Category: General Learning

In further reflection of last week’s practicum for The Circle Way, I’m appreciating Meg’s framing words in The Circle Way.

• We don’t “discover” circle practice so much as we remember it.
• The extraordinary Chilean biologist Humberto Maturan writes in “The Biology of Love” that humans first developed language when we moved into familial groups.
• After all these centuries of separation and isolation, circle welcomes us back into a shape where we can listen, be heard, and be respected, where we can think and create together.

Such clear narrative is something I always appreciate. Thanks Meg. Thanks Christina and Ann.

At The Circle Way Practicum, Whidbey Island, I appreciated several conversations about “minimalism.” In this context, it was about the minimal intentions and actions needed to be meeting in circle. A center. A rim. A spirit of circling up to share information and perspective.

Of course, it is true that everything minimalized can also be done at greater scale. A simple stone as center can grow to a full-blown altar. An invitation to respond to a simple question can grow to an invitation to share significant life story. And sometimes these circles must be held at such scale, depending on the circumstance.

Minimialism is something we all learn, I suppose.

I particularly appreciated one of our participants comments — Guillermo from Monterey, Mexico. “The more experience you have, the more ability you have to be a minimalist.”

Well spoken, with simplicity and minimalism, I’d say.

A reading, that I appreciated for just the right moment at The Circle Way Practicum, last week on Whidbey Island.

Mark Nepo’s writings are filled with gold. Just turn to most any page. This is from his book, The Exquisite Risk.

When I live deep enough
there is only one direction.

When there, briefly,
the world overcomes me
and I feel vibrancy in common
with all times and places.

I am in quite a stretch of teaching The Circle Way. Last week, with Amanda Fenton, it was a practicum on Whidbey Island. Really a delicious experience. The food. The location. The group of participants. The stories shared. The laughs from the belly. The tears from heart. The evolution of learning. In me, and among all of us.

Today I leave for Australia for another stretch. It will include some work within an organization. It will include another practicum. This too, I anticipate to be delicious, and quite likely for very similar reasons.

It is learning that will continue to unfold in me, but from this last week on Whidbey, I am renewed with clarity, particularly from the depth of a story council:

• it is a privilege to hear story
• it is a privilege to share story
• there is healing in the hearing
• there is healing in the sharing
• depth of sharing needs a container
• The Circle Way really helps to create that container

Feeling appreciative.