POET — COACH — GROUP PROCESS FACILITATOR
Human to Human is both a daily blog and a podcast. The writing part is below. Yes, explore the listen part too — Listen here.
Human to Human, this blog, is journalling and learning in public. I write to be attentive, associative, and appreciative. Sometimes that is work stuff. Sometimes it is life stuff. Sometimes it is poetry. Sometimes simple ahas. I write to get clear. I write to invite clarity with and among others. Enjoy reading and reaching back as inspired.
Yesterday I hosted Becoming & Belonging. There were seven of us this time. This format is about sharing circumstance from each of us — of yearning. So as to receive insight and intuition. The cards drawn yesterday were from Leela Kirloskar’s Spirited Leadership Values Cards. The cards themselves were rather compelling as blessing.
At then end I asked each to offer a blessing / hope / wish for the group. A short one. As a way of checking out of our time together.
And then there’s John O’Donohue. I love his book of blessings. This one this morning, a blessing for a new beginning.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
So, yes. Reflectively and appreciatively this morning, celebrating blessings offered and blessings received.
At this time of year, in the northern hemisphere where I live, the darkness of the night lengthens. We approach the winter solstice. Many traditions honor the depth of the darkness, a time to go inner, to rest, to clarify, to let go, to live by the simple light of candle, to be quiet.
This time of year often turns me to poetry. My own. And poems written by others (Marge Piercy has been moving my heart lately). This time of year often moves me to explore meaning.
So, some words below. A poem. I love experimenting with the shape of poems. With repeated structure. With brevity.
Thx for reading.
I write
so that I can dwell
on what is moving
within me and around me.
I ask questions
anticipating
aliveness and newness
that nudge me and us to the dance floor.
I listen
so regularly brought
to shared tears and laughter
by the stories we whisper to each other.
I celebrate
a life
abundant
with gifts.
I dig the clarity in these words below, inviting so generously, to the heart of it. They are from Toke and a few others organizing a gathering for next May.
I’m glad for such fellow travelers finding our way to the heart and hearth of it all.
Organizing and offering to host a spacious learning field
A dojo to practice, to experience
and to find clarity beyond words
To be in the harmony and connectivity with our nature – alone and together.
We call it The Heart of Practice and the Practice of the Heart
As we hold space, not to do, but to practice
to invite ourselves home
to the uncarved center
where breath and being dance.
Three days to be, to strengthen, to open the heart
so that our presence becomes the offering,
and the heart – my practice
in service of Life
in all directions.
Good one here from author Brianna Wiest. Thx to my friend Hailey for sharing it.
So much to relate to in this. Creating. Being alive. I quite like the invitation to be alive with “anything.” I written quite a few poems that come from a desire to follow what is alive in the inner — fears, joys, angers, discoveries.
Here’s to it, to the many of us leaning in. In the big, giant ways and the small, tiny ways. Alive.
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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