perfect sense,
except when they don’t.
Thank you to my teachers
and fellow journeyers.
I’m glad to know of your rule following,
and,
your rule breaking.
Grown From The Ground
Last year
we grew our roses —
three plants in three pots —
in good sized planters,
perhaps holding three cubic feet of dirt.
Our roses bloomed,
like this above,
to our delight.
But the blooms barely lasted a day or two,
a blink or two,
despite our devoted watering,
and well, adoration.
This spring
we transplanted our potted roses
to the more spacious
ground and beds near our front steps.
So many more blooms!
More fully and
much more lastingly,
beckoning red for a full two weeks
and offering follow-up new buds so readily.
Perhaps we all need ground
for our more voluminous flowering,
some room for our roots to spread and beckon.
asd
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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asd
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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