Becoming & Belonging (B & B) -- Weekly small group Circles for learning, connecting, and going just a bit deeper. Jump in once, or as often as your heart pings.
I met Susanne West on a “Poetry Tribe” call, a monthly group hosted by my friend Jeremy Nash. I was drawn to Susanne’s way of speaking. She shows up in my FB feed. I’m glad.
Recently she wrote this poem, What About Now?
My mind too, seems to show up this way. Yet my heart too, yearns for the gifts of Now.
What About Now? Susanne West
My mind doesn’t want me to return to Now. It has bigger and better plans, important questions to answer, problems to solve. “I’ve had it with you,” I say.
It’s some of the best framing I know. The best invitation. The best encouragement. “What we practice we will become.”
I most think of Toke for this. I’ve heard him speak it many times. At Art of Hosting. At Flow Game. At Practice of Peace. In personal conversation over a beer.
Toke often speaks of “dojo” — a place where we “practice our life practices.” Yes. Through the noise of much else.
These days, one of my practices is saying yes. Follow the spark of yes. Follow the life of yes. Practicing receiving life flowing through me. Sometimes with a defined plan. Sometimes to follow spontaneity.
Because they are practices. Practices to enhance leadership capacity. Practices to be more fully with ourselves. Practices to collaborate well with others. Practices that bring life flowing.
Jump in. I welcome you to come learn. I welcome you to come share. I welcome you to come teach. And practice together.
I love the walks that Dana and I take. Sometimes 20 minutes up to The Cove and back. Sometimes 40 minutes, around the waterway and over the bridge. Sometimes 60 minutes, on a Saturday or Sunday. Sometimes even longer, with a stop of coffee / tea at Ground To Earth. I need walks to feel slowed pace. Some mozy to interrupt ever-present and rather demanding speed. Some meander to find the insights that only come at meander pace.
I love the reflection of this bridge over water. Reflection in and on horizon does something to lift my view. To open my heart. To wonder. To wander a bit further in what lives more deeply within as yearnings, longings, surrenderings.
I love the learning that takes me to more imaginative places. If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you know that Becoming & Belonging have so often been important. When I give myself permission to dwell in what is deeper, in what is more still, gems of insight come. Gems that guide what to do now with work, with family, with life unfolding.
I think it matters a lot these days to have contexts of ripple. Where we create ripple. Ripple of learning. Ripple of connection. Ripple of courage and clarity. It’s gentle. Yet quite clear.
I see a stone tossed into a pond. The stone has impact. The rippled waves carry and convey that impact. Sometimes it is wind that creates the ripple, that moves the water.
This week I gathered with men online — Men In Circle, that I cohost with my buddy Corry.
Our format is simple. 90 minutes. Circle-structured for check-in (presence) and for check-out (witness). And stuff in the middle.
I love the movement. I love the way this group shares bits of stories that they don’t get to share in other places. I love the way we love the showing up, and are rippled by it.
Some gems from us, attending to our healthy masculine and medicine together…
how fear can so easily become normalized (and what that does to our bodies and those around us)
how we hold our breath when we are scared (and often don’t know it)
“we are all one, housed in different bodies”
work and contribute with the scale that you’ve got
“I am you. You are me. We are one.”
“Catching up can wait. People need help now.”
“Be more like still water.”
“Their wounding is not my wounding.”
And, and. It’s great to be with people in meaningful ways. It’s great to be with men, celebrating and rippling.
This is a group you can come to once. Or many times. There is light exchange between gatherings in a Private Facebook Group. If you wish to explore, or know someone that might wish to explore, reach me. No charge. All ages.
Bring a ripple. Come ripple together.
Gifts of Circle
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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In My Nature
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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Most Mornings + Note Cards
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.
