Human to Human is both a daily blog and a podcast. Podcast episodes are monthly. The 2024 theme is Practicing For Peace. Listen here.
Human to Human, this blog, is journalling and learning in public, Monday through Thursday, in which I post current learnings that weave my poetry, my coaching, and my group process facilitation. Posts are 300-500 words, often with photos, intended to be read in five minutes and to inspire reflection, individually and communally, on varied aspects of participative leadership practices, insights, and human to human depth.
I read poems because I need sparseness. I need space to both hear the words of the writers, but also find space within me to feel and to wonder.
Such it is for me this morning with American Poet Robert Frost.
His poem is called The Road Not Taken. But it is this stanza on the road less travelled by that peaks my awareness this morning.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
“Live Wonder” is one of my favorite poems from Most Mornings.
I think of it as a road map for living with more consciousness. It is six verbs, one per stanza. It is also six contexts to shape meaningful action. At one level it is an assertion of key guiding values. At another level it is today’s list of todo and areas of focus.
Most of my poetry is written in response to a question. The question through much of Most Mornings is how to live with more purpose as a human being. In the day to day, morning to morning. And in the longer arc of life timeline.
Meg has long been dear friend and dear teacher. I relate the parts of these conversations that call any of us to question and to nuance who we are, what we care about, and how we learn to go together.
I make a point of deliberately learning from others in my field of facilitation. Over the last six months this has included specific weekly coaching from someone that facilitates groups and guides them to deeper meaning. I relate to this as purpose in every group I work with, scaled differently for some groups more than others.
Last Friday – Sunday I had unique opportunity to learn out of my field. I attended a medical education summit, hosted by my sweetheart and her colleagues. This was a large gathering — 350 or so in person and another 200 or son online. All was lecture format. Lot’s of information. Lot’s of questions about application. Lots of data and research shared.
The heart of this summit is about creating health, well-being, and vitality. The particular domain for this group is hormone replacement therapy. Yet the peripheral domains also include the importance of diet, of exercise, of sleep. I loved listening. The room is filled with medical professionals. And quite nicely linked together as community. This was the 9th Annual Education Summit. It has the feel of “coming home”. For the information. For the current learning. For the sharing of research and evidence-based approaches. And for the Saturday evening line-dancing!
There is much medical detail that I don’t need to keep in my brain. By I quite loved many moments of listening that I then associated back to my field of facilitating groups.
I found myself listening to Dr. Martin Gibala share research on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s the value to the heart and body of quick periods of intensive movement (climbing stairs, jumping jacks). Dr. Gibala framed it as the basic notion of strengthening the heart to transport and utilize oxygen in the body. Well, I love wondering and mapping a bit about what is the oxygen transfer in groups that I facilitate? HIIT in our field of facilitation might be short partner conversations restoring the health found in connection. And coming up with questions together. And insisting relational connection.
I found myself listening later to Dr. Nicole Lovat share her insights on “reducing harm” that many widely used medications cause. She offered research on what happens over a year period of optimizing through hormone therapy (thyroid, vitamin D, melatonin, testosterone, estradiol, DHEA and a few others). That left me wondering, what is optimization in working with groups? What is the right amount of Circle, of asking questions together, of expecting connection, of sharing stories? And also, what is the harm that is so often caused by poor formats?
So, loads of learning. And though I mostly sat quietly, taking notes, it was uber-rich for me to associate from outside of my field to integrate. So much benefit to look outside the “normal” boundaries of learning. Out of standard practice — whether at small scale (take an online class) or big scale (register for a conference).
Glad for such learning. Refreshed by it. And awakened to new paths, stories, invitations.
