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# Tenneson Woolf

POET -- COACH -- GROUP PROCESS FACILITATOR

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Human to Human](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/human-to-human/) - Read Tenneson's thoughts and hear his conversations with fellow practitioners.
- [Advice From A Grandma](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/advice-from-a-grandma/) - When I was a young teen, my Grandma sat me down to give me a piece of advice. That was Lena, my father's mother. She was a teacher of my heart, though I didn't come to know that until another six or so years passed. I was a teen. A bit out of touch. A
- [Sooner Or Later -- Words From Richard Rohr](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sooner-or-later-words-from-richard-rohr/) - The theologian, guide, and poet Richard Rohr begins. "Sooner or later, if you are on any classic “spiritual schedule,” some event, person, death, idea, or relationship will enter your life that you simply cannot deal with, using your present skill set, your acquired knowledge, or your strong willpower." He goes on, in a paragraph that
- [Done Swooping For The Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/done-swooping-for-the-day/) - The poem below is from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. She titles it Reunion. I love her words + images, including, "done swooping for the day." I'm glad for words that move the heart, my heart. And for images that make us smile, me smile. We need our swooping, don't we. And we humans, we need rest
- [Gentle Me](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gentle-me/) - In this context below, "gentle me" is used as a request. As a prayer. As a verb. As an invocation. My friend Saoirse shared it with several of us a couple of weeks ago. It's stuck with me. Gentle me. Yes please. The poem is by American Ted Loder, a UMC pastor and poet and
- [Invitation to Empty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invitation-to-empty/) - That's Flat Head Lake, Montana. As seen, a week ago, from the West Shore State Park & Campground, Site B14. Dana and I stayed there on our return from Canada. I've forever been attracted to big spaces. For one reason, I like and need the feeling of emptying. Being in something vast. Places like this
- [It Was Eight Days Ago](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/it-was-a-8-days-ago/) - It was eight days ago that Dana and I said goodbye to our fledgling tomato patch near the back alley. We'd set up the sprinklers for a bit of extra watering while we would be away, traveling, and while the daily temps rose to high 90s. We did something close to counting the tomato blossoms.
- [A Wanderful Excursion -- Spacious Kinship](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-wanderful-excursion-spacious-kinship/) - There is so much that I loved about yesterday's Wanderful Excursion. Circle. Story. Connection. Play. Embodiment. Wonder. Kindness. Poetry. Gentling (Gentle-ing). And yes, spacious kinship. Not a speedwalk to the corner and back. Rather, a slow meander., pausing under the trees. Together. I hosted yesterday with Elif Poshor and Saoirse Charis Graves. What delight to
- [Poetry Moves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-moves/) - Poetry moves.And excites.And clarifies.And invites.Sometimes challenges. Poetry moves.The heart.The mind.The belly.Sometime the kneecaps. My friend Christina, who I think of as a dearest writing teacher, taught me and others that "the first gift is that it heals us". Oh, yes, yes. Poetry moves.Integration.Insight.Intuition.Sometimes investigation. I've been glad to write three collections of poetry. Available on
- [A Note From My Grandmother](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-note-from-my-grandmother/) - Sometime in the late 1990s, my Grandmother, Lena, gave me 5-6 of her books. Self help. Poetry. Perspective -- Riane Eisler's Chalice and The Blade is one that I first enjoyed because of Grandma. Lena was a smart one. A fierce one too. And, a loving one. She took me under her wing for a
- [It Was Community That Kept Our Ancestors Alive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/it-was-community-that-kept-our-ancestors-alive/) - "It was community that kept our ancestors alive. And it will be in community that we can support each other through today's crises." I quite like this way of thinking about community. Sometimes family. Sometimes neighbors. Sometimes more distant kin. Sometimes teams. The above diagram comes through NewStories, and more specifically Sarah Van Gelder. It
- [Now Is A Verb](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/now-is-a-verb/) - I so loved Nowing yesterday. Yes, that language is a bit unique. But it fits. As I shared in yesterday's Becoming & Belonging Session, many of us seek to evolve our relationship with now. That is, to become more present.That is, to feel life flowing.That is, to give up on a few fears. Yesterday, there
- [The Street Has Wisdom For Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-street-has-wisdom-for-us/) - As my friend Nadia says, it is "smarter than you think." Nadia guides to the wisdom of the street. To the wisdom of wander. To the wisdom of wonder. And I love it. It all tells a story, this invitation to wander, doesn't it. It creates an invocation. To further awe with very normal, everyday
- [Transitions To Wholeness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/transitions-to-wholeness/) - Sheesh. Cryptic language. But purposeful. The picture is recent. Last week looking from one of Bowen Island's bays. To the mainland of Canada. That's Vancouver in the distance. I like the proximity and distance. In a conversation with a near-in, we spoke in a way that almost was beyond words. I think we were talking
- [Friendship With Fluidity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/friendship-with-fluidity/) - From a walk last week. On Whidbey's west facing shores. At low tide. With Sarah and Roq. I just love the image. I love the pattern created. And then erased. There is a friendship with fluidity that I wish. And love. With patterns seen in an easy glimpse, dwelling for a moment, and then moving
- [Leading With Aliveness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/leading-with-aliveness/) - I quite loved receiving this book from my friend Meg. Its author, Mette, is someone I met a few times many years ago. I love it that she names "aliveness" as a criteria or encouragement for leaders (and for followers; and for those of us fluidly both). Mette offers a simple model about the power
- [Wanderful & Wonderful -- The Next Excursion Is Coming](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wanderful-wonderful-the-next-excursion-is-coming/) - June 24th. I'm glad to be hosting this 3rd Excursion. Yup, it's online. Yup, it points to opening. To becoming. To belonging. It's a place to settle in to the deeper inner (the seriousness and the playfulness of that) and how that matters in all the shades of outer. I'm glad to be co-hosting with
- [David Whyte & "My Courageous Life"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/david-whyte-my-courageous-life/) - Many of us recognize multiplicity in ourselves. Sometimes we are this. But then sometimes that, in the day to day. I wrote yesterday about "every phase of life is developmental." That means that there is nuance available. That there is learning available. Enrichment too. David Whyte's poetry inspires often. Recently, I got link to one
- [Some Tuesday Potpourri](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-tuesday-potpourri/) - I typically have a few ways to catch interesting phrases that people speak. One is a folder on my desk. It holds scribbled notes that inspire on this or that for the connective brain and heart. Another is my inbox. Some random stuff there that occasionally dries with aromatic scent. Today, Tuesday -- three things
- [On Sorrow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-sorrow/) - This one has been sitting in my inbox for a while. It's the 13th Century Persian, Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky). Thx to my friend Katharine for her post -- I got the Hafiz poem there. I'm drawn to the invitation inherent in this poem -- to have a relationship with sorrow. Shame might be
- [Directions For A Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/direction-for-a-day/) - I suppose it's quite true that I'm a person that seeks direction for a day. Often when I journal in the morning, I'm kinda looking for clarity. For me, I quite like something principled. You know, connecting into broader purpose. But I also look for principle that then can be expressed (some might say applied)
- [Essense](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/essense/) - My friend Elif writes,after yesterday's essence,kindly and deliciously hosted by Saoirse,a becoming,a belonging. A Sense ( of Essence)I dreamt a woman - me,arms filled with white dovessuddenly taking flight in all sorts of directions,and me gasping with surprise,joy and wonder...Ah, the delight of embracing what is passing andtingling with what is always here now.The wonder of it
- [Do Maps Come Looking For Us?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/do-maps-come-looking-for-us/) - Do maps come looking for us? I have a feeling they do.Does beauty come looking for us? I have a feeling it does. These are learned things for me. Over many years. Over many efforts. And over-efforts. I've worked hard in my life to learn things. To seek things out. It's the diligence that many
- [Sweet Flow Game](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sweet-flow-game/) - Sweet to be in learning this week with those who came for Flow Group. Simple process, yet deliberate. To bring insight, intuition, and well, flow. We checked-in.We named circumstances that matter to us.We picked cards.We told stories.We asked questions.We celebrated connection.We checked-out. I love the simplicity of it all (the card "Simplicity?" was acutally drawn).And
- [Life Will Life Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-will-life-us/) - Life will Life us.This I feel is learned wisdom.It’s joy too.Life will, and does, Life us.It presents us with circumstance.It invites us with companions.It challenges us with irritations, slight to large.Learned, helpful wisdom, yes.And thus, we learn to be with it all.And joy, yes.Sometimes the joy of seeing Yellow Headed Blackbird among reeds at Oquirrh
- [What Do Leaders Really Want -- Or Need?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-do-leaders-really-want-or-need/) - Though it was a few weeks ago now, I find myself reflecting more on the Leadership Development Program that I hosted with my buddy Glen. It was a three-day in-person program. Offsite. Twenty-four participants. It's the launch of a cohort that will run over the next six months. We will close with another three-day in-person.
- [Easy Optimism / Durable Hope](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/easy-optimism-durable-hope/) - I got curious on the weekend. Through one of my news feeds, I learned of author and educator Sharon McMahon, a scheduled commencement speaker at Utah Valley University. She's a former high school history teacher. I got curious because I learned that what was to be her commencement address had been cancelled -- so, that
- [Unlearning Busyness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/unlearning-busyness/) - My friend Nadia speaks with clarity, wisdom, invitation. It's her painting above. From her post by this title, Unlearning Busyness. It just the right (and write) wisdom, joy, encouragement, artistry. Go read the whole thing. I'm gonna highlight a few bits of text that light me up on Tuesday. One, I love it when a
- [Another Thing About Wonder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/another-thing-about-wonder/) - Another thing about wonder... I've been reading Sophie Howarth's book, Everyday Wonder. Reading, yes. "Experiencing" might be a better word. "Delighting in." "Surrendering to." It's an appealing collection of essays, photos, poems, art, invitations to practice. So, yah, quite cool. A few eye-catchers for me (heart-catchers)... "...resist narrowing our perceptual capacities..." "...beauty hidden in plain
- [Wander, Wonder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-wonder/) - If you've been reading this blog for a while, or if you know a bit of what I do, you'll know that "Wander" is a pretty important concept for me. As a thing. As a practice. As a door opener. As a life giver. As a guide. To wander is so often to find wonder.To
- [Be Among The Circle (Alix Klingenberg)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/be-among-the-circle-alix-klingenberg/) - What a delightful passage shared recently (thx Elif) that speaks to being with Life. It's an Alix Klingenberg poem. Do not wait to be invited into the center, be among the circle and feel the power of witness and participation without needing to be the lead. Let the sparrow have her say, the elephant and
- [Leadership As Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/leadership-as-learning/) - Further to yesterday's post, a visual on Leadership as Learning. Thx to the crew yesterday for exploring this framing and these associated practices. Today, we continue.In learning.
- [Hosting Beginnings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hosting-beginnings/) - I'm hosting today. It's Day 1 of three days together. It's a Leadership Development Program that will run for six months, concluding with another three days together in the Fall. I host this with my buddy Glen. Which means we bring some wisdom learned over the years (we've hosted a similar cohort three times before).
- [Circle Up, Overnight News](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-up-overnight-news/) - I'm in Circle today. Part 2 of an online series that I host, Learn (To Be) Circle Here. It's been fun to offer. That means I wake up this morning, a couple of hours prior to starting, with some fresh ideas for today's circling up. Back in the day, the late 2020s in our work
- [Flow Games -- For Becoming & Belonging](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-games-for-becoming-belonging/) - I host Flow Games as part of my Becoming & Belonging Series. Yes, that's B & B. Some great people show up. To be in learning. To be in a consciousness of friendship. To experience, well, flow. Life lifes us, as I've been joyfully sharing over the last year. A few other phrases showed up
- [Zoffee, Zeer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/zoffee-zeer/) - Zoom has brought many things in life. Yes, non-locality for its excitements and for its challenges. We can show up in each other's living rooms. We can ask questions together -- or personal and of professional natures. We can see some facial cues that add insight. We can enjoy company. Zoffee and Zeer are a
- [Blessing For The Traveler (And Circle Peeps Too)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blessing-for-the-traveler-and-circle-peeps-too/) - It's been a full week. A fun week too. I've hosted a few groups. I've felt much learning.B & B this week was the format, Pick a Card. I used a new deck, Live Your Values. The richness of the format so often is about bringing curiosity to a life circumstance. The cards offer a
- [Murmurate](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/murmurate/) - I loved invoking this word, "murmurate" last week. With two groups. Making a noun a verb. The above image is of Starlings. Flocking. Moving with fluidity. They are a murmuration. In both settings, I invoked the words as a connection to some basic questions that many of us OD people ask, that many of us
- [I Suppose -- How Inner Teaches Outer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-suppose-how-inner-teaches-outer/) - In 2020 I published this book above, A Cadence of Despair. It's a collection of poems and essays from a year's worth of recovery and learning and journalling. It offers voice to some rather difficult times. But then also, voice to the glimpses that begin to show up, that begin to shine up, and point
- [What We Practice, We Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-practice-we-become-4/) - I know this phrase, and, well, invitation, from a few contexts of life -- "what we practice, we become." It's as sensible as anything I know. There's Toke, my Danish colleague / friend / brother, who has been invoking this principle connected to peace, practicing peace. In Toke's words, "practice peace within, and, two meters
- [There Is Big Learning And Big Beauty In Balancing Stones](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-is-big-learning-and-big-beauty-in-balancing-stones/) - It's early morning. Thursday. In Utah's San Rafael Swell. Which is to say, beautiful and rugged slot canyons. And desert. And dust. And wind that flapped our tents quite vigorously in the night. But is now calm. Ah, sunrise and morning calm. Eleven of us men have started our Unplugged Adventure. Guided by Marshall and
- [Circle of Care](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-of-care/) - Such good hosting yesterday in Becoming & Belonging. Thx Jenny Spector, who "shared one", who brought and hosted such rich sharing on the topic of Care. I told Jenny after that I'd appreciated her expertise. Pick a topic that has importance to people. In her case, "care." Invite people to tell stories about when they
- [Slow & Steady -- A Most Needed Theme](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/slow-steady-a-most-needed-theme/) - Tomorrow I begin another Men's Retreat. It's in the San Rafael Swell, through terrain like what is in the above photo. It's a four day trip, hosted by the brilliant Lucas and Marshall of Unplugged -- I love the way they encourage and host rewilding. Camping. Long hikes. Circle. Stories. Campfires. Questions that matter. It's
- [The Potency and Joy of Dreams](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-potency-and-joy-of-dreams/) - Oh, have I loved hosting this week, Dreams & Seams. A new workshop. Thank you to those who participated. At the high level, Dreams & Seams is another Becoming & Belonging offering. Online. Encourages curiosity, authenticity. Encourages further relationship with life flowing. Celebrates intuition, learning, surrender. At a layer down from that, the process is
- [Learn (To Be) Circle Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learn-to-be-circle-here/) - I'm offering this two-part online class on Circle again. April 9th and 16th, 9:00 - 12:00 MT (Salt Lake City, USA). Group size is limited to twelve. What I love about offering this class is a strengthened practice and joy. Whether we are hosting friend groups, teams at work, or pockets of community organizers, Circle
- [Opening Doors, Holding Doors](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/opening-doors-holding-doors/) - A big thanks to James Crews, Vermont based poet, writer and teacher. I so appreciate his description to open and hold the doors together. From simple things, such reaching and fulfilling things. Another, "Start Here" piece of wisdom. Holding the DoorIf you haven’t held the door openfor someone lately, try it todayat the dentist’s office,
- [Best of Times, Worst of Times](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/best-of-times-worst-of-times/) - A Tale of Two Cities1859Charles Dickens It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light,it was the season of Darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was the winter
- [Some Advice -- You Are A Vibration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-advice-you-are-a-vibration/) - I loved the conversation I had recently with an aspiring musician and DJ. First, I love it that artistry lives in that conversation. Expression of art. Creation of art. Offering of art. Invitation of art. I relate to artistry in the way I work and in the way I live. It's more, what..., life-giving to
- [Purposely Purposeless?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/purposely-purposeless/) - I dig this book. For the title, Wanderful. Thx Nadia for steering me to it. And yes, for the spirit and words that invite a simple yet purposeful wonder. I dig a question in this book, "How can we be purposely purposeless in a world where productivity rules?" The author, David Pearl, goes on to
- [Coddiwomple](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/coddiwomple/) - Now there's a useful word. I learned it last week from Dana's brother (thx Ed). Coddiwomple...to travel in a purposeful mannertoward a vague or unknown destination... British slang. Points to the journey. Points to some very needed learning of the inner too.And to learning to be in groups where emergence is the game and the
- [All That Nows -- Nowing, Nowness, Nower](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-that-nows-nowing-nowness-nower/) - I loved meeting yesterday in this B & B format. It was an hour. There were four of us (thank you fellow gentle and fierce explorers), each hunching our preferences for "nowness," for the fullness of a present moment. We used language, rather outside the norms of use. "Now" as a verb. We are "nowing."
- [Praise To The Translators](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/praise-to-the-translators/) - Coleman Barks died recently. He's a well-known interpreter of Rumi's work. Which means he's been rather helpful to invite Sufi poetry and mysticism from the 1200s to contemporary inspirations of now. Praise to the translators. I'm glad to know such poetry, to be moved by it. From Rumi... Sometimes you hear a voice through the
- [Welcome](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/38829/) - Human to Human, this blog (three ish times per week), 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.
- [How Is It That Some People Persevere?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/how-is-it-that-some-people-persevere/) - That's Perseverance, which my friend Meg wrote in 2010. It's really a good goto book, mostly short one-page essays that touch the theme of perseverance. I'm glad for this collection. Meg's been touching my heart for a long, long time. In Perseverance, Meg asks, How is it that some people persevere, remaining steadfast and persistent
- [One Moment, This Moment -- Start With Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/one-moment-this-moment-start-with-joy/) - The photo -- Kauai. Last year. That kind of flow opens me. That kind of company too (xo Dana). Poetry this morning, about flow. And trusting the moment. And following joy. And loving others. And, and.... One moment at a time.You, and I, we don’t need to combine and fix all the other moments togetheras
- [Love Is The Way To Meaning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/love-is-the-way-to-meaning/) - I guess I'm on this theme, following yesterday's share. Today it's Mitch Albom's Tuesday's with Morrie. "The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." For some this might be
- [Love Is The Reason You Are Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/love-is-the-reason-you-are-here/) - Hey. My buddy Chris shared this recently. It's a Louise Erdrich passage, from The Painted Drum, her 2005 novel. Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason
- [Summons -- Every Life Is Precious](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/summons-every-life-is-precious/) - Meg and I have known each other for over 30 years. She hired me to be her assistant in the early 1990s -- that's how we met. I answered phones. Took messages. Filed stuff. And the other things that we used to do before email, laptops, and Google. Meg and I have had many chapters
- [Friends That Speak Beauty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/friends-that-speak-beauty/) - I have friends that speak beauty.And by beauty, I mean clarity. Clarity that is sometimes poetry. Poetry and clarity that smile like flowers. There's my friend Elif in Turkey who writes recently, Practicing peace.Inviting in play,I am claiming life. Yes. Please. Thank you. Me too. Many of us. There's my friend Katharine in Edmonton who
- [For Neuro-Spicy Awareness and Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-neuro-spicy-awareness-and-practice/) - My friend Lawrence is really finding his stride. I know a bit of his skill. I know his genuineness well from our on-going conversation, learning, and hosting together. And I love the unmet need that he is stepping in to help with. Give him a look. And maybe start a conversation.
- [Focus -- From Steve Jobs](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/focus-from-steve-jobs/) - I've been reading this book, Quirky. I like the stories offered of impressive (and quirky) people: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and a few others. Writing of Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple, the author writes: "People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus
- [The Work (Under The Work)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-work-under-the-work/) - If you've been reading for a while, you know that I'm a person that seeks purpose. It comes out in questions that I ask often. "What are we really doing here?" "What's possible?" "What's sincere?" I like those kind of conversations, be it in client facilitations (got to invite / steer a bunch of those
- [Relationship -- It's The Work Under The Work](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/relationship-its-the-work-under-the-work/) - It's great to run programs. To facilitate groups. To teach. To build container. To create some learning. To clarify some next steps. I've been able to do quite a bit of this in my life, working with so many good folk. At the heart of all of that is relationship. "Relational Leadership" is my preferred
- [Conflict Conversations Are Clarity Conversations](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/conflict-conversations-are-clarity-conversations/) - One of the topics during Open Space last week was on "rules of engagement" when conflict is present. It's a brave conversation. And I'd say just-right timing. I loved the evolution of nuance that came from those participating. And I loved the personal insight that I found for structure. Instead of calling it a "conflict
- [It's Monday Morning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/its-monday-morning/) - It's Monday Morning. Dana and I climb out a bed at 6:15. The air is a bit cold -- that overnight opened window did indeed make it crisp. We get dressed. By 6:45 ish, we've both made our way to the kitchen. Dana to her standing desk -- she's working from home today. She'll start
- [An Addendum, Mary Oliver](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-addendum-mary-oliver/) - One of my favorite poems is Mary Oliver's Instructions for Living A Life. I've used it often to remind myself of, and to invite others to, some values-based simplicity and practice. Writes Oliver, Pay attention.Be astonished.Tell about it. Yes. This morning, I found my journaling to have a similar tone. Of reminder and of invitation.
- [Wanderful -- Blackboards & Excursions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wanderful-blackboards-excursions/) - I kinda like what my local coffee shop is promoting. Wanderful.Inner explorer. Well, chai day also.My beverage of choice at this local gathering spot is Caramel Chai with an expresso shot. Wanderful, also, is what I've named my Wander School's longer online adventure and excurion. Where we dwell for a half day together. In questions.
- [Mini Rant / Affirmation -- On Living Systems](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mini-rant-affirmation-on-living-systems/) - I listened to some friends' podcast recently. A couple of thoughtful and wise gentlemen. They talked meaning. Desire for belonging. Human goodness. Deception. Fuckery. Sweetness. In such good, thoughtful ways -- in the end, both are teachers, and both dig bikes that you peddle. Their context aligns with one of the main contexts that has
- [The Art of Going Deeper](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-art-of-going-deeper/) - Today I meet with my friend Lawrence. Online. 90 minutes. We've invited 5-6 others to join us. Our theme is The Art of Going Deeper. Going deeper as a yearning. As an angst. As a passion. As a birthright. As a wonder. As a hunch. Lawrence and I have been having these conversations with regularity
- [A Parallel Reality of Joy & Hope](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-parallel-reality-of-joy-hope/) - Nice piece here from The Marginalian (thx Jeremy for sending it my way. Ain't this the discipline and invitation and maturing that so many of us are working on. In a world pocked by cynicism and pummeled by devastating news, to find joy for oneself and spark it in others, to find hope for oneself and spark it
- [Zeal](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/zeal/) - There's a certain category of words that are slightly out of use, yet that I find attractive. Slightly playful. Dandy.Groovy.Quirky. They are fun to insert into moments of conversation. It's like they invite a temporary suspension of the rules of the words that should be spoken. Hmm.... I like temporary suspensions. "Zeal" is another. And
- [The Practice Of Finding Ourselves In A Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-practice-of-finding-ourselves-in-a-story/) - Today's Becoming & Belonging Session is "Let's Have A Story." We start at 10:00 MT. Online. A small group in Circle. Our format invites this most important of practices -- "finding ourselves in another's story, so as to inform our own story, our own path, and our own life." I guide. And participate. I tell
- [Leadership Development -- A Strategic Necessity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/leadership-development-a-strategic-necessity/) - My friend Glen has a skill in framing. Recently... "Leadership Development is not a luxury to be enjoyed in good times. Rather, it is a strategic necessity to survive challenging times." That's a corporate environment. And so, we do. We are confirming our plans now for a fourth cohort, Leadership Development Program. Over six months,
- [The Layers -- Stanley Kunitz](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-layers-stanley-kunitz/) - I'm glad for this Stanley Kunitz poem, The Layers (sent recently -- thx Jeremy / Poetry Tribe). Layers. Yes. All of us. And learning. And kindness. I have walked through many lives,some of them my own,and I am not who I was,though some principle of beingabides, from which I strugglenot to stray.When I look behind,as
- [The Dual Citizenship of Being Alive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-dual-citizenship-of-being-alive/) - My friend Meg shared the above pic with me this morning (from Karen Salmansohn -- I just ordered one of her books). I'm drawn to the honest speak of "all happening at the same time." I'm drawn to the friendships that are able to embrace and explore such notions. That smile together. That cry together.
- [Questions That Look For Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/questions-that-look-for-us/) - These Pelicans were gliding near the winter beach that Dana and I called home for a week over Christmas. It was a treat to watch them move about in the wind. And to stay seemingly still too. You know how sometimes you say things that just flow out of your mouth, and you can't repeat
- [Cultural Change Starts With Finding The Others](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/cultural-change-starts-with-finding-the-others/) - Cultural change starts with finding the others. Yup, that's what my buddy Lucas says in this podcast and mini rant on Healthcare and Urbanism. I met Lucas when I did the big bike trip last summer. The one that kicked by butt, and, opened a new section in my heart. I'll do more with Lucas
- [Turning To One Another -- Leadership and Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/turning-to-one-another-leadership-and-learning/) - That's the heart of it, turning to one another in leadership and learning. It's one of the stories that I hold at the core.I'm hosting this week in Texas with my friends Chris and Caitlin. A university context. There are 35 that are gathered for these two shapes above -- small tables of four (Cafe
- [January Arrives](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/january-arrives/) - For some of us it is a little extra newness, this arrival of January and the new year. We effort just a little more. Or a little less, by conviction. We give ourselves permission to feel the quiet resolve of a new start, of a new spark. And then we go about the day's inner
- [A New Year](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-new-year/) - You'd think Dana and I were duck people, given this table next to our living room window. Not really, but there's a few decorative pieces and plants that bring life to that living room. And memories. And I like the candle lit -- amazing what a simple small candle can to bring a centering energy.
- [The Little Stuff Is The Big Stuff](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-little-stuff-is-the-big-stuff/) - I kinda like this photo above. It showed up in my FB feed from a Buddhist site. I like its simplicity. And, yes, its invitation to lifetime practice. It feeds a theme that many of us are trying to live -- the little stuff is often the big stuff. For inspiration. And whether you chose
- [What It Is To Dream](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-it-is-to-dream/) - Last post, pre-Christmas.I've been reflecting on the magic and importance of good company.For the dreams we carry, the yearnings, the longings, the imaginative streaks.And for the days when we just need a friend with kind eyes and helping heart. May we each know, learn, celebrate such dreams, such friendships. I have learned some xxxabout what it
- [Blessings Offered and Blessings Received](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blessings-offered-and-blessings-received/) - 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. Deep Listening
- [Poetry That Explores Meaning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-that-explores-meaning/) - 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
- [The Heart of Practice; The Practice of the Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-heart-of-practice-the-practice-of-the-heart/) - 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
- [To Create Art, You Must Be Alive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-create-art-you-must-be-alive/) - 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 --
- [The Space Between The Letters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-space-between-the-letters/) - It's rather good to learn with friends. It's one of the most basic narratives of my life. Just learn. Just follow the joy of learning. Inner. Outer. With people. Solo. Connect things. Try things. Stop calling them things. I just came from a call (Coffee over Zoom = Zoffee). With a wise man that I've
- [It's All Right. It's Just A Mess.](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/its-all-right-its-just-a-mess/) - First, thx Molly Baskette for writing this piece as a Daily Devotional for the United Church of Christ. Molly calls it Chris in the Chaos. It's all appealing to me. But Molly's story of Xmas tree messery stood out. "It's all right. It's just a mess." Second, there's some timely medicine for me in the
- [Belonging, Well This Is It, Isn't It](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/belonging-well-this-is-it-isnt-it/) - That's me walking with my Pal Sarah. It was this summer on Whidbey, back at Aldermarsh. Thx Roq for catching the picture. I texted this photo to Sarah recently, and commented on how good friendships are so often walking each other home. She smiled back through text and affirmed. So it is. A couple weeks
- [Thanks Berkana -- For Years of Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thanks-berkana-for-years-of-learning/) - Berkana is where I was formed for my adult working life. In values. In friendships. In experience. That's Meg, Myron in the early 1990s. That's Bob, Christina, Ann, Toke, Bonnie, Carol, Dave, and so many others in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Berkana's name comes from the Norse Runes, a symbol for growth and
- [Podcast Reboot -- A Conversation With Nathan Rix](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-reboot-a-conversation-with-nathan-rix/) - What a treat to reboot my Human 2 Human Podcast. It's conversations with people that A) I find really interesting, and B) that have so much story and learning and questions to contribute. Enjoy the listen, 30 minutes. We touch upon healing, ascent, mountain climbs, descent, Carl Jung, bridges (inner and organizational), presence, becoming curious,
- [Get In The River](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/get-in-the-river/) - In one of the main clarifying stories I tell myself, I recognize that me and most people are sorting and seeking some layer of meaning and purpose. We want to know ourselves. Our surroundings. We want to know our neighbors. Our colleagues. We want to do good with all of that -- not because we
- [Relating Inner To Outer, Now to Longer Arc](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/relating-inner-to-outer-now-to-longer-arc/) - I participated in a group this morning -- about 35 people on Zoom. The organizers are thoughtful people from the Center for Purposeful Leadership. Their prompts today for small group discussion included:- how to navigate in disrupting times?- how to proceed grounded in love? This map above, NILO, is one that I created a few
- [Gathering With Men Today](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gathering-with-men-today/) - My pal, Lawrence Kampf and I are convening a small group today, eight of us for ninety minutes on zoom. Our theme is, "The Art of Going Deeper." He picked three people to invite. I did too. People that we know are inclined this "going deeper" way already. Lawrence and I go back to the
- [Move Slow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/move-slow/) - I returned late last night from Phoenix, AZ. After a couple of flight delays (engine parts) that eventually led to a rebooked flight. Also after the gift of some added conversation -- airport wait time -- with my colleague Krista, the main steward of the PBUCC's (Pension Board, United Church of Christ) Next Generation Leadership
- [Looks A Bit Like This](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/looks-a-bit-like-this/) - Today is day 4 of 5, hosting with and for Pastors. I'm reminded of how impactful it is to be in community. For learning. For courage. For connection. For laughter. For tears. I'm co-hosting with Travis Winkler. We are encouraging circle, Cafe, OST. Check-ins and Check-outs. Potent questions. Listening. And as goes with this geography,
- [For Many Of Us These Days -- An Invitation To Context](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-many-of-us-these-days-an-invitation-to-context/) - I'm hosting the next week. A group of 15 pastors. On the theme of Relational Leadership. My friend Travis and I will host. Teach. Convene. Listen. Guide. Adapt. Dwell. With methods. Maps. All toward the basic and yet needed practice -- going well together for the things that we most care about. Last year it
- [Becoming](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/becoming/) - " Let me fall if I must fall.The one I am becoming will catch me."-Baal Shem Tov, Jewish Mystic, 1700s. This from yesterday's Wander School, offered as followup from a participant (thank you Elif). Because falling is part of it.Because change and becoming is part of it.Because trusting is part of it.Because mystery is part
- [Developing A Positivity Habit -- Rick Hanson](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/developing-a-positivity-habit-rick-hanson/) - A friend recommended Rick Hanson recently (thx Marshall). Hanson is a clinical psychologist, and author of the book, Hardwiring Happiness. Hansen offers this helpful reality (I recognize it in me and others): Let’s conduct an experiment: Take a moment to think back over your day; which experiences stand out for you?For most of us, it’s
- [Designing A Client Learning Week That Flows](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/designing-a-client-learning-week-that-flows/) - This week is a good design week for me. Thursday, flights willing, I'll find my way to Phoenix. And there, I'll team up with my friend and colleague Travis, to host 15 pastors in five days of learning about Relational Leadership. The program is NGLI (Next Generation Leadership Initiative). Exciting. I love the way the
- [On Living Wander These Days](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-living-wander-these-days/) - In my young 60s, I'm finding that there is a different way of being that has come to get me. It's a bit confusing. But perhaps quite natural. The 20s are so much about being formed -- school and jobs and income. Early family. In all, I was rewarded for my tenacity. The 30s and
- [Yesterday's Becoming & Belonging Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yesterdays-becoming-belonging-story/) - Yesterday's Becoming & Belonging session was a particular delight. Thx to those who were there live. We used story. Yes, the stories that we each brought. That's always true. There's an overarching invitation to integrate. Yes also, we used a story of long ago, a tale, from the time before time. It was of three
- [Becoming By Being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/becoming-by-being/) - Dede Weldon Casad is mother and grandmother to people I know through Dana's medical community. Yes, that's a mother and son. Dede writes in her book..., "To be today what we want to become tomorrow is the simplest formula for growth I know and the idea holds subtle dynamics: quiet perseverance, gentleness, and modesty." I'm
- [Still Speaks; Speaks Still](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/still-speaks-speaks-still/) - A poem I had included in this collection. I'm glad for a stillness that speaks. Still SpeaksFull.Or portioned.Light lifted from vast dark.Or dark that nests focal light.There is magnetic attraction.To things whole, to things slivered.I listen to the moon.With slowness, and softness. To the things whole and slivered within me.To what is full, or portioned.The moon
- [Wanderful, An Excursion Today](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wanderful-an-excursion-today/) - This is today. There will be six of us that take the excursion together. I like these lines from the invitation.- Where Circle meets Story and Connection- Where Curiosity meets What's Next- Where Courage meets What's Now It's not a small thing touch life moving in us and among us. For the clarity. The artistry.
- [Slow Down -- An Imperative For Speeding Up](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/slow-down-an-imperative-for-speeding-up/) - An early important teaching for me -- behaviorally and conceptually -- was that of slowing down. My friend Meg Wheatley was one of the people to share that with me. It was often in the context of working with groups of people. It was emphasizing the necessity of relationality. That meant Circle, so that we
- [William Stafford Writes, "Our Story"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/william-stafford-writes-our-story/) - From the collection, Ask Me, Stafford writes of the stories that we hold together with a few dear ones, and of how we move ourselves to the next stories. It's a theme I find calling to me. I often ask Dana, "What is the simple story here?" It's our version of seeing the "stars move."
- [On Listening](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-listening-2/) - A nod to James Crews, whose musings in The Weekly Pause are stirring and affirming some of the practices and ways of being that I'm most drawn to. Deep ListeningJames CrewsListening is just a way of going still,so I can hear the slightest soundsall around me. The house breathingon its own, the machine we callthe
- [Circle Exercise](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-exercise/) - You know, I love living amidst a network of Circle Practitioners. Some are friends. Some are colleagues. Some or fellow seekers. Some are curious onlookers. Some are all. My friend Jenny (thx Jenny) recently sent this little Circle prompt. Comes from Carrie Newcomer. I'm gonna try it -- maybe in a scheme with Jenny. :)
- [Playfully](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/playfully/) - The best relationships I have mix the playful with the serious. The silly with the sincere. The reaching with the obvious. The best relationships I have include workships, friendships, olders, youngers. And all of the betweens. Recently I sent playful note to friend Elif, referencing Becoming & Belonging (B & B) with Spirit & Skill
- [A Drum, A River, A Fire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-drum-a-river-a-fire/) - I'm returning today. From Comox, British Columbia. Through Vancouver. Home to Utah. From the company of good, wise, kind Men. To my Sweetheart, our hearth of home and heart. Trips matter. So does the Learning. So does the Story. So does the Circle. Returns too, with an invitation to integrate and to share. I'm a
- [Partnering With Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/partnering-with-life/) - One of the reasons that I have such conviction in me, about partnering with Life itself, is because I've had brave and good teachers. Which is to say, guides. Meg Wheatley is one of those. And Meg, in her early 80s, continues to offer what is brave and good. Says Meg recently for one of
- [Some Advice I Once Gave Myself](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-advice-i-once-gave-myself/) - I've been journaling for decades. Sometimes paragraphs. Sometimes sentences. Sometimes a light word salad. I've now been prosing much of that journaling over the last ten years. I like seeing it take shape. I like the invitation to find brevity and commonness. Here's a recent insight (which is to say, a familiar insight that keeps
- [Flow Is Life Lifing With Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-is-life-lifing-with-us/) - Flow, it's a creek in our neighborhood. Through a few houses. Between a few ponds. The sound is... comforting. Flow, it's a way of conceiving life. That is to say, an orientation that is a practice. I find myself continuing to both ask and assert, "not only to we live Life, but also, Life lives
- [Grief & Praise Are Renters Whose Landlord is Love](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/grief-praise-are-renters-whose-landlord-is-love/) - What a great line. It's Martin Prechtel, American author and teacher of many things spiritual and indigenous. I got it from Lisa Hess' sharing (thx Lisa for your thoughtful ways). Here's the full quote: “Grief and Praise are renters whose landlord is Love…Grief is a worker on life’s big highways, and Praise is Grief’s eternal
- [The Surest Way of Seeing Something Wondrous](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-surest-way-of-seeing-something-wondrous/) - Check the passage from Maria Popova. I got it from a deck of cards, "100 Divinations for Uncertain Days -- An Almanac of Birds" (thx Saoirse). "I have foundthat the surest wayof seeing the wondrousin something ordinary,something previously unappreciated,is coming to love someonewho loves it.As we entereach other's worlds in love --whatever its shape or
- [Circle Circles Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-circles-us/) - In some prep today for Part 2 of a Circle Workshop, Learn (To Be) Circle Here. That means a few extra insights are coming this morning. I like feeling the "overnight news" part of design. I like feeling the stuff under the stuff. Today... "When we commit ourselves to Circle, Circle commits to us." We
- [Three Intentions in Flow Group](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-intentions-in-flow-group/) - I love the way that Becoming & Belonging practices are teaching me and teaching the groups that gather. - Some of it is self care, some permission to acknowledge the necessity of deliberate attention to the self.- Some of is it suspended time (which perhaps is real time), a slowing down to give due attention
- [A Joy In All](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-joy-in-all/) - A bow to my friend Elif, who last week spoke the term, "unrushable." A bow to my friend Christina, who long ago differentiated "speed" from "pace". All of that to stir this Fall, Monday reflection in me. I no longer want to move so fast, so often.I no longer want to move as if trying
- [Hosting Circle Learning & Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hosting-circle-learning-practice/) - What a delight to host another round of Circle yesterday. This time, a class that is explicitly learning Circle's doing and Circle's being. I love the way that we so quickly found an activation together. That is to say, an animation. An authenticity. A joy. I loved steering the group to some key learning. The
- [It's Autumn In Utah](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/its-autumn-in-utah/) - It's Autumn in Utah. Yesterday Dana and I treated ourselves to an afternoon drive amidst the changing colors. There's a road, The Alpine Loop, that ascends from the city of Highland, peaks out at 8,000 ish feet, and then descends to Sundance. It's gorgeous. Spectacular. And meant to be encountered in slow pace. I suppose
- [Wherever You Go, Learn](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wherever-you-go-learn/) - I was in San Diego, California that last several days. Mostly accompanying Dana, who, along with her colleagues was hosting a large group (650 ish) on the theme, "Next Chapters in Optimal Health." It's 2.5 days of presentations, stories, research. It's also 2.5 days of people reaching out in connection and community. Well, me, I
- [The World Is Exquisitely Beautiful](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-world-is-exquisitely-beautiful/) - My friend Lucas, a teacher, recently wrote of what he was seeing in his teen students. An angst. A generalized disappointment. Hurt. It's summed up in "rotten world." Lucas is thoughtful. He's the kind of guide I would like if I had some teenagers in school. Lucas, however isn't just talking about the rotten. He
- [The Inner and the Outer Vista](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-inner-and-the-outer-vista/) - The outer vista is rather compelling. This picture from a few days ago. Near Hurricane, Utah. The reach of the red rock formations, The beauty of the blue sky expanse. And the 2-3 layers (20-30) that live between. It does something to the body, to the heart, and to the imagination. And. It is the
- [Awakening Practitioners of Being Awake -- Thx Flow Game, Thx Toke](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/awakening-practitioners-of-being-awake-thx-flow-game-thx-toke/) - I love this line from Toke. It's a recent Zoom together. Toke does what Toke does, which so often names the deep layered purpose and practice. Flow Game is about "awakening practitioners of being awake." I've been enjoying several recent Flow Games moments. Yeah.- the middle photo above was a playful end to a call.
- [This Just In](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-just-in/) - This rose, well it's just in, blooming near our front porch. I love the morning sunlight waking it to a day. This just in, also, in conversation, some life-moving insight. "For many of us, our work is to awaken the practitioners. The practitioners of being awake." "And then to help steward the practitioners, which is
- [Beauty As Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beauty-as-practice/) - I love the look of this Garden Mum, a Chrysanthemum, a Florist's Daisy. It now lives in the corner of our back yard. I love the abundance of the yellow against backdrop of grey fencing. A splash of life. And, in this case, placed on some stacked stones, repurposed from a patio of old. Fresh
- [Wander Wednesday -- What Has Your Attention?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-wednesday-what-has-your-attention/) - It's the most basic string of Wander Questions. Think about them. Journal if you prefer (I often do). Take a short (or long) walk with them. Let insight come. Some are small. Some are big. What has your attention?(You don't need to report everything or only the big things. There's a gift in picking one
- [Becoming & Belonging Is](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/becoming-belonging-is/) - Been thinking. It's setup for today's B & B.Becoming & Belonging is an energy a practice a commitment an inspiration B & B's primary modality is Circle.Which means we listen to each other we listen to ourselves we listen together to a center Today's B & B approach is through hearing a story together. Think
- [This Time Of Life -- From My Coffee To Yours](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-time-of-life-from-my-coffee-to-yours/) - A few words of wonder, over coffee this morning. This time of life and of living,it is familiar,isn’t it.Because, well, it’s connected to all the other times.You’ve learned how to persevere before.You’ve learned to lean to friends before.You’ve learned to start again before.But then, this time of life and of living,it's also new,isn’t it.Because it
- [A Couple of Nuances on Intentions and Agreements](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-couple-of-nuances-on-intentions-and-agreements/) - Good morning. We'll, almost afternoon now where I live. I'm pulling myself up from a morning of AI geeking (creating questions for a program I want to offer). That kind of framing is one of the great gifts of AI. Sometimes the questions are good to go. Sometimes they need just a little tweaking to
- [Wander Wednesday -- What Parts Of Unplanned Do You Like?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-wednesday-what-parts-of-unplanned-do-you-like/) - That's Marmalade the cat. In her own wander I suppose. She's an indoor cat looking rather regal on the outdoor back fence. What parts of unplanned do you like? Wander so often connotes a bit of unplanned. Meander. Not so rigid. Not so time-enforced. As before, I’m inviting practice -- be it for five or
- [Dinner, Gratitude, Reflections](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/dinner-gratitude-reflections/) - Dinner one night last week. Tuna in avocado mayonnaise. Includes some finely chopped red onion and pickles. Lightly peppered. On green leaf lettuce -- giant leaves. Cucumber and tomatoes from a friend -- summer generosity. Avocado. Corn cut from summer cob. A few olives. A drizzle of olive oil. Another drizzle of chocolate balsamic vinegar.
- [I Love Storyboards, Maps](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-love-storyboards-maps/) - Feeling a few parts of meta-clarity coming. I'll give myself permission to start with pieces. And then add some more in further posts. I'm the kind of human that loves this kind of image below. I draw this specific one often in my notebook that I carry in my back pocket. The first time I
- [Wander Wednesday -- Please Do](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-wednesday/) - Sunflowers grow a plenty where Dana and I live. This one (and several others) from a walk earlier this week, enveloped a sidewalk near a new-home construction. I love these sunflowers for their persistence in Utah's hot summers. It seems so enduring. And, I love them for their splashes of radiant yellow, little beacons of
- [Essential Questions To Welcome Wander](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/essential-questions-to-welcome-wander/) - If you've been tracking for a while, you know the importance of Wander to me. I feel like I'm crafting a new language for consciousness artistry and practice. Thx AI -- I asked for a few questions this morning that I morphed to this below. How could wander change who you are and how you
- [Short On Words](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/short-on-words/) - I'm appreciating a few days of recovery. Septum repaired (with some intentional re-breaking to help with a 40 years-ago-break). It's a pretty good sized headache. And mouth-breathing (the stints come out on Monday). And gauze and tape changed regularly. I'm glad for good docs. Loving care (thx Dana). And some space for poetic reflection.The intention,
- [Most Mornings -- Poetry of Presence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/most-mornings-poetry-of-presence/) - A bit of bonus time this morning. I was scheduled for nose surgery (deviated septum repair). Thought it would be in the morning. Turns out it will be in the afternoon. So, bonus time this morning. I sit next to this candle and this lily in our bedroom. Reflecting. Writing. Perusing a few emails. In
- [What We Practice, We Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-practice-we-become-3/) - What we practice, we become. There is a simplicity in this, isn't there. It's pithy at one level. It's also deep-diving at another. These three above -- kindness, consciousness, flow -- these are three that I rely on. Sometimes when I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm affirming such things. Sometimes, when I don't know
- [Three Questions To Get Started](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-questions-to-get-started/) - Earlier this week I met via Zoom with a prospective upcoming client. Which is to say, we said "hello" to each other, to get a sense of presence together. And a vibe. And a sense of wonder. "Hello" is such an important part of the work. It's a version of starting with generosity -- in
- [What Time Is It?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-time-is-it/) - I remember, almost, the first time I participated in a conversation framed by the question, "What time is it in the world?" I think it was a World Cafe format. I think Juanita Brown and David Isaacs were lightly steering. This was the 90s. I remember being stirred by how people were being thoughtful. Juanita
- [The Guest House -- Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-guest-house-rumi/) - My friend Jeremy Nash recently reminded me of this Rumi poem, The Guest House. Jeremy runs a monthly 1-hour poetry group on Zoom, with small Circle-based groups. I participate when I can. For the poetry. For the friendship. For the wonder. I love the way this Rumi poem invites a spirit of welcome and a
- [When You Stop Doing, Life Speaks](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stillness-is-a-source-not-a-void/) - Dana and I harvested our front porch tomatoes last week. Each is a bit bigger than golf-ball sized. And, as you can see, pretty ripe. Yummy for dinner last night. The pace of both growing and picking tomatoes is slow. Which I like. It reminds me of the many ways that my psyche values slowness
- [Wander School -- For Becoming & Belonging](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-school-for-becoming-belonging/) - It's growing. I love offering these gatherings. And participating. And journeying together with good, good folk. Together we are connecting the inner and the outer. And I love the difference it makes. Jump in here.
- [Learning About Learning Communities](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-about-learning-communities/) - All of my life I've been learning about learning communities. Sometimes articulated. Sometimes noticed and felt. Sometimes journaled. Sometimes experimented with. In the 1990s, it was grad school. There were 20 or so in the Masters Program I attended. Organizational Behavior (we graduated in 1993 as MOBs). I learned how to go with others rather
- [And Then There Is What Claims Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-then-there-is-what-claims-us/) - We claim themes and patterns. And also, they claim us. Right? Wander is one of those for me (thx for the pre-loved shirt Roq). I claim Wander -- the beauty, the pace, the wonder. I claim a certain amount of mystery in life. An amount of unseen. An amount of unseeable. And wander claims me.
- [So Ripe With Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/so-ripe-with-joy/) - Remembering this moment. Saturday. Iron Lake, Idaho. The quiet of morning. Stacking / balancing a few stones (thx Chris Corrigan for introducing me to such many years ago). Ripe with joy. Remembering this poem to, For When People Ask, by Colorado Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Thx Jesikah for posting earlier. I want a word that
- [Wisdom Council -- Thank You](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wisdom-council-thank-you/) - What a delight to dwellwith those I invited to a B & B Wisdom Council.Words.Affirmations.Shimmer and simmer.Beloved community.Precious people place.The small, big journey.Magic.Magnify life.Soul space.What a delight to divein what is flowing and calling August programs and descriptions are here.Becoming -- what lives underneath.Belonging -- with self, other, Life itself. The small big things.
- [This Wild And Creative Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-wild-and-creative-heart/) - A photo from earlier this summer. Hiking with my pals Roq and Sarah. Whidbey Island. And a poem, a few words from recently. I love the way the sky reminds of such things. I wantto set freethis wild and creative heart.I wantto fly and glidewith these yearning wings.I wantto know more fullythe sky’s openness.Trustingevery inkling of
- [Life Recognizes Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-recognizes-life/) - My friend Lawrence and I are in some doozie conversations these days. Every couple of weeks. Scheming. Dwelling. Getting excited. Tenderizing. And, and. Toward more friendship. Toward maybe, just maybe, a learning journey in 2026 that would invite others to join in the fun. And toward this phrase above -- Life recognizes Life. What if
- [Quantum Listening](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/quantum-listening/) - I'm quite liking this little book, Quantum Listening, by Pauline Oliveros (thx Jonathan for the recommendation). Here's two snippets: "Deep listening puts experience before everything else. It emphasizes both detail and scope of...'the sounds of daily life, of nature, or one's own thoughts.'" "As you listen, the particles of sound decide to be heard. Listening
- [Getting To It -- Read All About It](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/getting-to-it-read-all-about-it/) - This newsletter is a quarterly thing for me. Kind if a constellation of things that I put in this blog. I like picking one of my photos. Sometimes a theme. I like pointing to some of the stuff that is life-giving. And that has learning in it. I like sharing. I like inviting. And I
- [I've Got A Story Cued Up For Tomorrow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ive-got-a-story-cued-up-for-tomorrow/) - I've got a story cued up. About a Willow Tree. It's for the Becoming & Belonging Series -- this week's convening. The series and this offering -- well they invite a gentle reflectiveness together. And joy. And learning. And honesty. Jump in. I like these lines of description: The story becomes a map to find insight
- [Delight In Wander School](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/delight-in-wander-school/) - Some recent young ducks in a nearby pond where Dana and I often walk. I like the light. And the ripple. And I suppose the new life. And the familial tending. Just because. What a delight to host two sessions of Wander School this week. For the wander, the wonder. For the learning, the living.
- [The Quiet Breath of Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-quiet-breath-of-now/) - Thx Toke. Friend. Kin. Fellow. Fellow mischief-maker. And all the rest. Toke's words -- I love his commitment to Life flowing and to flowing with Life. No more right nor wrong.Just the quiet breath of now.Opening to Life within. Thx Edmonton. For the forest walks.
- [The Light of Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-light-of-day/) - I love the little forest walk near where my folks live. In the south part of Edmonton -- Edmonton is where I grew up. In that little forest, there's birch, maple, spruce and a few others. There's yarrow, and these fireweed looking purple blooms. And a few others. Got to walk there several times last
- [A Flow Game Question Today](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-flow-game-question-today/) - What in your lifecould benefit fromthe support and contributionof others? I quite like having a Flow Game Question nearby. Me... most everything, like the mostly pastors group I'm hosting next week like the B & B series that is moving a few hearts like the way I'm parenting like the way I'm crafting a collection
- [Unraveling Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/unraveling-leadership/) - Digging in to this one today (thx Krista Betz). Unraveling Religious Leadership: Power, Authority, and Decolonialityby Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi I love the opening quotes: Martin Luther King Jr."We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."And, Albert Memmi, author of The Colonizer
- [How Great](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/how-great/) - To draw cards.Together. That's what we did in yesterday's B&B session -- for insight and intuition.And, well -- for tenderness in words and in quiet. The cards -- Wild Chorus, created by Abacus Corvus (Thx Lisa Hess). I love the images and words. I don't think of them as oracle cards -- but they sure
- [Sometimes The Simple Is the Super](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sometimes-the-simple-is-the-super/) - Five of us gathered. Zoom. Two hours on a Monday evening. Men in ritual was what brought us together. A workshop for learning from two weeks ago. Some of us have been friends over the years. Some of us are new in friendship, yet somehow feeling the way that good sincerity and connection makes us
- [Out Beyond Wrongdoing and Rightdoing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/out-beyond-wrongdoing-and-rightdoing/) - My friend Kinde reminds me today of this Rumi passage, oft-quoted. That's Rumi, the Sufi Scholar and Persian Poet of the 1200s. "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field.I’ll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass,the world is too full to talk about.Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”doesn’t
- [Small Pleasures](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/small-pleasures/) - Thx to my friend Jeremy who shared this poem recently. The words of the poet, James Crews move me. This living juxtaposed with cruelty and kindness, with "bonfire of fears" and "scent of peonies" -- well, this is the discipline of the open heart, isn't it. And the invitation. And the insistence. And Jeremy, well,
- [Bold Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/bold-things/) - Reflecting on a recent Becoming & Belonging offering (Flow Group), my friend Nadia reflects on the eight of us together and what was shared (thx Nadia). "These are bold things, indeed.To show up and share.To listen and be touched.To connect and weave together.These are brave, wild, learning things.Each time again." Yes. Bold, through the simple.
- [Just Ride -- Slow & Steady](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/just-ride-slow-steady/) - Yesterday's bike ride -- a treat to myself. West toward Bacchus highway (it's 2 miles). Then south toward Rio Tinto Mine (another 1.5 miles). Most of this is slow climb. PS: I'm slow and steady on a bike; not at all speedy and sprinty. Then a slight coast down to the mouth of Butterfield Canyon
- [Say Yes, Say No -- In Times of Trouble](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/say-yes-say-no-in-times-of-trouble/) - I wrote this poem at a time of life, a time of trouble, when I was exploring a few important decisions. And a few nuances of boundaries. And the steps forward that went with a few lettings go. For inspiration. Say Yes, Say NoThere are moments in our liveswhen we are invited to say a
- [Less Prepared, But More Ready](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/less-prepared-but-more-ready/) - Yesterday I was in conversation with a pastor friend and student from the NGLI program that I so enjoy. He brings wisdom, maturity, patience, honesty, vision. But quietly, which I also love. We were talking about Circle. The movement he is feeling in Council Meetings. Just by including a Check-In. Not as a "convenience if
- [A Conversation With My 20 Year-Old](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-conversation-with-my-20-year-old/) - I've been having this conversation with my 20 year-old. Looking for ways to guide him into these next 2-3 years of his life. And looking for ways that celebrate who he is. School is not an easy path for him -- though he has new excitement about a music program. The jobs he has worked
- [Regenerative Responders](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/regenerative-responders/) - My friend Bob Stilger and others at NewStories are up to some pretty important and needed work. This piece, Regenerative Responders, is a community of practice (connection and action) for people living through, and preparing, for disaster. What I so often like in Bob's work, and in our friendship over 30 years, is reclaiming a
- [Circle Makes Us Round Again](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-makes-us-round-again/) - There are many of us that rely on Circle to restore many things. Wholeness. Imagination. Belonging. Wisdom. Intuition. Yup, these are a few that I point to. I'm glad for the many of us that point to the many things. My friend Andy Swindler and his colleagues / friends at True Purpose Institute recently offered
- [Circle Workshop Today](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-workshop-today/) - We are a full house. I'm glad. People drawn to learning the skills and learning the heart. This is the great work for many of us, isn't it. Learning things. And living ways of being. Circle has been in my heart since the mid 90s. Thx Meg. Thx Christina. Thx Ann. Thx Bob. Thx Toke.
- [The Courage to Start Again](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-courage-to-start-again/) - Starting again is a theme I pay attention to. Sometimes it's a big start-again, claiming something totally new. Sometimes it's a renewed conviction for the same thing that's been going on for a long time. We learn, we humans. I'm so impressed by the courage that people have. To stay the course. To let go
- [A Couple Of My Favorite Wander Quotes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-couple-of-my-favorite-wander-quotes/) - "Not all who wander are lost."J. R. R. Tolkien "All who wander are not lost; we just like the wind in our face."Dougie MacLean Just because.
- [The Deeper Desires](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-deeper-desires/) - Hi Folks. I'm back from a week of Circle with Men, Soultime. I'm back from mostly timeless time. No media. No clock. Just company. I'm back to pick up and integrate stuff. Now on my Monday. I asked AI for some help. I wanted themes. The source material is what people have written on their
- [Circle -- It's Natural](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-its-natural/) - Glad to see the shape. And to know the power, the wisdom, and the kindness of the form. My Circle Workshop filled (June 19 and June 26) -- excited to travel together. If you have interest in future offerings, register here. I'll put you on a list for future notification. Turn to one another.Connection.Courage.Compassion. Yup,
- [Alberta Sky](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/alberta-sky/) - Alberta Sky. Meaning, prairie. Patched land. Flat. Sun. Clouds. Shade. Long view. Alberta Sky. Meaning, home land. Canada. And yes, prairie. There's a particular familiarity and delight for me in such views (thx Delta). You can take the boy out of the prairie, but you can't take the prairie out of the boy? On my
- [What Moves You In These Pictures?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-moves-you-in-these-pictures/) - What moves you in these pictures? No wrong answers. Just invitation. Think it. Feel it. Even better, do that and leave a comment. What catches your attention? Why do you think that might be so? I took the picture ten days ago. In Bellingham, Washington. On a walk with my Sweetie Dana. And her sibs
- [Weave Healthy Community](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/weave-healthy-community/) - I like this framing (thx Dolores Wollbaum for the share). Weave.Healthy.Community. Questions that matter. Images that clarify. I like the way that many of us are simplifying how we start.And frame the long journey. For inspiration.
- [Men -- Learn Ceremony For the Every Day of Being Thoughtful Men](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/men-learn-ceremony-for-the-every-day-of-being-thoughtful-men/) - Men. This is for you. June 24th and July 7th (optional). Online. 5:00 pm -7:00 pm (Mountain Time). We're gonna learn. We're gonna circle. We're gonna explore together. Registration and information is here. I know that there aremany of usthat seek what is underneath.The thingunder the thingunder the thingthe turns out to not be a
- [Flow Game -- For Becoming & Belonging](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-game-for-becoming-belonging/) - I quite love hosting these B & B gatherings. Becoming and belonging get to the places that so many humans yearn for. Yesterday it was Flow Game. Four of us. With connection first. And the bravery to name circumstances for which we wish insight and intuition. Then drawing Flow Game cards. Then journeying together with
- [Whatever Scale, It's There](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/whatever-scale-its-there/) - I'm drawn to scale. The things and people beautiful and attractive that are close in. The things and people beautiful and attractive that are far away. I'm drawn to how the near invites the far and how the far invites the near. I'm drawn to the aliveness that lives in all of that. There is
- [Courage & Participation With Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/courage-participation-with-life/) - Good morning (or whatever time of day you are reading this). Now good afternoon for me. Dana had a flat tire which is now mostly sorted. I returned last night from travel with Dana and some family. For me that means a mix of lingering in what was very spacious timing, balancing a few stones,
- [I Believe In The Sea Of Everything](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-believe-in-the-sea-of-everything/) - Yesterday I had rich conversation with my friend Jeremy. We are two men in our 60s. Which is to say, we have many stories and many learnings between us. It's quite sweet and needed to have such open and honest and reflective time together. To dwell. To linger. Mark Nepo came to mind. Jeremy and
- [For Celebration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-celebration/) - I read poems because I want to find a simplicity of expression that talks to my soul and to what my soul does in a day. I want to find something alive in the words that either calls out, or creates, a simplicity in me, and in how I approach the next moments. Thx John
- [What We Practice, We Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-practice-we-become-2/) - It's Toke's voice that I most often hear when I remember this phrase, "What we practice, we become." When I feel the joy of that kind of learning and that kind of doing and that kind of spirit when people are gathered. Toke, the mate that welcomed me into The Art of Hosting many years
- [Men Learning Ritual and Ceremony](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/men-learning-ritual-and-ceremony/) - I'm so glad to be hosting these sessions. For men. For men learning. For men seeking a simplicity in ritual and ceremony. For men that wish to bring the thoughtful and heartful to the extraordinary and the ordinary. Megan and I will host a Learning Workshop (June 24th online). I quite love her experience and
- [Circle Makes The World Round](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-makes-the-world-round/) - "Circle makes the world round again." That's what my friend (and mentor and guide and sister and...) Ann Linnea often reminds. I'm glad. Circle has been rounding me now for the better part of 25 years. Probably before that too. Circle is for the heart. It's also for the hands. It's for added authenticity. Wisdom
- [Trust](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/trust/) - The ducks swim in Oquirrh Lake. In the calm of a spring evening. As Dana and I walk the lake path. We marvel at the bigness of it all. The distant snow-capped Wasatch Mountains. The rising moon, near full. The bridge that offers walking passage. The stillness of what we see out there. And the
- [Things That Settle Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/things-that-settle-us/) - That's a mug from my friend Tom. My coffee today. With a bit of honey. Makes me think of Tom. He's the kind of guy at Soultime that most often carries a cup. A strappin' late 40s lad. He's a guy that oozes welcome. And invitation to sit on the couch to share a cup.
- [Silence Is A Practice Too](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/silence-is-a-practice-too/) - Silence is a practice too. Particularly when the noise grows. I find, again and again, that the noise comes from within me. It's true that the noise is out there. But it's my relationship with that noise that determines whether it lingers or leaves. Gunilla Norris has offered some passages on silence that I've appreciated
- [Mary Alice Arther Writes on Connection and Engagement](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mary-alice-arther-writes-on-connection-and-engagement/) - I'm glad to be among many practitioners that share evolving insights. And that find their way to the simple and clear. Mary Alice writes of a recent appreciative inquiry conversation among three young people. "We need to get connected and then we get engaged." The young man said: "I need to get engaged, then I get connected."There
- [Themed](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/themed/) - It's good to have themes. Overarching statements or patterns. About who we are, and about what we are up to. Or about what we are discovering. About how the world works. One theme for me lately is "learn a thing by doing a thing." It's the commitment and the creativity to get started and then
- [Mary Oliver -- Light and Frolicsome](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mary-oliver-light-and-frolicsome/) - I love this Mary Oliver piece shared recently with me (thx Saoirse). Dangerous.Noble.Light.Frolicsome.Improbable.Beautiful.Afraid of nothing.Wings. Plenty to work with there, isn't there.
- [Wander School Is A Community Learning School](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-school-is-a-community-learning-school/) - Wander School is one of my Becoming & Belonging offerings. It's also a header for the whole of what I'm up to these days. Descriptions, details and dates to jump in are here. I'm hosting a session tomorrow and Wednesday. Next up are in May. Online stuff that brings the heart inline. Why Wander School?
- [Sharp As Sheep?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sharp-as-sheep/) - My friend, Pastor Kate Kennedy, writes of rethinking sheep. From dumb followers to sharp organizers. She touches some of the evolutionary instinct to go together. I enjoyed the read and the rethinking. Perhaps you too. Says Kate..., "I’ve always assumed that sheep were a bit dumb. I’ll admit, I fell for the cliché. To be
- [Bruce Springsteen On Facilitation?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/bruce-springsteen-on-facilitation/) - This book by Bruce Springsteen continues to move me. I seem to read a couple of pages and then put it down. And then let myself be moved by the story in my day to day. I love his artist journey that he describes. And some big wisdom. I love his reflecting back to the
- [People Pull In Their Legs](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/people-pull-in-their-legs/) - This poem seems to be in a regular orbit for me. It comes around every now and then. This time from my friend Jeremy (thx Jeremy). The poem lands in just the right ways, invoking simple things that we do and that we often receive. Enjoy. Small KindnessesBy Danusha Lamaris I’ve been thinking about the
- [Ritual Takes Us To Deeper Learning and Presence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ritual-takes-us-to-deeper-learning-and-presence/) - A bow to Shawna Lemay's blog, Transactions With Beauty. I enjoy Shawna's writing. She's much more of a curator than I will ever be. Her words are quite beautiful. And informative. Her photography is really moving, I find. I've learned and known rituals primarily in two contexts. One, with Soultime Men's Group, where on our
- [Growing Insight, Information, and Intuition](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/growing-insight-information-and-intuition/) - What I tell people in Pick A Card (Becoming & Belonging Series) is that it is a format for getting insight, information, and intuition. Three "i's" that I want to pattern back to common epistemology -- ways of knowing that guide ways of being. What I tell people, and myself, is that there is a
- [When Spring is Springing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-spring-is-springing/) - Spring is springing in Utah. Where Dana and I often walk, these trees are bursting with buds and blossoms, all so near flowering. Much is abuzz. I am a person that quite regularly looks for operating systems of life. The kind of orientations that align with life flowing. And with mystery. And with beauty. And
- [Fresh Bread Today](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fresh-bread-today/) - It's fun. And tasty. Today I experimented with a bit of Italian Seasoning mixed into the dough. My bread recipe is here. Give it a go. I'm also remembering this poem today, from Most Mornings. Because, the inner quiet feels more needed that ever. For me. Perhaps for you too. And because I wrote about
- [A Circle Workshop For You, Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-circle-workshop-for-you-us/) - I'm glad to offer this workshop. It's two Thursdays in June. Because I like getting to the heart of it. To bring practice to the every day. Because Circle habit (the formal and the informal kind) restores connection and wisdom when so many other patterns force competition and animosity. All the details are here. Jump
- [Shades of Life on H2H](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-on-h2h/) - I took this recent recording from Jerry, Kathy, Janet and I -- adding it as Human to Human content here. There's a lot that I love in this conversation. The friendship. The playfulness. The seriousness. Regular humans sorting a bit of life and a bit of the chaos and hope dance. Kathy, Jerry and I
- [A Question of Personal Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-question-of-personal-leadership/) - This is harvest from Toke. An AoH in Denmark, co-hosted with Rowan, Mary-Alice, and others. I just like the question: "In light of the current turbulence, what is personal leadership to me?" I imagine it to have been a great Cafe! Grateful for the body of practitioners in this field and how we share /
- [Reflecting on Goodness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflecting-on-goodness/) - I am a person that reflects on human nature. Mine. Yours. Ours. I can't seem to not, as I flow my way through the days and weeks, the rivers and the brooks. The ponds. The meadows. The city blocks. And often, such reflection, proses its way to a few stanzas of meaning, that point to
- [Connection Is The Real Work](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/connection-is-the-real-work/) - Recently I got to huddle with Ally Joseph of NewStories. We got to share some love of restorying, the discipline that NewStories practices. She asked several question. I reflected out loud. Ally compiled our conversation to a short article here. Got to touch a few key points: "connection is the real work; it is the
- [Make A Spring (Alice Walker)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/make-a-spring-alice-walker/) - Spring testifies of resilience, and beauty. The buds. The bulbs. The bovines. Spring is out there, in what we see. In what we fall in love with. In newness. Spring is also in here, in what we feel, wish, and give our creative energy to. I love Alice Walker's words that I read recently (thx
- [Making Workshops Work](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/making-workshops-work/) - It was so much fun to meet and talk with Myriam Hadnes, a facilitator and group process person and host of a podcast about making workshops work. Myriam is based in Amsterdam. We covered some learning questions that I found helpful and fun to follow. It's 49 minutes. transparency in meetings, honesty in meetings a
- [Workshops Work Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/workshops-work-podcast/) - Quanita Roberson and I were featured on a Workshops Work Podcast. Amsterdam based Myriam Hadnes is the host. I enjoy her thinking and her desire to explore the deeper purpose of things. I was glad that she welcomed us back (Quanita and I have each done individual episodes with Myriam previously). This one is an
- [Some Things Learned About Becoming & Belonging](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-things-learned-about-becoming-belonging/) - One, really good people showing up. I love the willingness to commit to simple process, expecting depth. B&B is a series of monthly online offerings (with a bit of scheming and dreaming now for in-person retreat). Two, I love the sparring that some are offering. Chris Jepson is one (thx Chris). And I love the
- [Oh What Journey In The Simple of Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/oh-what-journey-in-the-simple-of-things/) - There is forever a part of me that seeks for, and appreciates, the simple. To shape life. To shape me. To shape us. To shape learning. To shape orientation. To shape next step. Dana and I drove to Maple Grove Hot Springs on Saturday. To check it out as a possible venue for hosting groups.
- [The Warmth of Circle -- Margaret Wheatley](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-warmth-of-circle-margaret-wheatley/) - Meg's voice has long been an important one. For me. For many. I love the friendship and kinship that Meg and I share. I was pretty moved to have Meg write the forward to my book, Gifts of Circle. Yes, please, get the book and Question Cards. Or just peek and enjoy Meg's Forward. The
- [Circle Book, Circle Cards Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-book-circle-cards-here/) - The Book,Gifts of Circle:Connection, Courage, Compassionate Action. The Cards,Questions Cards34 of them.Get them here.To grow what is simple and present.To be grown by what is simple and present.
- [Chris Jepson Joins The Human To Human Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/chris-jepson-joins-the-human-to-human-podcast/) - I'm loving many of the people I'm meeting these days. Chris Jepson is one of them. Recently he and I sat down for a Zoom conversation. Enjoy the listen here. There is so much that I love in conversations with Chris Jepson. We are a new-ish connection. I love the beginnings of friendship and learning
- [Joy Matters; Joy Is Possible](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-matters-joy-is-possible/) - I've been thinking a lot over the last week about a recent conversation I had with a UCC pastor. I was inspired to offer framing with him, to contrast efforts that focus on "what's wrong" and invite efforts that focus on "what's possible." It's a stuck point that many of us find our way to.
- [Marge Piercy Speaks A Truth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/marge-piercy-speaks-a-truth/) - This poem moves me. I first learned of it in my early Berkana days (thx Meg). And every now and then it cycles back to me. It comes knocking at the door of my consciousness, asking me to come out and play. I love the digging in of this poem. I also love the invitation
- [When The Light Shines](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-the-light-shines/) - That's the Wasatch Mountains over there. It's the east side of this high desert valley in Salt Lake County. I just love the light on it, from a setting sun over the Oquirrh Mountains, from the west side of the valley, lighting not the valley but the mountain tips. The sky is pretty cool too.
- [One + One = Three](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/one-one-three/) - I'm so enjoying this memoir from Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run. I'm listening -- I like to hear his voice. This paragraph that describes putting the E Street Band together, was one that I went back to several times. Makes a lot of sense for Circle and other good group process too! It helps me
- [New April and May Dates For Wander School -- And Flow Group, And Pick A Card](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-april-and-may-dates-for-wander-school-and-flow-group-and-pick-a-card/) - These sessions have been powerful. I love the way people are showing up. To seek intuition and insight on circumstances that matter personally and professionally. The connection among participants has been rich. These practices are simple, yet guiding to the necessary yearning and clarity. Becoming & Belonging is the intention. Also the outcome as people
- [We Are Lighthoused](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-are-lighthoused/) - At Kilauea, Kauai. Last Monday. If we are lucky, we have people and places that lighthouse us. And for some of us, we offer lighthousing. To remember edges and to aspire to horizons. To steer 'round points of danger, caution. To aspire to the long view, that lives beyond noise. I'm moved by lighthouses, like
- [Looking Up, Looking Down, Looking Forward](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/looking-up-looking-down-looking-forward/) - I love these three photos, taken the day of our departure from Kauai. Dana and I returned to the beach location (Keoneloa) where 3 days prior we were hosted in wedding ceremony by our friends Roq and Erica. One last glimpse. One last breath. One last squeeze of the hand to take home with us.
- [A Simple Direction](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-simple-direction/) - Toke often posts phrases from Prem Rawat. I quite like the simplicity and direction in both of these men. Pay attention to your day.Pay attention to this breath.Pay attention to this life. I return today from a swirl of life that will continue to swirl in me. Dana and I married last week in a
- [On Waking (John O'Donohue)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-waking-john-odonohue/) - It is the waking that so many of us yearn for, isn't it. To be alive. To learn. To contribute. To cherish. To unfold. To go well.To receive. To give. To create. To surrender. To love. To love again. To love the flow of it all. Tomorrow Dana and I leave for Kauai. To wake
- [Learn What Something Is By Doing What It Is](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learn-what-something-is-by-doing-what-it-is/) - as My friend Phil and I meet monthly ish over Zoom. We talk. We share stories. We ask questions. We learn together. We slow down. In a recent call, Phil was telling me more about Physicians Leadership Academy. They've hosted many cohorts now. Lots of success. He shared with me, "we needed to do it
- [How About Now? Thx Susanne West](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/how-about-now-thx-susanne-west/) - 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
- [What We Practice We Will Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-practice-we-will-become/) - 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
- [Walks, Reflections, Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/walks-reflections-learning/) - 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
- [Let's Ripple](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/lets-ripple/) - 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
- [Confluence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/confluence/) - Confluence is the coming together of things. The flowing together of things. Sometimes rivers. Sometimes important things. Sometimes systems of thought. Ideas of process. Invitations to practice together. Got much of that happening now. One river for me is the connection between personal and universal. A colleague and I were crafting a retreat yesterday. I
- [A Sacred Nature Poem From Colin Willcox](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-sacred-nature-poem-from-colin-willcox/) - From a collection I picked up recently. Suddenly it is nowthe trees are full of leaves againthe grass is dampwith early sunthe nightand all her dreamsare nowhere to be seenthe awakening thoughtsforgottenlightand all the dappled shadowswe dance tosilenceand all the echoingsongs of lifeemptinessfull of absent spaceswhere memoryrefused to lielisteningeven breathingcan be enoughto bring the whole
- [Best Line of The Week](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/best-line-of-the-week/) - A new local friend / colleague spoke it last week. Marshall Opel is his name. Marshall reached out to me to explore and connect locally. He had interest in Flow Game. His demeanor is calm. Grounded. Well-paced. Appreciative. Curious. "It's not reckless if you're checked in." Perfect. Marshall's business is taking people (sometimes men's initiatives)
- [Megan Sheldon Joins Me On The H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/megan-sheldon-joins-me-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - Megan brings a great focus to health and well-being that comes from ceremony and ritual. This week we got to touch a few things on that. Some why of ceremony. Some examples. Some on the big ceremonies. Some on the everyday. Some on the first-time experiences. Some on what lasts over years. Some on the
- [Circle Offers This Experience](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-offers-this-experience/) - From Gifts of Circle, Chapter 4: Circle activates an identity of the whole. Circle invites further connection. Circle bridges the professional and the personal. Circle surprises people with depth. I loved writing this book. I'm loving people connecting with it. I'm loving the way the book is further writing me. On February 28th I'm being
- [Book Release & Interactive Gathering](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/book-release-interactive-gathering/) - Glad to have my friends at NewStories hosting this Book Release Conversation on February 28, 2025, 9:00 - 10:00 am PT. All of the details are here, including link to registration. No charge. Come to learn. And to meet others who appreciate Circle. I'll tell a few stories about Gifts of Circle (released December 2024).
- [Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing  -- Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/out-beyond-ideas-of-wrongdoing-rumi/) - On Saturday I met with three close-in men for Flow Group. Together we explored our respective next layers of purpose in our lives and jobs. We used Flow Game and Circle to give us just the right amount of format and context to go deep. So sweet, men in story, curiosity, laughter, and tears together.
- [A Few New Programs, Learning Communities](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-new-programs-learning-communities/) - I've been creating a few new learning programs. They've been creating me. It's my desire to get to the core of things, to the heart of things. And to create practice and community with that. A few holes in the plan; it will unfold. But it's time to raise the curtain and go. I keep
- [The Exquisite Risk -- Mark Nepo](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-exquisite-risk-mark-nepo/) - This book, The Exquisite Risk by Mark Nepo, has meant a lot to me going back to when it was written in 2006. Nepo's words are compelling. His images. His stories. And, isn't it true that authenticity remains at the core of going with wisdom and kindness together. In relationships. In teams. In governments. In
- [Men In Ceremony](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/men-in-ceremony/) - Megan Sheldon and her husband Johan Hoglund have created a great set of practices and learning through their organization, Being Ceremonial. I spoke with Megan a while back about men in ceremony. About the need for micro ritual, tiny practices that bring depth. The 3-minute clip is here. You can explore the full 45-minute conversation
- [What Can I Say -- Thx Katharine Weinmann, Mary Oliver](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-can-i-say-thx-katharine-weinmann-mary-oliver/) - All of this today is from my friend Katharine Weinmann (picture & Mary Oliver poem). Katharine is quoting Mary Oliver. And saying other things. Saying other things that I needed to hear this morning. There is a kind of gloom that I feel as I watch North American politics maneuver. Watch national friendships diminish. Watch
- [The Look of Circle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-look-of-circle/) - It's been fun. Over the last few days I've been collecting a few pictures of Circles I've hosted, cohosted, participated in over the last few months. It's been fun contexting these recents into 25 years of Circle. University Leadership. Corporate Leadership Development Program. Church Program for Annuitants. Men's Circle Before a Wedding. Medical Education Conference.
- ["Whatever Wakes You Up -- Bring That To Work"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/whatever-wakes-you-up-bring-that-to-work/) - I have a few people that I've been in regular monthly calls with over a long chunk of time. They are't "work" calls, though often we will talk about work stuff. They are friend calls -- there is deep and lasting friendship that continues to grow. And wisdom. And insight. And joy. One of those
- [Ask Good Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ask-good-questions/) - My friend Glen is a great question asker. I love this about him. We've taught each other a few things about this over our 15 years of facilitating and friending together. He has a way of keeping the heart in questions, but steering it to the context of his leadership field. Really skillfully. Recently Glen
- [Marlyn Diaz on the H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/marlyn-diaz-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - Human To Human, The Podcast. It's conversations of learning, connecting. Unperformed. Authentic. Interesting people. A few questions. Human journey. Marlyn Diaz is my first guest of 2025. I know her through medical educators that my Sweetheart Dana convenes. What a delight. Marlyn has such encouraging approach to health, to wellness, to wholeness. She's great with
- [A Particular Kind of Invited Openness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-particular-kind-of-invited-openness/) - There is particular beauty in Utah's redrock regions that I haven't known before. It's the sheer cliffs. It's hue of red stone and mountain against blue sky. It's a particular kind of invited openness. There is also particular beauty in life sweethearted together. Cliffs to approach together. Compliments. Hues. Invited openness. There is beauty in
- [Restful Leadership -- Thx Moze for Your Musings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/restful-leadership-thx-moze-for-your-musings/) - Moze and I have been friends for a good many years. We share a love of Circle. We share a love of pace. And pause. Her writing often moves me. Recently, on "Rested Leadership." As Moze says..., "I am not suggesting we all rush to change our occupations, however, changing the way we do our occupation
- [Dreams on MLK](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/dreams-on-mlk/) - I track dreams. I hand-write them in a particular journal. I've learned that when I track dreams, they tend to track me. And so I write. I'm loyal to the tiniest snippets and fragments that appear in dreams. A few days ago, I dreamed of being at the end of a hall in a hotel.
- [I Am The Themes I'm Living](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-am-the-themes-im-living/) - I am the themes I'm living. I am those thoughts. I am those breaths. I am those questions. I am those buckets. I have three themes that are quite organizing me these days. They come out in my words. I'm welcoming these themes to clarify me. And to clarify what I do. Maybe these connect
- [Poetry Guides -- A Simple Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-guides-a-simple-story/) - It was Delta Flight 2800 ten days ago. Salt Lake City to Dallas Fort Worth. Seat 10F. The flight was delayed several times, originally departing 10:40 am. Eventually departed 4:00 pm. Late enough in the day to catch sunset as we got close to Dallas. It was a day of a lot of moving parts.
- [Longevity In Social Justice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/longevity-in-social-justice/) - Meet Dr. Rita Fierro. I did, seven years or so ago. Rita was participant in a Rites of Passage program, Fire & Water. I was co-leading with Quanita Roberson. Rita's work has been very centered in social justice through her life. She's got big heart. She's got clear principles. I got to reflect and write
- [The Job -- Reflecting on AoPL Last Week](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-job-reflecting-on-aopl-last-week/) - AoPL (The Art of Participative Leadership) as offered last week was a three day program. Last week was intended three days in person. We got two -- quite significantly. And then due to winter storm and a university closure, we switched the last day to online (thanks to the big skills of Chris Corrigan and
- [What Did You Learn And Appreciate From Circle?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-did-you-learn-and-appreciate-from-circle/) - I loved these reflections from a group in Circle this week at UTA. I'd asked them to reflect in groups of six, knee to knee (no tables), lightly hosted. Total time was 30-35 minutes. They had a check-in round: What is one inspiration or learning you received today? Then a bigger round: How are you
- [A Feeling To Remember -- Maya Angelou](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-feeling-to-remember-maya-angelou/) - I'm working this week in Arlington, Texas. Co-leading an Art of Participatory Leadership offering with my friends Caitlin Frost and Chris Corrigan. It's three days. There is a group of 40 for this one. One of our first steps on the first day with the group is creating a center. We invite people to bring
- [Sonder -- A Form Of Learning and Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sonder-a-form-of-learning-and-practice/) - Thx Shawna Lemay. I read her blog periodically. I love her photos (her's above). I love her way of connecting worlds. For the beauty of it. Earlier she published "25 Words for 2025." Long post. Fun to peruse. Many words I would have expected. Collaborate. Integrity. Emergence. But also some surprises. "Sonder" is the one
- [Life As Collage](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-as-collage/) - Happy New Year. It feels like a funny phrase, "Happy New Year." It's a wish, I suppose, for good things. It's a peek outside of the doubts and droughts, I suppose, that are so real yet feel nice to leave behind for a moment, or for a cup of coffee. It's a courtesy, I suppose.
- [James Baldwin -- On Love](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/james-baldwin-on-love/) - Yes please. "The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love -- whether we call it friendship or family or romance -- is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our
- [Shade of Life; Shades of Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shade-of-life-shades-of-learning/) - Check it out. Kathy Jourdain, Jerry Nagel, Janet Trump and I explore some wonder and wander on the meaning of it all. In groups. In society. In ourselves. The basic format is to share what feels interesting to us. Work stuff. Life stuff. Figured out stuff. Puzzing stuff. Joyful stuff. Frustrating stuff. No scripts. Just
- [Set Good Context; Ask Good Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/set-good-context-ask-good-questions/) - There is power in simplicity. And beauty. Like these birds. Gathering, then flying, then repeating. There is power in simplicity of group facilitation. And beauty. Gathering. Flying. Repeating. I keep learning this. Last night I co-hosted a group of faith community leaders. It was Zoom, Zoom -- online for 2 hours, a group of eleven.
- [Influencer -- Thx John Roedel](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/influencer-thx-john-roedel/) - And thx Katharine Weinmann, who posted and reflected on this John Roedel piece a few days ago. I've found myself using lines from this a couple of times ever since. Like, "I don’t want toblaze a path for you ~ I want to get lost with you ~" It suggests something about the "co" part
- [Gifts of Circle -- Almost Done](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gifts-of-circle-almost-done/) - Getting close. Exciting. Today I meet with Bi, a soul brother. He's helping create the cover and formatting. And he's confidante in making choices for the book. Near done. Exciting to feel that flow. I've also created a set of Question Cards that will likely add accessibility and simplicity of applied practice. The forward is
- [Why I Stay -- Thx Nicole Frederickson](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/why-i-stay-thx-nicole-frederickson/) - Nicole is one of my favorite writers. And favorite farmers. This recent post -- it touches so much of what I love about her being and seeing in the world. Her appreciation of the world's big things, small things, hard things, beautiful things. I've been thinking much lately about how I live (and don't) an
- [The Potent Learning of Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-potent-learning-of-now/) - The photo is of recent trip to Wyoming. That's the Snake River. I was drawn to the beauty of water flowing next to snowy forest. The words below reflect learning to me. Of specific circumstance present in my life. Yet also of generic circumstance so common to many. I seek to follow the potent learning
- [Insights on OD and Facilitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/insights-on-od-and-facilitation/) - I participated on an OD practitioners call earlier today hosted by Dave Feraron. I arrived curious. I left fulfilled. I left reminded of the importance of engaging together so that learning and community can happen. A thanks to Bob Stilger, my longtime friend and colleague back to our Berkana days. Bob has been asking for
- [Paying Attention -- A Double-Click](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/paying-attention-a-double-click/) - Yesterday's post was on Why I Blog. I named three reasons that are pretty centering guides for me. In blogging. Also in the broadest strokes of attempting conscious life. Today is a double-click to go a bit further with the first reason -- paying attention. Much of my life, personally and professionally, has been a
- [Why I Blog -- Three Reasons](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/why-i-blog-three-reasons/) - Prefer Audio? Listen to this post here. I've been thinking a lot lately about why I blog. It's been ten years now of 175-200 posts per year. That's Monday through Thursday most weeks. And prior to that, it was ten years of more sporadic posting. Streaks here and there. I've been thinking about why I
- [A Note -- From Poet, Wislawa Szymborska](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-note-from-poet-wislawa-szymborska/) - Wislawa Szymborska was a Polish poet and Nobel Laureate. I went looking for a poem this morning -- wishing brevity of expression to match up, or nurture, what is in me and those I love that are both near and far. I found one, within a collection that I have, Leading From Within. An ear-marked
- [Little Things That Are Big Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/little-things-that-are-big-things/) - I've been learning a lot about myself over the last couple of weeks. As one should. Or, does. Or, get's to. My learnings these days so often point to some of the deeper story of going well together in groups. The deeper story of what brings us alive together. There were two things that I
- [Yes, Please, Thank You -- To Big Magic](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yes-please-thank-you-to-big-magic/) - My friend Charles gave me this Elizabeth Gilbert book in 2016. He and I have both been drawn to the invitation to create. To source. Gilbert says, p 161 -- "Let yourself fall in love with your creativity." Yup, I quite like that. Gonna take a break from blog writing. This week. Maybe next week
- [Voice of the Moon -- An Anthology](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/voice-of-the-moon-an-anthology/) - Katie Norris compiled and edited an anthology of poems, Voice of the Moon. I was glad to have one of mine selected, and to read poems from others also selected. I wrote this poem after a walk where I live in Utah. The moon was big, having just crested over the Wasatch Mountains. I was
- [Work on Simple Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/work-on-simple-things/) - I rely on simple narratives, simple things to guide my way in ever-present complexities. I can't seem to not rely on simple stories with a few reminder values. My friend Cory reminds me of one of those simple narratives in our recent podcast conversation. He says, appreciatively, that our conversations are three things: 1) dynamic,
- [Come, Come In To Relationship](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/come-come-in-to-relationship/) - My friend Bob Stilger reminds me that "our capacity to come into relationship is essential." Yes. What I love about Bob is that over the 25 years he and I have known each other, he has pointed so often to what is underneath. He has a way of being able to point to both the
- [Practice Peace, What's Now -- H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practice-peace-whats-now-h2h-podcast/) - My friend Cory and I got back to a podcast conversation. Cory is one of the most insightful people I know. He's crafting a path of deep understanding. And guiding others too. Great to revisit a few themes with him. Some on healing. Some on wonder. Some on what connects work with groups to these
- [Flow Game Question -- From The North](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-game-question-from-the-north/) - I use Flow Game often. With groups. And with individuals. With / for myself. I like the thoughtful prompt, randomized by the roll of a die, in service to an important question. Today, this one, from the North deck of cards. I have it up on my wall with a few post-it notes nearby. An
- [Toward Pheasant Brook -- A Poem To Settle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/toward-pheasant-brook-a-poem-to-settle/) - I wrote this poem four years ago, during the early shutdown of Covid. It was context then for an environment of nerves and feeling startled. I read it again today, by chance, looking for something else on my website. And thought, ah, yes, some good remembering that applies today too. Enjoy. Toward Pheasant Brook I
- [A Poem of Appreciation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-poem-of-appreciation/) - by Tenneson Woolf In the end, I suppose,it is just good to be with good people, to be blessedwith their presence,their gifts,their kindness,their interests, and to experiencefor a moment,a kind of togetherness,be that for a mere few breaths,or a longer encounter of days, so that maybe,any of us,might also be that blessingwith others. There is lifein the connecting,just as
- [I Write Poems To Understand](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-write-poems-to-understand/) - To tease out some knowing, sometimes the very subtle. To find simple words, sometimes about complex things and beyond what is often much noise. To embrace clarity that lives only at the core. Some of that this morning. With a little nod to Meg, who guides in warrior ways. Whether it be a next phase, or
- [Pace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/pace/) - It was Christina Baldwin that taught me something very helpful about pace. In her book, Seven Whispers, she writes about the important difference between "pace" and "speed". "Speed," she says, "is some guy running through the airport shouting into a cell phone." I imagine that guy dodging people to get to his gate before departure.
- [Wild Geese -- Mary Oliver](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wild-geese-mary-oliver/) - An old familiar poem that my friend Allister Hain recently reminded me of. Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it
- [News to Use -- Current Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/news-to-use-current-newsletter/) - A few links, reminders, and invitations. This is my quarterly newsletter, now in its 6th year. Enjoy peeking. The context is this... Connect, Learn, ExperimentMuch of my work over the last six months has been with client systems. With medical professionals championing a movement of health. With a corporate cohort program trying to learn next
- [Be Where Your Feet Are -- Katie Norris](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/be-where-your-feet-are-katie-norris/) - Thx Katie Norris. I used her poem this past weekend. To encourage presence and appreciation. Be Where Your Feet Areby Katie NorrisMaybe there is only small happinessWatching the coffee grounds bloomPetting the dogs after workSay “I Love You” each dayBig joys are here and goneBut the small ones are everywhereAnd they too are enough Check
- [What's Your Detail? An Invitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/whats-your-detail-an-invitation/) - It's a moment of waiting for this BC Ferry. At Courtenay, on the way to Powell River. Hard not to get excited about such a moon rise over mountain and ocean. I'm so grateful for a group of men gathered at Soultime. We tell stories. We sing songs. We cook food. We do deep work
- [Soultime Men's Group -- Headed There Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/soultime-mens-group-headed-there-now/) - This time on Texada Island, home to Bob and the yurt he built. Will be looking for whales from the ferry ride. And the whales and other creatures that show up in this gathering that has so moved many a heart. I write about Soultime this way in my upcoming book, The Gifts of Circle
- [Shades of Life -- Learning and Exploring](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-learning-and-exploring/) - Another Shades of Life Conversation recorded here. Exploring the importance of story. And how story can create belonging. Thx Jerry, Kathy, and guest Janet. Enjoy.
- [Yes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yes/) - It's a weekend of return. From work and friendship and family in Edmonton, the city in which I lived the first 20 years of my life, to Utah, the sweetheart and home that now opens my heart oh so fully. Yes. There's a William Stafford poem that my friend Jeremy reminds me of. It's called
- [Solid Advice From Kindergarten Kids](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/solid-advice-from-kindergarten-kids/) - Next door to the Edmonton Valley Zoo "Grasslands" room that we are meeting in this week with MacEwan education leaders is a kindergarten class. It's been fun to feel kid energy -- putting boots on in the hall, playing tag at recess, seeing their thanksgiving drawings on the wall. I appreciate their advice for "how
- [Ask, Offer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ask-offer/) - "Ask for what you need; offer what you can." It's one of the oldest principles I know, first learned from Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea in the late 1990s. It was offered then in the context of creating healthy and affirming circles. Well, jeepers. I keep learning new layers of this, including this week working
- [Facilitator Prep Poetry](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/facilitator-prep-poetry/) - It's Day One, with this University Leadership Cohort about to arrive. My colleagues Chris, Caitlin and I get to guide three days of program. Circle. Cafe. Open Space. Pro-Action Cafe. Chaos & Order, Four-Fold Path, The Work. And a bunch of things that live in between. On a morning like this, sun not yet risen,
- [Remembering Roots; Growing Shoots](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remembering-roots-growing-shoots/) - I love an Edmonton sunrise. I love a return to roots. In this case, a geography in which I grew up. My first 21 years of life, all of that formation, is inextricably linked to Edmonton. I'm here this week to say hello to some sunrise people in my life. Mom. Dave. Auntie Di. Uncle
- [Robert Frost, The Road Less Travelled By](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/robert-frost-the-road-less-travelled-by/) - 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
- [Live Wonder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/live-wonder-2/) - "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
- [What of Post-Doom Spirituality](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-of-post-doom-spirituality/) - Intriguing conversation coming up October 16th. It's my friend Meg that shared it with me. 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.
- [Learn In Your Field; Learn Out Of It Too](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learn-in-your-field-learn-out-of-it-too/) - 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
- [A Sunrise That Lifts Perspective](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-sunrise-that-lifts-perspective/) - Two views. Same sunrise. The one of the left is from my friend Meg. It looks into Provo Canyon. The one on the right is Dana's pic. It was on the way to the airport, looking toward the Wasatch Mountains. Ya, sunrises have a way of lifting perspective. They have a way of offering some
- [Circle Writing, Circle Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-writing-circle-learning/) - I'm in some Circle writing this morning. And some Circle learning. Remembering a few things that my teachers have taught me. And a few that I've learned and taught myself. Remembering how it felt to share them with last week's leadership development cohort. To move the group’s accountability for well-being from one person leading in
- [In Celebration of Delicious Friendship](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-celebration-of-delicious-friendship/) - Today it was my friend Wendy. We go back ten ish years. It's a bit hard for me to remember not being in such delicious friendship with her. Today it was a zoom call. A spacious one. To dwell. To share stories. To find the core of what we so often alchemize together. the dance
- [Loving The Vastness Of What is Near](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/loving-the-vastness-of-what-is-near/) - Dana and I hiked this weekend. Butterfield Canyon, a place that is near us. We don't live in this canyon. Yet we live near it, ten minutes from trail beginnings. I love the surprise -- vibrancy of fall colors -- that shows up in getting close. I love the vastness -- vista that invites spaciousness.
- [We Need Questions To Dream, And To Do](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-need-questions-to-dream-and-to-do/) - Came up with a little combo yesterday. Used a cafe format to invite the social and conversational format for dreaming. Tow rounds it it. . It was in the context of "when we need to dream what we don't know how to dream." And then for the 3rd and 4th round shifted to pro-action cafe
- [Connection First; Then Go Deeper](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/connection-first-then-go-deeper/) - I'm glad to be hosting a leadership cohort this week. With my pal, Glen. There's an operating mode that so often I rely upon. Connection First -- Make it easy. Partner conversations. Yesterday we used, "Why does it matter to you personally that you are here for this group this week? Is there something you
- [And On It Goes -- A Life Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-on-it-goes-a-life-story/) - I’m learning. Just right. An important life story. It’s an operating system. Personalized indeed. But not just for me.It’s this.I have to move with yes energy.Yes to self.Yes to circumstance.Yes to life flowing.Yes to learning of hard things.Yes to acting, taking steps in the inherent mess, but also in the inherent beauty.This is different than all
- [Sweetness of Companioning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sweetness-of-companioning/) - It's true that companioning has been top of my list of profound experience over the last year and a half. So much learned, of love, in new form. So much celebrated, of together, in both simple and profound ways. This moving of the heart -- what delightful surrender. This weekend, cheese fondue. And kayak paddle.
- [Hearing Stories, Hearing Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hearing-stories-hearing-life/) - My 19 year-old son recently gave me this book, "Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story." It's a guided journal. With questions about memories. Family. Important events. Struggles. I've enjoying responding to these questions. Remembering a few things. Realizing there is much that I don't remember also. I notice I keep the book close --
- [Hosting Connection and Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hosting-connection-and-learning/) - What a treat to host a group last Friday and Saturday. What a treat to influence their journey and to create nuanced layers of community together. It was the Annuitant Visitors Program for the United Church of Christ. Mostly retired pastors and their partners. It's an impressive outreach that has at it's core, love and
- [Signs That Point to Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/signs-that-point-to-here/) - Saturday morning I walked in downtown Salt Lake City. From one hotel where I was staying. To another, where I was working, hosting a particular conference segment for a group. I had a little extra time. So, my pace was more of a stroll. The above sidewalk art exhibit is what I encountered. "You are
- [Pema Chodron Offers Heart Advice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/pema-chodron-offers-heart-advice/) - Yup. Thx Pema Chodron. "What I have realized through practicing is that practice isn’t about being the best horse or the good horse or the poor horse or the worst horse. It’s about finding our own true nature and speaking from that, acting from that. Whatever our quality is, that’s our wealth and our beauty;
- [Joy, Peace, Singing, Celebration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-peace-singing-celebration/) - For an upcoming event in which I'm hosting pastors, the beginning of three days is a worship service created by some of the program leaders. I don't quote scripture often in this blog. But I am today, the scripture that is theming that opening service. It's Isaiah 55:12 from the New King James Version of
- [We Belong to Each Other -- Nic Askew](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-belong-to-each-other-nic-askew/) - It's a four-minute film from Nic Askew that started my Tuesday morning (which feels a lot like a Monday morning given the Labor Day weekend). I was perusing my email inbox. And making list of today's todo's. "Start from stillness. In stillness, one becomes aware.""Point gently to what is simple.""We belong to each other." There
- [Shades of Life Is Evolving — Jump In](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-is-evolving-jump-in/) - Join Us — Bring Your Wonder PleaseShades of Life next gathers September 10th, 8:00 - 9:15 am Mountain Time (7:00 PT, 10:00 ET, 4:00 CET). Our focus will be Shifting Narratives, Changing Lives. It’s a bit of recognition of dominant narratives and what to do with those when they start limiting choices. Registration is required.
- [Containers Matter In Group Facilitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/containers-matter-in-group-facilitation/) - A deep bow to a colleague / friend Rijon Erickson. He's the one on the left above. A good chunk of Rijon's work is combining music with group facilitation and group intelligence. Rijon invited me to a recent live-stream conversation on The Music of Mischief. And then he took chunks of our free-flowing conversation and
- [Joy of Flow Game Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-of-flow-game-questions/) - How good it is to follow curiosity. Personally. And in community. How good it is to stay simple. How good it is to have a few guides in the form of potent questions. Lisa Hess and I co-hosted a Flow Game last week. Above are questions drawn randomly from The Flow Game's six decks --
- [Nadia Von Holzen on the Human to Human Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/nadia-von-holzen-on-the-human-to-human-podcast/) - What a delight! An unhurried conversation about "unhurried as a practice of peace." Enjoy it here. And a little on: aging exploring with hints and clues as way of being claiming life flowing and being claimed tiny shifts saying yes and on saying no It's human to human.
- [Circle Offers Unhurried and Uninterrupted](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-offers-unhurried-and-uninterrupted/) - Well there's a purpose statement I relate to. On what Circle offers. With plain-speak simplicity. I particularly enjoyed a conversation yesterday with a Circle colleague and friend. We shared a few stories. In addition to these clarities of unhurried and uninterrupted, she added purpose -- "...when a lot is at stake." Why Circle? For that.
- [Base-Lined To Joy, Sun-Kissed In All Of It](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/base-lined-to-joy-sun-kissed-in-all-of-it/) - Sweet peppers grow in a pot on our front walk. They are still blooming. We still harvest. The peppers themselves for salads. The insights for reminder of simple things on a Wednesday. I wishto beat peacein the every dayof the every dayand in the the great flowingof it all.In the stillness.In the movement.In the clarity.In
- [Learning To Be Fierce](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-to-be-fierce/) - You know how some learnings just keep coming back over and over again. The deep life lessons that don't let you go. The persistent intuitions that won't stop tugging at your shirt sleeve. I'm having that kind of learning over the last few weeks (really months, and years). It's about being fierce. Now, given the
- [To Be Still, Yet Moving](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-be-still-yet-moving/) - The Japanese Teacher, Do Hyun Choe writes: Stillness is what creates love,Movement is what creates life,To be still,Yet still moving --That is everything! Nice. I got it from a Richard Rohr book, From Wild Man to Wise Man. Rohr encourages awareness in spirituality, particularly for men in this book. Again, nice. The photo is from
- [Inviting Integration as Presence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/inviting-integration-as-presence/) - This week I've been working with a colleague, prepping for a 3-day gathering that we will co-host in September. The first movements, the first connections of that group, will likely have large impact. There will be 100 people in the room. As a facilitator I've learned that one of the first jobs is to create
- [Why Pretend It Is Not There?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/why-pretend-it-is-not-there/) - For a study group I'm in, one participant recently shared this poem below, The Call, by The Terma Collective. The Callwhat in your lifeis calling you?when all the noiseis silenced,the meetingsadjourned,the lists laid aside,and the wild irisblooms by itselfin the dark forest,what still pullson your soul?in the silencebetween yourheartbeatshides a summons.do you hear it?name it,if
- [An Inspiration from Poet, Marge Piercy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-inspiration-from-poet-marge-piercy/) - I first ran across this Marge Piercy poem in my early days with Berkana. That was the 1990s. I can hear Meg's voice reading it. I think it was at a seminar. Meg has brought the insight of poetry so often. I love the invitation in this poem below. To claim the hunger that we
- [Join Us For A Circle Intensive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/join-us-for-a-circle-intensive/) - Circle is the best of what I know for bringing humans together in the heart and skills of people going well together. I love teaching Circle -- particularly the bigger possibility that groups so wish for in rather complex and challenging dreams. But I also love teaching Circle for the granularity of essential practice that
- [Life's Abundant Joy and Wisdom](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/lifes-abundant-joy-and-wisdom/) - The last two mornings I've enjoyed front porch clarity. It's sitting at our small bistro table. With coffee. With journal. With laptop. It's friendly waves with a few passers-by on their 7:00 walks and jogs. It's easy low 70s temperature, before the afternoon 90s come calling. It's appreciating simple things. Like this blooming sunflower. And
- [The Simple Mornings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-simple-mornings/) - This morning I sit, just for a little, on my front porch.This morning, a simple morning, I crave settling.This morning I sit, mesmerized just a little, by peppers in sunlight.This morning, a simple morning, stillness it is.
- [Something is Happening in the Power and Practice of Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/something-is-happening-in-the-power-and-practice-of-story/) - In her book, Storycatcher, Christina Baldwin writes: "Something is happening in the power and practice of story: In the midst of overwhelming noise and distraction, the voice of story is calling us to rememberer true selves." Christina's book is one of my favorites. I read it sometimes for just a few minutes so that I
- [Light Lifts Imagination](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/light-lifts-imagination/) - I love the way the light reflects in this photo. From a recent flight returning from Calgary, Alberta to Salt Lake City, Utah. I love the light on the scattered clouds. I love the illumination on the distant blue sky. I love the reflection off of this wing tip. I love it because light lifts
- [Forest Creatures -- More Unseen Than Seen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/forest-creatures-more-unseen-than-seen/) - This photo is one of my favorites last week from Malcolm Island. Dana and I walked in the quiet of the forest. Amongst tall Cedars. And Douglas Firs. And amongst abundant green. The shapes from among the trees have a way of coming to life with just a little attention. It's my love of the
- [Think, Feel, and Dream Differently](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/think-feel-and-dream-differently/) - My friend Glen has become a trusted and often depended-upon colleague. For he and I it was first a casual meeting (2009) that quite quickly became a regular colleagueship, that has been supported by a deep and lasting friendship. Glen and I have regular calls these days. To learn. To listen. To dream. To discover.
- [What Adventure Teaches](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-adventure-teaches/) - When I return from adventure, and when I'm integrating experience, I often start with images. They offer path to words to speak and some not to speak. I love these images from the last five days on Sointula, celebrating friends in wedding ceremony. The forest teaches. It reminds me of connection. It reminds me to
- [Clarity of Can and Can't](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/clarity-of-can-and-cant/) - There is something about being clear,with self and with others,what a human (sometimes a cat) can and can’t do.Of this, I love being a student.There is something about offerings that come from love of circumstance and people -- from that claritythat makes for a really good day.
- [Blessing for a Leader -- John O'Donohue](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blessing-for-a-leader-john-odonohue/) - This one has been with me these last few days. Thx John O'Donohue, Irish poet that died in 2008. Beloved. May you have the grace and wisdomTo act kindly, learningTo distinguish between what isPersonal and what is not.May you be hospitable to criticism.May you never put yourself at the center of things.May you act not
- [Joy Is An Outcome](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-is-an-outcome/) - One, I just like this picture. Dana and I walked last night. Close to sunset. In the warm, dry evening of an Utah summer. There are a few ponds where we walk. I loved seeing this mamma duck with three ducklings in setting sun. Joy. Earlier in the day, I'd been reflecting on joy. On
- [A Pile of Connection; A Pile of Courage](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-pile-of-connection-a-pile-of-courage/) - Glad to have been with the 50 participants last Friday and Saturday. One of the participants named some core purpose during our World Cafe -- "I love being a healer." It came out of a conversation about what patients really want, and what's possible? Sometimes the shape is Circle. In a hotel ballroom. It's hearth.
- [Moved -- A Poem of Claiming Transitions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/moved-a-poem-of-claiming-transitions/) - In recent offering of my poetry, I shared that "most of my poetry is a response to a question that I'm wanting to understand or sometimes answer." This poem below is included in Most Mornings. "Moved" was a response to my questions about transitions. The kids getting older. Noting how things got different. And then
- [Another Shade in Shades of Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/another-shade-in-shades-of-life/) - The video is here, 39 minutes. Thx Kathy for posting. Kathy, Jerry and I explore a few insights about The Art of Hosting, fields, the "never not doing" of AoH, and the persistent importance of creating conversations and connections that bring wisdom, and belonging at scale.
- [The Hungers that Circle Satisfies](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-hungers-that-circle-satisfies/) - Rangineh and I recently talked through a few Circle stories. Some of the places and spaces that we've been hosting Circle. Rangineh talks local government and highly relational initiatives that often aren't so relational in leadership. I talk corporate and the inherent hunger that people have for wisdom and intelligence together. Together we connect the
- [The Prep Is In The Details; The Prep Is In the Guiding Spirit](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-prep-is-in-the-details-the-prep-is-in-the-guiding-spirit/) - This is a week of touching a few last minute preparations. I'll be hosting two days with a group of medical providers seeking to transform their business models. It's away from insurance-based tightly defined protocol. It's toward what I think of as added liberation and artistry in care. It's good to be amongst the yearning
- [Such Richness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/such-richness/) - Such richness.The way setting sunoffers last goodnightto rippling creek.The way mamma duckguides five little ones.Such richness.To know simple delightsin this rich life.
- [People That Bridge Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/people-that-bridge-us/) - I love this image near where I live. It is the distant rusted bridge over a creek. As seen from the up close concrete bridge under a road. That captures me. Got me thinking. And writing. asd People That Bridge Us There are people that bridge us,that transport us, from that to this.Ones that wake near,eyes
- [From the Elders of the Hopi Nation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-the-elders-of-the-hopi-nation/) - It's a simple piece. Often quoted. To guide meaning-making and presence-practicing. I'm reading it today from within my friend Meg's book, Perseverance. "Know that the river has its destination.The elders say we must let go of the shore.Push off into the middle of the river,and keep our heads above water." Indeed. It speaks that reminder
- [My Heart Is Full Of Love](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/my-heart-is-full-of-love/) - I participated in an Art of Hosting community of practice call today. Via Zoom. The opening check-in was in groups of three for 15 minutes total. A man spoke of his recent Art of Hosting. "We danced. We laughed. We ate. We told stories. My heart is full of love." I smiled. It is the
- [I Love a Big Sky](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-love-a-big-sky/) - I love a big sky. I also love high-rising mountains. Up close and in the distance. I love a watershed. Big skies and mountains and watersheds, like this above taken recently near my home -- well these inspire. They calibrate. They offer perspective. The perspective that I've been seeking lately (and that has been seeking
- [Learn, Be, Do, Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learn-be-do-become/) - I just like this phrase -- "learn, be, do, become." It's a path for many of us. It's deeper waters. It's deeper waters that sometimes starts with one foot ankle deep, and then another. I appreciate Circle because I find it brings joy. And centering. For the procedural of contemporary life. For the profound of
- [What of Calibration and Disregulation?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-of-calibration-and-disregulation/) - Lately, I find myself interested in the phrase "calibrate." As a verb. Some friends have been using it lately. "Calibrate to stillness." "Calibrate to silence." It points to an inner clarity. An alignment. Perhaps emotional. Perhaps more accurately, an energetic. A resonance. I am interested in the practice that is calibrating. As a way of
- [Circle for the Granular; Circle for the Overarching Spirit](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-for-the-granular-circle-for-the-overarching-spirit/) - It's October 23-26, 2024. In Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm co-hosting with Rangineh Azimzadeh Tehrani. Save your spot. Details are here. Here's some of who it is for. People everywhere seeking practices and formats for deep connection, learning, and experiments together. Seekers. Meaning makers. Hosts and facilitators. Circle peeps from many traditions. Returning Circle Way folk
- [Save Your Spot for this Circle Intensive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/save-your-spot-for-this-circle-intensive/) - It's October 23-26, 2024. At the Wasatch Center in Salt Lake City. I'm co-hosting and co-creating with Rangineh Azimzadeh Tehrani. Details are here. Save your spot now. Because Circle centers it all. It is the most simple of containers, yet so often the most lasting of learning. For self and for teams. For leadership and
- [Rowan Simonsen on the H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rowan-simonsen-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - I so enjoy Rowan. For his learning. For his clarity. For his sweet heart. Enjoy this listen. We follow a few threads of life that point to practicing peace.
- [June Newsletter -- Please Peruse](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/june-newsletter-please-peruse/) - My June Newsletter is posted here. Some resources, perspectives, and invitations to explore. For sparky ideas. For connection. For learning. For joy. Thx for shares as inspired.
- [Shades of Life; Shades of Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-shades-of-learning/) - Kathy Jourdain, Jerry Nagel, and I recorded our 9th Shades of Life Conversation. Listen here. These conversations are a delight. They are playful. Yet also purposed. Shades of Life: Shades of Learning. When I think "shades" I think hue (a particular family of colors), comfort (a shade tent), and expression (unique flavor). Our conversations have
- [Mary Oliver Instructions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mary-oliver-instructions/) - Pay attention.Be astonished.Tell about it. That's Mary Oliver's words -- "Instructions for Living a Life." Mary Oliver, the Ohio-born poet whose words are so often guide for me. She died in 2019. Here words, of course live on. And live on guiding many. I love the simplicity. It's instructions for living a life. It's also
- [Finding Mystery](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/finding-mystery/) - Thanks Jim Quigley. He's a poet in British Columbia. Thanks Roq Gareau for gifting me a copy of Jim's poems. Finding MysteryYou can spend a whole lifeChasing the dramatic,Chasing enlightenmentAnd meanwhile right in front of youMystery is constantly showing itselfStay hereAll the magic is occurringright here,right nowAnd it's occurring all the time. Right here. Right
- [Remembering and Celebrating Flow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remembering-and-celebrating-flow/) - Dana and I walked last weekend along a trail and creek near where we live. We love the simplicity of the creek. And the togetherness. We left a few little stacked and balanced stones in the evening sun. I found a few words. And stacked them. Prosed them. It's a little attention to the simple
- [Life Is](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-is/) - Life is what is in front of me.Here.Now.It is what I see and feelwatching waters flow by this stone.Life is what I give myself to.With love.With learning.It is following each hunchto connection.Life is letting go the worry.The busyness.The hurt.It is celebrating allthat challenged and freed.Life is here, now.Guiding.Fulfilling.
- [Sign On For This Circle Intensive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sign-on-for-this-circle-intensive/) - It's June. For many, the summer get's full. We lose track of the post-summer things that need some organizing now. Sign on now for this Circle Intensive. "Breath and Belonging: A Circle Way Intensive lifts skill, practice, and imagination in the methodology that is Circle, and, in what lives beneath methodology — breath, belonging, return to
- [Just This -- Richard Rohr](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/just-this-richard-rohr/) - Richard Rohr writes of wonder and awe. "To let the moment teach us, we must allow ourselves to be at least slightly stunned by it until it draws us inward and upward, toward a subtle experience of wonder. We normally need a single moment of gratuitous awe to get us started." Here is to that
- [Group Process Facilitation and Translation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-process-facilitation-and-translation/) - For many of us whose group process facilitation approach is participative, there is a certain amount of translation that each of us does. It is the "what" and "why" of design and agendas. For me it starts with basic statements of purpose. E.g., "People come for learning. So as to be good at what they
- [Exploring](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/exploring/) - I so love exploring. The feeling of new path. New green of spring. Beckoning vistas. And visiting Raven. Dana and I hiked yesterday. Our first time up nearby Butterfield Canyon. Whether nearby canyons or the many learning fields with people in groups, yes, the exploration is such a potent invite.
- [On Open Space -- Thx Peggy Holman](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-open-space-thx-peggy-holman/) - My friend and colleague Peggy Holman recently offered reflections Open Space Technology. It was some of her learning. It was some of her tribute to OST Founder, Harrison Owen, who died in March 2024. Enjoy the read. And Peggy's learning. OST has been goto for me over the last twenty years. Because of the way
- [In Celebration of Wild Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-celebration-of-wild-things/) - Wilding is a theme I've long appreciated. Lately, like these Wild Snapdragons, now in Spring bloom. There's oodles of them where I ride my bike these days. And where Dana and I walk. Wilding. As in what grows naturally, and often with rather impressive pattern.. As in what lives beyond domestication, beyond too-tight plans. As
- [Remember The Little Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remember-the-little-things/) - Yesterday I spoke with one of the participants from the last NGLI (Next Generation Leadership Initiative). Joyful catching up. My friend was sharing what she loved from that week of time together. She was sharing what she uses. Again, joyful. Flipchart sticky notes (invites mobility) Candle (invites presence) Altar (invites the sacred) Check-In that brings
- [What of Order, Disorder, Reorder?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-of-order-disorder-reorder/) - I was recently gifted a few Richard Rohr books (thank you Meg). This one above, The Wisdom Pattern, is one that I read on the weekend. Delightful! Has me thinking about a few upcoming groups I'm working with. Richard Rohr suggests many things in this book that I found moving. Most fundamentally, he invites coming
- [Celebrating Bloom](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/celebrating-bloom/) - Peonies were important in my growing up years. That was the 60s and 70s. In Edmonton, Alberta. They were important flowers to my Mom, Myrna. And to my Grandma, Fern. In rather scarce times, flowers like this were our abundance. It's what we had. It's what we celebrated. This particular peony above is a gift
- [New Stories, New Possibilities](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-stories-new-possibilities/) - I loved so much about the call that I participated in yesterday. With NewStories. With Bob Stilger. With Z. And Ally. And the 25 others that gathered. We were celebrating Bob, who just turned 75. We were witnessing NewStories in a next chapter. We were listening to an invitation to do deep and meaningful community
- [A Little Tuesday Potpourri of Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-little-tuesday-potpourri-of-learning/) - I'm oriented to learning. In my core. I have been since the early days. My Grandmothers kind of baked it into me. And a few other important guides I've loved and that have loved me. Whether it is learning about potted herbs, tomatoes, and peppers -- like these above that Dana and I planted on
- [From The Podcast -- The Art and The Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-the-podcast-the-art-and-the-heart/) - Such a sweet conversation with Toke Moeller recently. Loads of learning. And remembering. And story. And laughter. And pauses. And encouragements It's 58 minutes. The Art and The Heart -- Practicing Peace. I'll listen several times. Perhaps you too. Share as inspired. Or just listen and dwell. Many themes that invite practicing peace, starting with
- [Circle Is What I Turn To](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-is-what-i-turn-to/) - I'll stay with Circle. It's been mostly a writing week. Yummy. Focussed. But also spacious. Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories that I know — the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes in which we go well
- [What I Learn For A Mountain Monk](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-i-learn-for-a-mountain-monk/) - I quite love this new configuration on my office window sill. The stone is from a 2018 road trip to Yukon. I was meeting my buddy Roq. We hiked a bit. Told stories. Laughed. Created a bit of ceremony. From a remote hillside I brought this stone. Makes me think of mountain. And then Roq
- [Circle Turns Us To One Another And To Ourselves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-turns-us-to-one-another-and-to-ourselves/) - Very circle-focussed this week. Quite loving that. Circle, and the people that I've been taught by, and the people that I've worked with, have formed much of the gifts I'm able to offer. There's A Circle Way Intensive. Come to learn. To contribute. And for all the other reasons that matter so much now. There's
- [Announcing and Inviting -- Join Us For A Circle Way Intensive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/announcing-and-inviting-join-us-for-a-circle-way-intensive/) - Yes, very glad to be offering this Circle Way Intensive. With Rangineh Azimzadeh Tehrani, who I've come to know and appreciate for her Circle skills and commitments, heart and brain. Yes, very glad to be returning to a home teaching space, The Wasatch Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It's my home geography. Anticipating some
- [Long Exposure](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/long-exposure/) - On a road trip this week, drawn as I am to horizon views, I experimented with "Long Exposure" on my photo setting. I quite love the blurring of colors of open fields. I quite love the softening of color. Hmmm.... How to pay attention to what has your attention and why that matters -- ya,
- [How to Pay Attention to What Has Your Attention and Why That Matters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/how-to-pay-attention-to-what-has-your-attention-and-why-that-matters/) - New on Human to Human The Podcast. Listen here. It's 28 minutes. Thanks for listens, and for shares as inspired. In the end, I'm a person that so seeks to understand a few paths toward more consciousness. So as to contribute. So as to feel an alive heart, mind, belly. In the end, I seek
- [Creating Conscious Aging?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/creating-conscious-aging/) - Hmmm. Not quite sure where this one is going. But it matters to me. Keeps calling to me. I quite like this photo from last week. Of Cedars. Felt like a council. Standing in circle. I suppose I wish to age with the wisdom of Cedars. I was on a recent Zoom call with a
- [And Another Thing About "Now"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-another-thing-about-now/) - I love this photo. Taken last week on a bus ride into the Swiss Alps. It's the man standing in the boat that most catches my attention. Something about the color. On still water. Against a backdrop of rather impressive and steep mountain. I imagine him pensive. Reflective. Maybe, just maybe, reflecting on some version
- [Today Is A Return Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/today-is-a-return-day/) - Today is a return day. From travel. It's been 13 days of cathedrals, vineyards, castles, and rivers. It's been dear ones. Thank you France, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland. Today is a return day. To this laptop. To emails needing attention. To projects and people ready to go. To sorting details left in short pause. I
- [Learn Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learn-now/) - Learn Now. It's a theme that keeps coming for me. When I'm trying to get at what lives underneath. Sometimes in my own learning. Sometimes with others. Sometimes in Life's unfolding simplicity and complexity. Learn Now. From the path. From the blossoms so abundant in Spring. From the people blossoming near and far. From the
- [A Little Potpourri](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-little-potpourri-2/) - The spirit of this Human to Human Blog is so often one of flow for me. I write most regularly what is in front of me, often unplanned. It all connects to a field of learning for me. Sometimes emphasized with ideas and learnings. Sometimes with questions. Sometimes with poetry. Sometimes with exercises. Sometimes with
- [Read These Gwendolyn Ren Words](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/read-these-gwendolyn-ren-words/) - "I want to tell you about the space between deep snow and daffodils and how I am changed. There are moments of changing we’ve tracked through seasons and snippets, change that happens in temperate weather and change that happens by wind and water but what about the change that settles, seeps, pervades." I find I
- [Start Again -- A Poem of Beginnings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/start-again-a-poem-of-beginnings/) - Start AgainI said goodbye to my parting parents.On they went after five days reconnected.It’s old and familiar belonging.It’s slowed time that heals.And then the speed of postponed things returns.Good things, yet this transition unsteadies.But then I start again.That phone call was jarring.This time my dear son in deep struggle.It’s old and familiar pain. I hope it
- [I So Love a Vista](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-so-love-a-vista/) - Those are parts of the Wasatch Mountains. In Utah County, near where I live. I love the heavy snow contrasted with blue skies of Spring. The peaks near 12,000 feet. The valley itself is 4,500 feet. We are high desert valley. Vista's compel vision. It's connected to some other deep learning that has come to
- [Flowers & Folks](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flowers-folks/) - Glad to sit with a few basics this morning. The simplicity of Garden Mums. The joy of recently picked Daffodils. The centering of a candle. Flowers and folks both bring joy. Those folks -- that's my Mom and Dave -- stayed with Dana and me over the last five days. Myrna, my Mom is 81.
- [What Hosting Looks Like This Week](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-hosting-looks-like-this-week/) - I'm hosting a group this week. It's a Leadership Retreat, part of a 6-month Leadership Cohort. It's a program that my colleague Glen and I have created together. We are helping to shape and invite stories. And learning. And many simple forms of connecting. And growth. It looks a bit like the above on Day
- [The Grand Finale -- Kim Rosen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-grand-finale-kim-rosen/) - The Grand Finale is a poem of perspective. I'm glad to listen to it this morning (thx Meg for sending it). Perspective on age. On clarity. On accomplishment. And, as so often speaks to me, on belonging to such many human conditions. Enjoy the listen. I did.
- [The Practice Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-practice-podcast/) - Was glad to be in a recent conversation with Dave Fearon on his Practice Podcast. Dave is a life-long teacher and explorer. He's an elder in the field of organizational development. He's a kind and sweet man. He likes to laugh and he likes to learn. I'm inspired by all of that. He named our
- [News For Spring](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/news-for-spring/) - Hope this finds you well. In learning. In some layer of community. In, as my friend Cory Thorell says, wonder, wander, ponder. Here's the March edition of my one-page newsletter. It curates a tiny bit. Things to read. Things to listen to. Invitations to get guidance and create. Good morning. From coffee. Spring temps have
- [Thanks to Harrison Owen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thanks-to-harrison-owen/) - Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened. Whoever comes are the right people. When it starts is the right time. When it is over, it's over. And of course, the law (invitation) of mobility. "If you are not learning or contributing, go somewhere where you can." These are well-known principles of Open
- [Sam Slade on The H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sam-slade-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - Listen to the episode here. Sam and I and others co-hosted a Practicing Peace Dojo last year. We talk about it a bit. And we talk the big self, the impact of the peace narrative, staying with curiosity, and the significance of what any of us do 3 feet in front of us. Some good
- [Humans Wish / Need Connection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/humans-wish-need-connection/) - Working on a design for a client system that brings context and practice of connection. Some of my setup goes like this:Humans everywhere wish connection.For learning. For belonging. Sometimes for collaboration and imagination.Sometimes for safety and security.The range is wide. Yet connection is a common desire and need. Then I describe these simultaneous realms of desired connection.
- [Living Into Our Stories](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/living-into-our-stories/) - Good one above, from colleague Mary Alice Arthur. Activism. It connotes a kind of sharedness. What community does together. For a particular cause. Sometimes to right some wrongs. Activism. It also connotes an energizing. Bringing something to life. Clarifying. Centering. Giving attention to one's story -- not just the story of others -- it's a
- [Joy As Foundation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-as-foundation/) - Calling upon a previous post -- on joy. From Sadhguru, a teacher to one of my teachers. Because joy gives birth. Because it's contagious. Because it is a discipline -- to come to know that joy lives side by side with sorrow and plethora of other challenges, and yet still access and invite joy. There
- [One Arrangement Becomes Another](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/one-arrangement-becomes-another/) - In her poem, Two Kerosene Lanterns, included in the publication above, Jane Hirshfield writes a poem about a cat in rearrangement. The cat walks the narrow shelf beneath the windowwhere many delicate things are arranged -- polished ammonites,a dried starfish, three turtle netsuke,a few curls of birch bark, two long-unused kerosene lanterns.As if on their
- [Hosting What? Consciousness, Wellness, Wholeness, Resonance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hosting-what-consciousness-wellness-wholeness-resonance/) - I was in Rosendale, New York in early November at the Lifebridge Sanctuary. With a co-hosting team of Nancy Fritsche Eagan, Martin Siesta, Silas Lusias, and Kelly McGowan, we were close to completing the third of three days for an Art of Hosting training. It was going well. We had just completed a lovely and
- [Belonging is Biological](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/belonging-is-biological-2/) - Refreshing back to a poem I wrote in 2020. I was musing about belonging, as I often do today. So much of the human journey and path that compels is about creating and inviting belonging. Belonging with people. With place. With life flowing and changing. Offered today for some inspiration. Belonging Is Biological It occurs
- [Belonging is Biological](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/belonging-is-biological/) - It occurs to methat human beings seekbelonging. It's not just emotional comfort,though that can be just right. Belonging is biological It's the belonging of being on a team,or a committee,or a community,or a family,or a moment of sharing a park bench with a stranger. It's the belonging, not just for talents exchanged,but rather, where we
- [Restoring Sanity -- Margaret Wheatley](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/restoring-sanity-margaret-wheatley/) - What a treat to listen in to Meg Wheatley yesterday. She offered a zoom session -- 300 ish people in the one I joined -- to share some context for her new book that is available March 19th. Have a peek. Have a purchase. Meg is one of my oldest friends. She's been a mentor,
- [Remember These Three Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remember-these-three-things/) - When I facilitate groups, I remember that there is always a story under the story. It's a purpose story. It's a simplicity story. It may not be an explicit description of the event or gathering, but it is often the anchoring story that I depend on. Connect -- I often name this as our first
- [Shades of Life -- The Visible and the Invisible](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-the-visible-and-the-invisible/) - We call it Shades of Life. Jerry Nagel, Kathy Jourdain and I decided to give ourselves impromptu themes to explore together. We do it for learning. And friendship. And some freedom to wonder. We do it, I think, to feed each other and to feed the learning that we wish in our work. It's 38
- [Responsibility to Wonder, Connect](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/responsibility-to-wonder-connect/) - My Sweetheart's Father was a pediatric cardiologist. This morning I was peeking at one of his articles, published in the 1965 Journal of Pediatrics. Dr. Martin Riesman was a pioneer in his field. In this particular article he begins to explore the links between childhood lifestyle and adult heart disease. The article is interesting to
- [You Can Start](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/you-can-start/) - I love a horizon. This one is part of the Oquirrh Mountains that border the west side of this high desert valley of northern Utah. I love the snow. The shadows. The light blue sky of an early morning. I love a horizon for the way it beckons bigger view. And perspective. And often new
- [Wifi, Forest, Connection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wifi-forest-connection/) - From the Facebook Group, Don't Destroy It. Um..., yes!
- [I Am Loyal To My Dreams](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-am-loyal-to-my-dreams/) - I am loyal to my dreams. Sometimes it is the tiniest fragment. An image. A person. A feeling. A setting. Sometimes it is more. Characters. A plot. Actions. Symbols I hand-write my dreams. Most often first thing in the morning. I'm now in my eighth dream-journal. The first seven sit on a nearby bookshelf. I
- [8 Miracles Of Love](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/8-miracles-of-love/) - As I find myself in a deeply companioning, heartening, and hearthing love and life relationship, I find myself exploring nuanced awareness and alchemy with love itself. It's insight that applies to this love, deeply -- I believe insights, and acceptances, and offerings that I can have now at this phase of life that I couldn't
- [When Daughter Is Mother](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-daughter-is-mother/) - That's my daughter Zoe. It was late 1995. That's me. I'm a first time Dad then. I love the sweet connection. That's also Edelweiss. Dried to a beautiful ornament. And hand-carried by Zoe from Germany to Utah, and then gifted to me. Lot's of sentiment. Lots of love. My daughter is now a mother. Of
- [Life Wants To Happen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-wants-to-happen/) - Thanks Toke for this recent photo post. Yes to the inspirations. I've had teachers in my life that have long encouraged such notions. Sometimes they've been about persistence. And perseverance. Sometimes they've been about imagination. And creativity. Sometimes they've been about encouragement. And trust. Today, it's the irrepressible expression of life that calls to me.
- [For Drifters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-drifters/) - That's the Oquirrh Mountain Range, as seen last weekend from my location in Salt Lake City. That's Farnsworth Peak on the right, before the range drops off to The Great Salt Lake. That's a lot of blue sky on a February morning in Utah. For many years now I've been learning more deeply about such
- [Here Comes The Sun](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/here-comes-the-sun/) - I was in one of Salt Lake City's downtown hotels Sunday morning. It offered a rather delicious view of the Oquirrh Mountain range on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. At just the right time, when the sun was rising, bringing blue sky with snowy mountain horizon into light of a day. I
- [New H2H Podcast -- With Guest Cory Thorell](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-h2h-podcast-with-guest-cory-thorell/) - I'm theming this year's Human to Human podcast episodes. Each will hone in a bit on "Practicing For Peace." It has heart calling in it for me. It has inspiration from a few of my most beloved mentors. It has potent invitation to the smallest of personal self care peace moves, and to the biggest
- [Thresholds](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thresholds/) - I appreciate the invitation to see thresholds. I think of them as the significant changes in our lives. The outer that is sometimes things like, the move. Or the new job. Or the new goal. The inner that is the psyche and soul doing what it does. Choosing one small step. Insisting one small celebration.
- [Let the Beauty of What You Love Be What You Do](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/let-the-beauty-of-what-you-love-be-what-you-do/) - Yup, it's a good one, often invoked to bring encouragement, the heart, beauty. It's from Rumi, the 13th century Persian Poet. It suggests to me the relevance of heart. It suggests to me in working with groups the potency of an invitation -- What is beautiful about what we are doing here? What do you
- [A Few Things About Asking Questions in Circle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-things-about-asking-questions-in-circle/) - The art of asking questions has been a long-time love for me. Questions spark us. Not only for the specifics of the question, but for the general spirit of inquiry that they can infuse. The Circle Way recently published some of my learning and practice with asking questions. In the spirit of nuancing practice, I've
- [Good Medicine -- Sips of Coffee, Sips of Integrated Insights](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/good-medicine-sips-of-coffee-sips-of-integrated-insights/) - Good Medicine My friend tells me, “this was good medicine for me.” I agreed. It was mutually good medicine for me too. Forty-five minutes. Thanks Saoirse recently. And all the others. We did what we knew to do. Checked-in. Named a few present moment attentions. Took turns speaking. Connected insights as we took turns. Checked-out.
- [Prioritized Simplicity and Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/prioritized-simplicity-and-joy/) - Simplicityin the heartgrounds it all.It grounds the complex.In learning.In loving.In living.Sometimes simplicityis the cat content (that's Marmalade)with a leg to rest upon.Joy.
- [The Wow of a Vista](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-wow-of-a-vista/) - From a recent walk. With Sweetheart. Near where we live. Evokes some "wow" in me. We are high desert. Five thousand feet above sea level. Yet at the foot of mountains. That's some of the Wasatch range above, on the east side of this valley. Sunrises over that range are quite compelling. A few of
- [Stillness and Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stillness-and-joy/) - I love seeing these geese. On a recent walk. I love the stillness. I love the stillness it invites. I've been thinking lately about how most people seek to be OK. Be that a physical safety. Or a spiritual imagination. Or anything that lives between. Be that within. Or with others. Or with life flowing.
- [Nuanced to Purpose](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/nuanced-to-purpose/) - I quite love this image, some men that I worked with a few weeks ago. Men who work with young men in school and other community programs. Joy. Smiles. Play. And given the exercise they were doing, some cooperation. Some care together. Some commitment. Fun. And let's just say that joy ought to be one
- [HERO](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hero/) - I love re-purposed words. I love the nuance. Thanks for this photo to my buddy Corbin with The Rock Center in Denver. I worked with a few of his people a couple of weeks ago. HERO. "Hear everyone; respect others." Designed by one of his students. Yup. Well-played.
- [Take This Home](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/take-this-home/) - I find myself reflecting much these last days on two workshops that I recently hosted. One was in-person, two days, with a group of 8. It was community organizers, mostly men, who work with young men (more on this in other posts). The other was online, three hours, with a group of 22. It was
- [9 Life Lessons -- Tim Minchin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/9-life-lessons-tim-minchin/) - I'm an appreciator or things at the scale of "life lessons." Or "rules for life." Or, "principles that have meant something to me." Or, or... I'm an appreciator of such lessons through the voice of the serious comedian. Yup, Tim Minchin, an Australian Comedian offers this one (thx Dana for putting me on to this
- [Three Questions To Bring Added Depth In The Everyday](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-questions-to-bring-added-depth-in-the-everyday/) - There's a playful seriousness that I love in the questions that we get to ask of each other. So as to deepen our connection. And our learning. And our joy. And our humanity. The other day is was with a buddy. We mostly connect these days over Zoom every couple of months. But we've also
- [2000 Posts](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/2000-posts/) - Wordpress tells me that this is my 2,000th post in this blog. Wowza! 2,000 was not a goal. It has just happened. Over years of mostly satisfying writing. Over years of wanting to learn. Over years of keyboarding impressions into questions -- so often this is what I love, this naming and engaging a question
- [Give It A Listen -- Beth Tener's "Living Love Podcast"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/give-it-a-listen-beth-teners-living-love-podcast/) - I got to be guest on this one. I like the way that Beth is weaving a story across episodes. This episode gives some attention to ways of knowing and how that influences decisions. Beth and I share a lot of similar interests and vocations. I appreciate the kind of questions she asks. I appreciate
- [A Framing Story -- Relational Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-framing-story-relational-leadership/) - I continue to learn the importance of a framing story. A context. That creates invitation. That creates purpose. A framing story is important in the details. In the granular. "We want more affirming meetings." "We want to meet in ways that invites our curiosity and learning together." It's good to ask the people we work
- [For When People Ask (Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-when-people-ask-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/) - Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is an American Poet. She has roots in Colorado. I was introduced to her writings through a few friends. In the poem below, For When People Ask, I so love the way that she points to the need for words that mean many things at one time. I love the way she
- [Breath](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/breath-2/) - Yup, it is breath that lives behind so much of the work that I get to do. Thx Toke Moeller for posting this Prem Rawat quote earlier this week, "Enjoy every breath that comes into you. It's a gift." It is breath that brings a circle alive. It is breath that amplifies listening.It is breath
- [Developing Courage -- A Workshop](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/developing-courage-a-workshop/) - Courage is bravery.Courage is of the heart.Courage is clarity.Courage is simplicity.Courage is celebration.Courage is mustered commitment to these 15 minutes and then the next. Courage is staying kind with things that hurt.Courage is in the details.Courage is in the bigger picture.Courage is personal.Courage is communal. Interested? January 25th. Online. 90 minutes. Details and links to
- [A Lot of Beach -- The Medicine of Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-lot-of-beach-the-medicine-of-now/) - A lot of beach over this last week. In San Diego. With my partner. With some family. A lot of watching waves. Blue skies. Gray skies. Walks. Food. Games. A lot of easy pace. Timelessness. Horizons. Not hurried. Great medicine. I'm glad for it. Transitioning from end of year to new beginnings of 2024. Being
- [Please Join -- A January Workshop on Courage](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/please-join-a-january-workshop-on-courage/) - Greetings all. I'll be working a few themes in my 2024 Pop-Up Workshops. I'm excited to offer themes that guide to more depth inner and outer. In practice. In clarity. For those in leadership, facilitation, and working with teams and groups. It's for those of us choosing new paths and for those of us clarifying
- [December Newsletter and Resources Are Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/december-newsletter-and-resources-are-here/) - Greetings All. Grateful for many layers of connection. And learning. And experimenting. This year. And over the years. My December newsletter is here. This one marks five years of quarterly newsletters to highlight a few insights and invitations. Thanks for perusing. And sharing. And signing on (a couple of online workshops in January). I'm grateful
- [Let Your Heart Be Light](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/let-your-heart-be-light/) - Let your heart be light. Indeed. December musing. The above image is a Christmas card sent to me by my New York based daughter and son in law. Last year. One that I've kept and now sits on a corner cabinet in my office. In shared home and abode with the sweetheart that has come
- [As Simple as a Mug forTea](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/as-simple-as-a-mug-fortea/) - The mug is simple, made by a master potter's hands and heart. Joe Bennion in this case, out of Spring City, Utah. The tea is also simple, a mix of chai. There is pause in tea. For warmth. For reflection. For wonder. For clarity. For comfort. For joy. Ah, such importance in such simple things
- [Most Mornings -- A Reflection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/most-mornings-a-reflection/) - As these days of December tip toward Solstice, some holidays approaching, I find myself with extra appreciation of slowness. Some time to sit quietly. Some time to enjoy a meal with friends. Some time to reflect on a year of very big changes, learnings, and loves. As I reflect, I find myself looking for what
- [Poetry and Other Symbols that Guide](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-and-other-symbols-that-guide/) - That's Flow Game cards above, on a bookshelf in my home office. The cards are my most-used guidance system these days. A card here and there. Sometimes several deliberately over time. I'm drawing a weekly card these days. To give depth and strategy to my current program offerings and to my current inner development. Talk
- [Influenced by Warriors](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/influenced-by-warriors/) - I have been influenced by a few warriors in my time. Good people. Inspiring people. Inviting people. Warriors of invitation. I have been very inspired by a few warrior programs in my time. That have grown me either through direct experience or through sideline awareness. There's Meg Wheatley, one of my primary mentors and now,
- [On Voluntary Simplicity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-voluntary-simplicity/) - Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness teacher, writes I practice saying no to keep my life simple, and I find I never do it enough. It's an arduous discipline all its own, and well worth the effort. Yet it is also tricky. There are needs and opportunities to which one must respond. A commitment to simplicity in the
- [Really Grateful](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/really-grateful/) - I'm really grateful for the people around me that so regularly offer insights. I'm talking friends. Friends who are colleagues. Friends who are colleagues who are so regularly sorting and crafting inspired ways of being in the world. Digital this and that makes it so readily available. Relational history and friendship makes it so heartfelt.
- [Contentment](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/contentment/) - I suppose it is contentment that catches my attention in this photo. Curled up in sleep. Cozy on soft blanket. That's Marmalade, a rather delightful house companion. I suppose it is true that most of us seek layers of content. Baselines, or spiked seasons, that help us know who we are in our doing, our
- [Taking Care of the Tissue of Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/taking-care-of-the-tissue-of-life/) - Was glad to participate in this online gathering today, convened by Brooke Lavelle, Maha El-Sheikh, and others from Courage of Care. This line stayed with me through the day, offered by Maytik Avirama and her co-host -- "Wounds affect the tissue of life. Taking care of relationships takes care of the tissue of life." What
- [The Simple Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-simple-story/) - Corner of a picture of my grandparents taken 40 years ago. A candle in a glass jar, one third of its 72 hours burned. Stones collected from a 2018 road trip with a best buddy. A potted houseplant vine. Post-it notes of names of people from a recent gathering. It's all a kind of altar
- [Participatory Decision-Making](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/participatory-decision-making/) - I'm hosting today. With my good friends, Chris and Caitlin. Our work and friendship together now goes back twenty years. It's an online webinar for university leaders. It's on participatory decision-making. It's a wrap-up event for a cohort of 25, sponsored by the university Provost and President. The three-day in-person event took place earlier this
- [Welcome Dave Fearon on the H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/welcome-dave-fearon-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - I enjoyed this conversation with Dave Fearon. I know Dave through several conversations -- primarily "Author's Jams" connected to the Collaborative Change Library, shepherded by Steve Cady, Theo Forde Stiegler, Lisa Garcia, and others. Dave taught in universités for 50 years. I enjoyed hearing his stories and commitments to creatively engage and cultivate the learner.
- [Join This Workshop -- Reimagining Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/join-this-workshop-reimagining-together/) - Excited about this. Please join as inspired. Thx for forwards, also as inspired. It's online, January 20, 2024 -- 9:00 - 12:00 Mountain Time (Salt Lake City, Utah). It's sponsored by Tacheria, an organization focused on interfaith spirituality. It's my friend and colleague (froleague) Cathy Stafford that invited me to offer an online workshop on
- [People Who Come With Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/people-who-come-with-us/) - If you look closer at the bottom right framed picture, you'll see small photographs of my maternal grandparents. That's Grandpa Gould on the top, William Wesley Gould. He went by Billie. And sometimes "Grandpa Cow" to us grandkids, because he could make great mooing sounds. He lived to be 98 -- he's 93 in the
- [Harvests](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/https-www-tennesonwoolf-com-blog-harvests/) - Sometimes the harvest is from working with a group. As in, the pictures above with written insights and gratitudes on post-it notes and flip charts. I recently co-created a process (thx Krista Betz) for 50 people who had been together for a week in learning. It was simple -- personal reflection, then partner conversations, then
- [A Pop-Up Offering -- November 30, 2023](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-pop-up-offering-november-30-2023/) - You can get the details here. It's an offering to be in circle. Not a workshop. Rather, as I described in the details, a simple space for story, presence, and connection. Through the generosity of both listening to, and sharing, story. It's the hunger and need that I see in so many places of work
- [Begin Again (Thx Nicole Frederickson)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/begin-again-thx-nicole-frederickson/) - Some keen and clear words here from friend Nicole Frederickson, on her blog. Her words are below. Check out her full post. I'm glad for such invitations to clarity. Anytime of day …Pause. Stay.Begin again.Open.Receive life.
- [Blessed Again](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blessed-again/) - A few reflections. From a Thursday morning, a morning of departure. From a week of convening, learning, leading. And a few gratitudes expressed. Blessed again.With people that show upaawith love,aawith learning.Blessed again.With heard and answered prayeraaof hope,aaof belonging.Blessed again.By life flowingaahere, there,aahere again, there again.
- [Opened](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/opened/) - Whether opened to landscape, or to people in learning journey together, or both, something important is happening. So much, so often, calls to us as human beings to find more conscious and kind ways to participate and to be guided. A bow to the courage and natural flow in all of it.
- [And It Continues](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-it-continues/) - Connection. Learning. Imagining. Inspiring. Being inspired. Friendships. Joy. Trust. How sweet to encourage the heart opened to what it already knows.
- [Learning, Leading, Loving](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-leading-loving/) - Hello Arizona. Hello NGLI (Next Generation Leadership Initiative) participants. It is good to be in journey with you this week. The theme for the cohort I get to guide with new colleague, Travis Winckler, is Relational Leadership. We are using the Art of Hosting pattern to shape experience around Team Building and Community Engagement with
- [Responding to Call](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/responding-to-call/) - Yup, a nice little piece from Michael Meade. I relate. Sometimes it's the call of vocation. Sometimes it's the call of a day in a life of vocation. Sometimes the call is with family. Sometimes it's the call with one particular person in a family. What lives nearby to call, is often courage. And clarity.
- [This Very Moment](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-very-moment-2/) - This very moment is the perfect teacher. It's the voice of Buddhist Nun, Pema Chodron, that most guides me with this awareness. It's some of the best orienting advice I know. Because it helps me to attempt curiosity. What might I be being called to learn? To face? To accept? To consider? To surrender to?
- [The Soul's Great Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-souls-great-journey/) - Periodically, I find my way to Michael Meade's work. Often, because I wish some depth and some broader horizon perspectives. Because I'm sorting experience and wishing meaning that lives beneath the convenience of the surface. And often, I find my way to Meade's work because I'm trying to make sense that embraces broader range of
- [Appreciating Anne Stadler](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/appreciating-ann-stadler/) - I learned yesterday that Anne Stadler died this weekend. She was 92. Thx Chris Corrigan for the photo. I new Anne a little along the way, over the last twenty years. In the field that is Open Space Technology, Anne was a key founder who shaped the spirit of convening. She welcomed inquiry. She welcomed
- [With Flow, With Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/with-flow-with-joy/) - When I wish navigating guidelines, I suppose in overarching attempt to live a good life, I so often return to varied surrenders to flow, and to varied welcomes of joy. Images and words of flow and joy come calling to me, collecting me again, centering me again. It is the Zen part of me that
- [Katie Kinnemeyer on the H2H Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/katie-kinnemeyer-on-the-h2h-podcast/) - Katie Kinnemeyer was my most recent guest on the Human to Human Podcast. Have a listen. Share as inspired. Our first topic was "field learning" but we covered much more. Lots of fun. I've known Katie over the last 5-6 years. She has a brain and a heart that I appreciate. In this podcast, she
- [Voices That Lift](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/voices-that-lift/) - I appreciate voices that lift. Voices that point to learning. Voices that unfold an honesty. Voices that invite presence. Saoirse Charis-Graves is one of those voices for me, a Colorado-based poet and writer. She often writes in the form of Haiku. And in other short prosed forms. She experiments with grammar and structure in a
- [The Attraction of Horizon](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-attraction-of-horizon/) - There are many of us that appreciate and need horizons. To give us the long view. To bring us to the hear and now. To remove some of the fret. To settle and celebrate some of the spacious simple. This is the view from a wharf on Texada Island, where I was recently with a
- [James Baldwin Wisdom](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/james-baldwin-wisdom/) - Recently I was in New York City. Where I stayed was nearby to a former residence of writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin. There's a lot of Baldwin's story that has taught me and touched me over the years (the movie, I Am Not Your Negro, is potent -- thx Quanita Roberson for introducing
- [Shades of Life 3 -- A Conversation On Liberating Creativity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/shades-of-life-3-a-conversation-on-liberating-creativity/) - If learning is a central intent of the life journey (and I think it is), and, if learning with friends is an essential aspect of that life journey (again, I think it is), I'm sure enjoying this path of learning and friendship with Kathy Jourdain and Jerry Nagel. We are old time friends. We have
- [Grateful](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/grateful/) - I'm grateful for men that can meet in circle. In laughter. In learning. In wonder. I'm grateful for men that can meet in story. Most of them stories unfinished. Some of the stories celebratory. Some of them sorrow-filled. I'm grateful for men that wish to evolve and grow. Sometime with plans for work and family.
- [Going Deeper](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/going-deeper/) - I love the way that many of us are going deeper these days. Some of the "us" that I'm referencing are dear colleagues from over many of the last years and decades. Some of the "us" that I'm referencing are dear loved ones in renewed paths of learning and discovery. With colleagues, I'm glad that
- [Surround Yourself (Thx Topher Kearby; Thx Kathy Jourdain)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/surround-yourself-thx-topher-kearby-thx-kathy-jourdain/) - I appreciate the simplicity of this invocation. Topher Kearby is an Indiana, USA-based artist. I enjoyed perusing his site. Thx to my friend Kathy who posted this piece recently in one of her social media feeds. I relate to being a person that appreciates the company of others in seeing magic and wonder. I appreciate
- [What Guides](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-guides/) - I'm glad for a weekend in Southern Utah. I'm glad for images that inspire. For me, in this photo above, it's the vista of red rock mountains, held by expansive blue skies, towering next to sweeping lava fields, that are speckled with persistent desert flowers and other vegetation -- yup, that will do it. Sometimes,
- [From Conversation to Collaboration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-conversation-to-collaboration/) - I'm participating in this panel discussion this morning, part of a Thought Leaders Conference offered through Bowling Green University. It's not too late to sign on if you have interest. With Dave Fearon, who I've interacted with several times in the context of Nexus4Change. I love Dave's wisdom gained and shared from his commitment to
- [In My Nature -- A New Collection of Poems](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-my-nature-a-new-collection-of-poems/) - Happy to share -- this small collection of poems is now available -- In My Nature. It's meant as a little pocket book, easy to carry around. It's also meant to encourage the simple of noticing and learning from things right before us. It's also meant to encourage a depth of life practice that is
- [Poetry & Potent Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-potent-questions/) - Excited to offer this workshop. It combines two of my loves (poetry and asking potent questions). It is simple format to experience, rest in, and imagine replicating -- some useful togethering. October 26th, offered at two times, 90 minutes long. More description is here, as well as links to register. I offer Pop-Up Workshops to
- [Poetry Guides To A Love of Questions Engaged](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-guides-to-a-love-of-questions-engaged/) - Prosed poetry is often the format through which I write in my personal journal. It's a lot of observations. About what is near to me, inner and outer. I often write and rewrite in the spirit of "note to self -- remember this today." Or, "note to team -- what if this guided us today?"
- [Flow In An Ordinary Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-in-an-ordinary-day/) - So, morning is often a time when I write. I seek to move some of my inner insights to expressions and structures of words. I seek to connect what is personal into what is more widely shared. In the poem below, the insight I'm working with is that every day is both common and uncommon
- [On the Human to Human Podcast -- Janice Stieber Rous](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-the-human-to-human-podcast-janice-stieber-rous/) - Janice is a wise one. I've appreciated her, her learning, and her guiding at many key points of my life.Check her out on her site, www.bodydialogues.com. And check our our recent conversation on the Human to Human Podcast, where we explore a few key pointers guiding more conscious choice making and the nuanced permission to
- [At 18 Days Old -- Reflections on Meeting My Granddaughter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/at-18-days-old-reflections-on-meeting-my-granddaughter/) - So, yes. Over the last five days I was able to go to New York City to meet my granddaughter for the first time. What a treat to hold her. To offer a bit of help to her parents, my daughter and son-in-law. What a treat to feel tenderness wash over and about. To feel
- [Another Shades of Life Conversation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/another-shades-of-life-conversation/) - That's Kathy Jourdain and Jerry Nagel above. The three of us have been reconnecting much over the last six months. To be in learning. To be in friendship. To follow our creative noses together. In this recording (43 minutes), Jerry kicked us off with some wonder about loss of institutional faith and what is both
- [An Expansive Field](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-expansive-field/) - I lovean expansive field.Sunflowers in this one,from a walk with a loved one.The 13th century Persian Poet, Rumi, said it well,"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoingthere is a field.I will meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grassthe world is too full to talk about." Oh, how life has grown these past
- [A Few Things About Asking Questions In Circles](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-things-about-asking-questions-in-circles/) - Yup, I'm a person that knows some of the power of questions. And of the nuancing. And of the ways that groups can light up, and feel permission for deeper simplicity. I wrote this little piece, a resource for many of us continuing the craft of asking good questions. Enjoy perusing. Here's an excerpt. "It
- [On Joy, Sadhguru](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-joy-sadhguru/) - Yup, good one. From Sadhguru, teacher to one of my teachers. "Once your relationships are about sharing your Joy, rather than extracting Joy out of someone else, you will have wonderful relationships with anyone." I continue to learn such notions. And marvel. And more deeply love those near me. Joy is soft, received. Yet joy
- [Make It Six -- A Game To Build Wonder and Curiosity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/make-it-six-a-game-to-build-wonder-and-curiosity/) - This post is a throwback to something I wrote six years ago, from something I was inspired to create twelve years ago with my youngest son. I was reminded of it on a call with Kathy Jourdain, Jerry Nagel, Nancy Braggard, and some other World View Intelligence people sharing stories and learning. The post is
- [Make It Six](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/make-it-six/) - A few years back I invented a game that I started playing mostly with my youngest son, who was then six years old. It's called, "Make It Six." It needed a name. The point of the game is really simple -- come up with six reasons why you think something is happening. It's an interpretive,
- [Connection, Learning, Circle, Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/connection-learning-circle-story/) - My September newsletter is compiled. It features a few resources on these most helpful of values on purpose, and on steps of coherence -- connection, learning, circle, story. Read it here, as inspired, and follow links. Connection and learning, these are at the core of value-based ways of being for many of us. Circle and
- [The Cure in the Relationship](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-cure-in-the-relationship/) - Yes, nice piece from Michael Meade. I think he cycles this one through periodically. "The cure for pain is in the pain." Thx Rumi. Adding. Or nuancing, I'd say, "the cure for pain includes being in relationship with the pain." Or growing that relationship. Or learning to be honest with that relationship. Or sharing the
- [New Workshop -- Circle & Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-workshop-circle-story/) - The next workshop is September 28, 2023. 90 minutes online. Held in English. Offered at two time zones.Full description and registration links are here. Please join. Here's the why for you, for me, for many of us... There is hunger and need among many of us for environments of realness. For connection. For depth in
- [On Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-practice/) - I appreciate many of Michael Meade's offerings. He's been a longtime guide to many in the mythopoetic. I've learned about him through my continued commitment to men's work. This photo above is from his Mosaic Voices website. Through one of his recent broadcast emails, these few lines on practice inspired. They're brilliant. I love the
- [Water Knows](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/water-knows/) - It is the part of me that celebrates what is most simple, and what is most meaningful, that writes in simple phrases. So as to guide myself. And to go well with others, in streams of wisdom. And kindness. And helpfulness. And overall life-giving ways. The words below, for inspiration that calls out even more
- [We Humans, Seek](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-humans-seek/) - I'm glad for this image of cattails from a weekend walk. I appreciate the beauty, the standing tall. I appreciate the mix among many other greens. And then, in the spirit of appreciating beauty, both seeking it and welcoming it to continue to embrace, I reflected through a few words. For simplicity and for inspiration
- [A Shades of Life Conversation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-shades-of-life-conversation/) - It's great to be in laughter and learning with friends. This picture above grabs some of that from a recent recorded conversation with Jerry Nagel and Kathy Jourdain. The three of us go back a ways, to some Art of Hosting experiences 15 and 20 years ago. And here we are, in this video, refreshing
- [Source of Creativity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/source-of-creativity/) - In Texas. Another day yesterday, with university leaders and educators. It's good to return to Open Space as a format for learning and sparking creativity. And courage. And clarity. It's great to see it refound. Or as Steven Pressfield says in a book recently gifted to me (Thx Chris Smyth), The War of Art, "...the
- [At University of Texas, Arlington](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/at-university-of-texas-arlington/) - Looks a little like this. A few glimpses from a day one (of three) with university leaders in connection and learning at University of Texas in Arlington. Grateful for what is unfolding here. Grateful for invitations from the President and Provost. Grateful for colleagues / friends Chris Corrigan and Caitlin Frost in our purposed ways
- [From Gwendolyn Ren](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-gwendolyn-ren/) - I met Gwendolyn last year. She was participant at a Circle Intensive I co-hosted. She has such a presence about her that I appreciate. Calming. Deep. Enjoy her poem below. I did and am. Saying yes. Okay.I herebyacceptthe earthworkof being.Promiseto be brave in trustfall in lovenot with the heartbreakbut the heart that breaksand the hopeless
- [Spirit, With LaTanya Wilson](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/spirit-with-latanya-wilson/) - A fun conversation on the Human to Human podcast last week. With LaTanya Wilson, VP of Advocacy for Shriver Poverty Law. I know LaTanya through a few contexts. I love her clarity. I love her spirit-filled ways. I love her learning on purpose. Enjoy the listen, 40 minutes.
- [Letting Go](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/letting-go/) - Another one that I appreciate from Toke. I love the pointing to the most simple and to the most deeply inner and to the most basic of human ways. Enjoy. Letting GoOh to let goOf all myComplicationsJudgementsDisturbancesOpinionsRights & wrongsAll the noiseTo entrust all thatTo what forever changesTo rest in the rhythmOf breathTo bring of the
- [On Happiness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-happiness/) - Yup. From Zhuangzi, and Daoist tradition. "Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness." It speaks to me to welcoming what already is. It speaks to me to the practice of seeing what already is. It speaks to me of kind orientation with self and with other. It speaks to me of loving and
- [Listen Louder -- Toke Moeller](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/listen-louder-toke-moeller/) - Glad for this poem below, written recently by Toke. I've sat at this lake with him, near Sejs, Denmark. I've enjoyed the company. I've "listened louder" to inspirations arising. I'm glad for this voice of Toke, this heart that points to so much of what centers it all. Enjoy. LouderIt is timeFor me nowTo listenLouderTo
- [Rested, Replenished](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rested-replenished/) - What a great delight to travel last week to Palisade, Colorado, to rest and replenish with a loved one, and to dwell among such images above. Sunsets that invoke pause. Calling Cat Tails. Distant lightning strikes. Balanced stones in the Colorado River. And eye-catching plateaus. It is rest and replenishment, true. A break from more
- [A System Is An Inseparable Whole](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-system-is-an-inseparable-whole/) - This book above, A Simpler Way, first published in 1996, was written by two people that have unique place in my heart. Meg and Myron encouraged a simpler way to consider the future and friendliness of organization. They insisted a world view awareness that would call forth more inherent aliveness. All by suggesting that organizations
- [Guidance of Kindness -- Prem Rawat](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/guidance-of-kindness-prem-rawat/) - Prem Rawat has become an important guide to me. I find his encouragements to be a very helpful way of being amidst many circumstances. It's the deeply principled ways that I appreciate. And how those point to more conscious living, unapologetic joy, presence, and kindness. It's an operating system that has come to make great
- [The Way It Is -- An Important Reminder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-way-it-is-an-important-reminder/) - I'm glad to be reminded of this William Stafford poem below, The Way It Is. It was Ann Linnea who recently wrote of it in her blog. She was naming how her and Christina would often use this poem as a re-entry reminder to people transitioning from the deliberate learning space of a retreat or
- [A Pearl of Wind, Mark Nepo](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-pearl-of-wind-mark-nepo/) - Thx to my friend Jeremy Nash for recently sending this Mark Nepo excerpt below. Mark Nepo is pretty goto for me. For the life that he has lived. For the words he has crafted. For the invitations to the deeply inner that he has simplified. Enjoy. A Pearl of Wind, by Mark NepoTell me a
- [Join This Workshop August 24, 2023](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/join-this-workshop-august-24-2023/) - I am hosting this workshop because... I have passion for this craft of facilitation that so many of us share -- I think there are simple ways to get to the juice of it all I've learned that passions and gifts animate energy -- people want to work and live as much as possible from
- [Wander & Perseverance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wander-perseverance/) - Two themes are with me over the last few days. On the left above is a changing blackboard at a coffee shop that I was at on the weekend. It's "wanderful" that most caught my attention. It was invitation. To wander is both sacred and playful practice to me. My best learning so often happens
- [Leading With Gifts & Passions -- A New Workshop For You?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/leading-with-gifts-passions-a-new-workshop-for-you/) - I've created a new online workshop. It's August 24, 2023, offered at two times to welcome a wide range of time zones. It's 90 minutes, held in English. This workshop is part of the big reimagining that I've been in this year, sorting what is mine to offer, where my own gifts and passions contribute
- [On Being With Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-being-with-life/) - The photo above is earlier this summer near Lac Clermoustier, Quebec. It's a road that I walked several times during the week that I was there. I was contemplating. I was appreciating friends and colleagues. And on this particular day, I was enjoying a rainbow. From my contemplations, a most prominent theme that has arisen
- [Brushed Together, Horizon & Silhouette](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/brushed-together-horizon-silhouette/) - I love the way a horizon calls out yearning for what is distant to live in present moment.I love the way a silhouette invokes imagination for what lives in front of details.I love the waya sunrise brushes it all together. Let us share stories of what we love.Of horizons that wake us.Of silhouettes that simplify.Let
- [Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/start-where-you-are-a-guide-to-compassionate-living/) - Treating myself to some late July and early August reading. It's Pema Chodron, a Buddhist American Nun, who has been deliberate teacher to one of my most important teachers. I love the title and the contents teasers. I have the feeling this will be a book to dwell with and not rush -- maybe through
- [A Poet's Words of Wondering About Now and Next](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-poets-words-of-wondering-about-now-and-next/) - This Morning Glory, vining its way among Lavender, compels me. Beauty and vibrancy have a way of compelling. Questions also compel me, for the way that they vine among people. Questions give us shared domain. And beauty. And vibrancy. Questions that invite sense-making are never out of place. What is going on? What is happening?
- [Systemic Cogentness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/systemic-cogentness/) - Daniel Schmachtenberger -- yup, he's a lot. In a brilliant and accessible way. As my friend shared, who is rather brilliant herself, "I feel smarter when I listen to him." It's his systemic cogentness that is so compelling. With data. With anecdote. With story. With simplification. This recent video of a conversation with Schmachtenberger and
- [Invitations of the Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invitations-of-the-heart/) - I'm drafting description for a workshop I'm creating and hosting in the Fall. To write a description is to write an invitation. My best invitations come from the heart and from the hearts of those I'm working with. I notice that there are some key points of context and some key points of encouragement that
- [With Amaha on the Human To Human Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/with-amaha-on-the-human-to-human-podcast/) - What a treat to reconnect with a friend and colleague, Amaha Sellassie. We met in the Fire & Water days. We talk justice, love, power, community, learning, joys, challenges, food swamps, education, persistence -- and more human to human stuff. Enjoy. Share.
- [Overheard -- Ross Gay](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/overheard-ross-gay/) - Thanks to my friend and colleague Jeremy Nash for sharing this Ross Gay poem below. I love how Gay's website bio begins with, "Ross Gay is interested in joy. Ross Gay wants to understand joy. Ross Gay is curious about joy. Ross Gay studies joy. Something like that." I continue to learn that joy is
- [A Little More on The Power of Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-little-more-on-the-power-of-story/) - Christina Baldwin is one of the people that has most influenced my life over the last 25 years. In practice of circle. In practice of story. In friendship -- over cups of tea. In guiding my writing. In mentoring. In witnessing. In being a good egg. One of her books is Storycatcher, written in 2005.
- [The Most Simple Narratives](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-most-simple-narratives/) - Narratives guide. They are the stories that hold the bigger context. They create maps that clarify purpose and steps of action, correction, contribution, and surrender. Some narratives are of purpose, of mission -- they compel and coordinate. Some are of values, of principles -- they create the central shared touch point. One of the most
- [The Great Expansive Work of the Inner](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-great-expansive-work-of-the-inner/) - Over the years of my learning, of my leading, and of my facilitating, I have come to deeply appreciate the essential work of the expansive inner. As a poet, I know some of what honing to essence of the deeply inner can open in the many layers of outer. As a coach and guide, I
- [Still](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/still-2/) - Hello stillness. Again. It is one of the most important relationships I have come to cultivate, love, and appreciate. In the shortest of short moments. And in the longest of long arcs. Lac Clermoustier, Quebec.
- [Practicing Peace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practicing-peace/) - There is power in a simple question. The question above is one that centers the group of people that I'm with this week. I appreciate the guiding to something deep within me and within us as humans living now. There is flow in the question above. With nuance, it points to wishing to be cooperative
- [There Are Times](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-are-times/) - There are times when the simple appears.As blessing.As clarity.A pond, speckled with lily pads and scurrying frogs.A reminder, from teachers near and far.A shared home, nestled in woods.A chair, invitation to commune with deeper self.A path, that brings joy to steps ahead and behind.There are times when the simple appears.And beauty guides.And joy is enough.
- [In Appreciation of New Horizon](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-appreciation-of-new-horizon/) - The views from flights so often inspire me. It is invitation to new horizon. It is invitation to new imagination, to new becoming. Yesterday, it was these three images flying out early morning from Salt Lake City, Utah. The beauty of snow-lined ridges. The beauty of "cloud cities" in the distance. The beauty of rising
- [June Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/june-newsletter-2/) - It's the quarterly newsletter that I started four years ago. A few resources and links to read, to listen, to wonder, and an invitation to begin with deliberate process -- organizationally and personally. Greetings.
- [Learning Everyday](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-everyday/) - It was my Grandmothers that had much influence on my instincts to ground life in learning. Some of that was their particular orientations to how they had persisted in their lives. My Father's Mother, Lena, encouraged me to learn with my brain. My Mother's Mother, Fern, encouraged me to learn with my heart. And then
- [Landscapes to Inspire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/landscapes-to-inspire/) - It was the most simple of experiences last night with a dear friend, some of it glimpsed in this image above. That's Timpanogos, a mountain within the Wasatch Range near where I live. It rises impressively to over 12,000 feet. The snow remaining this year is also impressive after an abundant snow year and a
- [Guidance -- For The Now and For The Longer View](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/guidance-for-the-now-and-for-the-longer-view/) - The Swaner Preserve, a couple of views of which are shown above, is a 1,200 acre preserve near Park City, Utah, USA. I was there on the weekend and enjoyed a walk with a friend. I enjoyed the inspiration that came from the things near and now, like these standout yellow flowers in a wide
- [Thank You Hafiz](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thank-you-hafiz/) - I write often in this blog about the belonging that can occur in participative leadership and in well-held containers of encounter and learning. Including earlier this week, musings on temporary coherence. I write often in this blog about discovering light together (as was the case in a recent walk with friends in the photo above).
- [New On The Human to Human Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-on-the-human-to-human-podcast/) - With Myriam Hadnes, (54 minutes) I love her pace and commitment to slow down and to enjoy. It's living wonder out loud. It's listening to stories and what lives under the stories. Myriam reminds me of the kind of person, guide, coach, and facilitator that I most want to be. Have a listen. Thx for
- [From My Notebook](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-my-notebook/) - For me, my notebook tools that work best are a Moleskine, pocket sized book with blank pages (or another brand that has similar size, etc). I do like the soft-cover. For me, my pen of preference is a simple Bic 4-color pen. I love having color choices that speak to the visual learner in me.
- [Flourishing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flourishing/) - I returned yesterday to my home in Utah, after many days of travel, connection, and delight with people that I love. I returned with some added curiosity and excitement of what my garden plants would look life and how they had changed over the time. One, most delightful, was this planted pot of kale. Rich.
- [Play](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/play/) - One of the aspects that I love about being community for a few days together, as it has been in Rorwig, is that play becomes so natural. So expected. So welcomed. In this case, it was an 11km guided walk thanks to Soren, a local who has been coming to this area of Denmark since
- [What We Practice, We Become](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-practice-we-become/) - It is a simple framing for today's work in the celebratory tribes gathered in this little place of Rorwig, Denmark. To continue in practice, with the simple yet potent premise -- that what we practice we become. There are things that we practice. Skills. Talents. Contributions. There are things that we practice that are recognizable
- [Principles](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/principles/) - I'm a person that has long appreciated principles and practices. They guide. They shape behavior. They clarify choices. They create sharedness. I'm glad to remember today this particular set of principles above, that have some origin in the group, Pioneers of Change, co-founded and led by Maaianne Knuth, whom I'm getting to reconnect with this
- [To Remember and To Refresh](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-remember-and-to-refresh/) - What a treatto remember stillness.What a treatto remember and create balance. What a treatto remember path of old friendship, pointed to new. What a treatto refresh in these ways.
- [An Orientation To Guide](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-orientation-to-guide/) - If I were thinking computers, this would be a kind of operating system. It would be a few parts that connect other parts, a few algorithms, some impressive engineering, and some remarkable speed. But today, I'm not thinking computers. I'm thinking about human life. I'm thinking about human life in the 2020s. I'm thinking about
- [Off to a Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/off-to-a-journey/) - I love the metaphor and reality of journey. It opens me to things not fully planned, nor fully planable. It opens me to surprise. It opens me to patience. It opens me to seeing bigger or perhaps just differently. Sometimes the journey is over cement, as was the case for this snail on my front
- [Splitting Wood -- From Most Mornings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/splitting-wood-from-most-mornings/) - It is nearing the one year mark since I published Most Mornings. I find myself attentive today to how those poems from a year ago are now living in me. It's one of the things that I love about poetry -- it can evolve meaning and presence over time. For this particular poem, Splitting Wood,
- [Your Being Wishes To Know You, Just As You Are](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/your-being-wishes-to-know-you-just-as-you-are/) - I'm grateful again to Michael Meade for his posts and shares. I'm drawn to this one above that points toward being from a deep center. For many of us in facilitation work, it is the deep center that we try to cultivate. To grow. To animate. To center the work of the day or the
- [Poetry -- It Invites Relationship With Essence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-it-invites-relationship-with-essence/) - I love this image from a recent walk, seeing both the cones on this Pine Tree, but also the long expanding needles. Particularly in Spring, such sights nudge me to reflections on newness, on life expanding. The images -- when I'm open to feel and to follow -- they inspire a depth of being that
- [All Humans](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-humans/) - I remember one of the early experiences of leadership retreats that I participated in. It was during the mid 1990s, in the era of The Berkana Institute Dialogues that were led by Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner Rogers. Many of us were in a thick conversation about what people need. It was a values conversation.
- [I Only Know What To Do Is Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-only-know-what-to-do-is-now/) - Nowness remains quite a teacher for me. Sometimes, I'm following Nowness, efforting and fumbling my way. Sometimes, Nowness teachings spiral their way into my body, and so much of life turns effortless. Sometimes, Nowness and I go together, with the ease of afternoon tea, enjoyed spaciously. Nowness teaches me in work, in workshops. Nowness teaches
- [Fresh on the Podcast -- Chris Corrigan](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fresh-on-the-podcast-chris-corrigan/) - Super delightful to huddle up with my buddy Chris. To talk life. To talk work and facilitation. To talk curiosity. And a bunch more. The full episode is here, 55 minutes, that I titled "Support is Life" because of some of the content Chris offered. Enjoy. Thx for listens, forwards, shares as inspired. A few
- [Horizoned](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/horizoned/) - What a treat to be in company of such compelling sky, from a walk yesterday near where I live. What a treat to feel moved, imagined, embraced, lighted awed. What a treat to be in company of compelling friend,encountering new horizon.
- [Just One](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/just-one/) - New beginnings is a common theme for my poetry, for my writing. I suppose it speaks to the courage I've had to muster in a few circumstances of life when much has been lost. I suppose it speaks to the encouragements I've offered to others doing similarly. And then there is the regular complexity of
- [Waking Vow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/waking-vow/) - Waking VowTenneson WoolfIt is just after 6:00 in the morning.Birds are chirping vibrantly, as they do.The sky is a matte blue, not yet kissed by the direct rays of sun asdthat will soon reach over the Wasatch Mountains. Lawn and garden sprinklers cycle through programmed schedules.All of it brings a freshness.A new day, a commitment.A naturalness, an
- [Second Sight](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/second-sight/) - A nice little excerpt below from David Whyte's poem, Second Sight. It speaks to me of what can come in a moment. Living with acute availability and attention in the moment -- this is one of the themes (practices) that continues to teach me immensly these days. You know, I remember listening to an Audible
- [Creative Days](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/creative-days/) - I love days like this. Imagining.Creating.Reconfiguring.Intuiting.Sparking. Making maps of heart, desire, and offering.Spacious listening and shaping.
- [Perspective -- New Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/perspective-new-life/) - Yah, I love the added perspective of seeing this new life (and the new life it calls in me). It's each year in this urban-meets-rural neighborhood in which I live. Yesterday was the first sighting for me of this mare / colt. I leaned on the fence for a good 15 minutes enjoying. And, with
- [Designing for Wiser Action -- A Template](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/designing-for-wiser-action-a-template/) - There are a few versions of this kind of template around, some evolution of clarity from fellow practitioners in the Art of Hosting Community. I find it ultimately useful in the work I do that bridges relational community conversational insight to project planning next steps. It's a worksheet that can be a regular sized piece
- [The Poetry of the Cosmos (Thx Karen Celeste Hilfman)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-poetry-of-the-cosmos-thx-karen-celeste-hilfman/) - One of the books I've been reading and relishing lately is this above, The Mended Mirror, a memoir written by a new friend, Karen Celeste Hilfman. It's a compelling read that connects family, mental health, profession, poetry. It connects a bunch of life together. A bunch of experience. A bunch of learning. And a bunch
- [Practicing For Peace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practicing-for-peace/) - One of the groups of people that I've become quite befriended with and inspired by is the Practice for Peace Community. I went to Denmark last May at the invitation of my friend and co-caller organizer, Toke Moeller. I met for 4 days with other good folks in Art of Hosting Flavor, Circle, Open Space,
- [What A Heart Continues to Learn](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-a-heart-continues-to-learn/) - My heart continues to learn that simple things are often potent things.With slightest of my attention, I remember.That the beauty of blossom invites flowering from within and with others.That the persistence of rhubarb calls forth an irrepressible bigness..That the coffee with a tinge of chocolate can swirl surprising delight. My heart continues to learn that
- [Revisiting the Heart of Convening](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/revisiting-the-heart-of-convening/) - I've been revisiting some of the most core materials that helped to shape my work of facilitation in the 1990s. A few covers are above -- these are samples of some of the most important books that opened my heart, my mind, and my practices. It was a potent era, back in the early to
- [Courage Doesn't Always Roar](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/courage-doesnt-always-roar/) - Indeed. Some wise words from Mary Anne Radmacher and the folks at The Simplicity Habit. I relate to the roaring courage. The audacity. The boldness. The fierceness. The clarity. Hmm..., emboldened kinds of words. I also relate to the quiet voice. Just the next step. Just the next hello. Just the next wander. Just the
- [Metabolism](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/metabolism/) - I'm grateful to a friend for putting me on to this video -- it's 20 minutes of two doctors (Dr. Chris Palmer, Dr. Irene Hurford of One Mind) exploring the relationship of mental health, physical metabolism and metabolic psychiatry. The science of this isn't something I know in detail, beyond general reference. However, I'm a
- [Extraordinary in the Ordinary](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/extraordinary-in-the-ordinary-2/) - I love this recent passage from British writer and Sufi practitioner, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee at www.awakin.org. "Present in both the inner and outer world, one learns to serve the world, serve life, serve others without effort. This is a very careful balance. If one takes upon oneself the onerous responsibility of service, then the ego easily
- [The Next Step](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-next-step/) - Yup, that's attractive way of living for me, perhaps for many of us. Thx Rumi, 13th century Persian Poet. Thx Michael Meade for posting and guiding as you do. There is something inherent, I believe in most, that seeks both the simple steps, and the ways that simple steps grow to practiced ways of being
- [Podcast Episode Link and Notes -- "Kinship" with Beth Tener (Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-episode-link-and-notes-kinship-with-beth-tener-portsmouth-new-hampshire-usa/) - Yes, it was lots of fun to reconnect with Beth Tener, a fellow practitioner, convener, and inspirer. The podcast link is here -- 49 minutes. Again, deliberately welcoming the "long form" together. Enjoy the listen. Here's a few show notes: 0:30 Welcoming wonder and wander with interesting people.3:25 Living love in social change work.6:52 Live
- [Meandering Paths](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/meandering-paths/) - Sure glad for some meandering paths with my folks visiting in Utah. The physical meandering in these photos was at Ashton Gardens, host site for an annual Tulip Festival. I'm glad for all of the beauty and slowness that reconnects us in both our long arcs together, as well as this moment of bloom. And,
- [Sweet Words from Maya Angelou](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sweet-words-from-maya-angelou/) - "This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before." Thanks to Maya Angelou -- Missouri-born poet, writer, activist who died almost a decade ago. I smiled ear-to-ear grin when I read such simple yet important guidance. Had me appreciating Maya Angelou, and thinking of my Grandmas Lena and Fern. Here's to the newness
- [Alive Again](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/alive-again/) - It was from Maria Popova's The Marginalian that I recently got this paragraph below. Nothing, not one thing, hurts us more — or causes us to hurt others more — than our certainties. The stories we tell ourselves about the world and the foregone conclusions with which we cork the fount of possibility are the
- [Buds](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/buds/) - It is Spring in Utah. Most days are now climbing into the mid 60s and low 70s F. Unlike most Springs in Utah, this year didn't have a February or early March tease -- a couple days of warm weather followed by more cold (that freezes buds, particularly on fruit trees). This year, it all
- [Images Near Me](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/images-near-me/) - I suppose it is true that if we pay attention to the images near us, they speak to us. I have found this to be true. There are indeed voices that speak without words, yet somehow have a clarity. I have found this to be true. Left -- Mount Timpanogos, part of the Wasatch Range
- [A Core Narrative / Invitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-core-narrative-invitation/) - In working with groups, I continue to learn that a core and central narrative is very important to help hold people in the deeper work together. In the more meaningful work together. In the work that feels rich and satisfying. In the shift of perspective from "it's just a workshop" to "I think there is
- [Cairns, Poems by Katie Norris](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/cairns-poems-by-katie-norris/) - I'm glad for this little book of poems, Cairns, gifted to me recently (thx Lisa). There is a simplicity that I appreciate. And an orientation toward being with the ways that meaning moves. The Ohio Poet, Katie Norris offers, when loose words rattlefind balance in the stackingpoems point the way Indeed. Balance in the stacking.
- [Remember](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remember-2/) - Event completed. Leaders leading. Moving projects along. Community grown. Freshness experienced. Weaving. Learning. Questioning. Enjoying. Applying. Puzzling. Opening. Tucking in. Imagining. Joining. Leading. All of this goes with working with a group. Thx UTA for these three days together, and for all of the thresholds that make possible these three days. Thx President Cowley. Thx
- [UTA, Continued -- Doing As We Do](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/uta-continued-doing-as-we-do/) - Caitlin brings The Work, modified and honed as she does. A bit of harvesting for me -- fun to catch words and phrases to make visible. And Opening Space for Chris -- another process he has honed to essence over the years that puts people to work. All together it feeds some important learning, inner
- [Day 2 of 3](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/day-2-of-3/) - It continues in Texas at University of Arlington. People connecting. Exploring. Asking questions. Scribling notes on Cafe Tables. Sharing stories of objects they brought and then placed in the center. Arriving. Wondering. Going along with. Opening. Doubting. Turning to one another. Sniffing emergence. It all goes together.
- [Day 1 of 3](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/day-1-of-3/) - At University of Texas Arlington. With Caitlin Frost and Chris Corrigan. Invited by Jennifer Cowley and others. To bring formats and commitment for connection and learning. To help change the story and way of being to more participative notes. To help create well-being with and among people doing the things they do for the university.
- [Deep Invitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/deep-invitation/) - I had one of those nights that wasn't all sleep. The sleep was good, when I slept. And about 4:00 I woke with lots of ideas and dreams coming to call on me. It's regular practice for me to journal. To catch some of those ideas and dreams. And over the last five years, the
- [Simple Yet Profound -- Design and Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-yet-profound-design-and-practice/) - I co-hosted a group in Chicago, Illinois yesterday, with colleague Quanita Roberson. It was all-staff, and a culmination of six months of meeting and guiding to help create a more robust (meaning, more relational) culture. So that they can be in their vision and mission and strategy in more healthy and more adaptive and more
- ["Loving Me" -- Saoirse Charis-Graves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/loving-me-saoirse-charis-graves/) - My friend Saoirse wrote recently in her blog, a post titled "Loving Me." “I want to be the best version of myself.” I’ve read it, heard it, nodded my head in response. Yes, of course I want to be the best version of myself. Recently, however, I’ve wondered. Do I?What does that mean, “best” version? Would it be
- [Paying Attention](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/paying-attention/) - Good morning / afternoon / evening, wherever you find yourself when reading this. If you've been following this Human to Human blog for a while, you'll know that one of my favorites phrases, thanks to the Zen Community, is this: Everything is connected.Everything changes.Pay attention. Yes. It's one of the most impactful and simple guiding
- [In Troubled Times of the Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-troubled-times-of-the-heart/) - Got another poem published in Sage-ing, The Journal of Creative Aging. It's p 4. I'm grateful to the folks at Sage-Ing, including my friend Katharine Weinmann, who have encouraged contributions. In this particular poem, I linked the edition's theme of "gratitude" with the learning that can come from a troubled time and a troubled heart.
- [Parker Palmer's Book, Let Your Life Speak](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/parker-palmers-book-let-your-life-speak/) - Lately, I've been revisiting some of Parker Palmer's material. Let Your Life Speak has been one of my favorites over the years. I appreciate his candidness and encouragements of authenticity. He quotes former Czech leader, Vaclav Havel, about such authenticity. "The power for authentic leadership, Havel tells us, is found not in external arrangements but
- [Rilke](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rilke/) - It is sweet to be in the words of Rilke this morning, Rainer Maria Rilke, the Austrian poet of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He's oft quoted by many folks that I know. Oft invoked for inspiration and imagination. Rilke writes, You must give birth to your images.They are the future waiting to be
- [March 2023 Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/march-2023-newsletter/) - The 17th Edition. I create it and share it quarterly, on or around the Equinox and Solstice Dates. Enjoy perusing, reading, listening, revisiting.
- [Podcast Episode Link and Notes -- Lawrence Kampf (Motovun, Croatia)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-episode-link-and-notes-lawrence-kampf-motovun-croatia/) - 48 minutes, recorded 3/9/23. Lot's of fun exploring in this one with my friend, my colleague, my fellow journeyer, Lawrence Kampf. You can get to Lawrence quickly through his website, www.novaearthinstitute.com. He's launching a new series, Field Work for conveners with some experience and that know that "field" takes us further into the meaning and to
- [Joyful Being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joyful-being/) - Bonus post day. Such a sweet invitation. Thx Sadhguru. Thx Meg for sharing posts here and there with me. I love the invitation to start inner.
- [Trouble Shooting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/trouble-shooting/) - "Trouble shooting." It's quite a phrase. Troubles, sure. Things to be addressed. Problems to tend to, even solve. OK, good stuff and needed there, particularly with technical and mechanical circumstance. And, one of the most delightful questions I've been including in my living and working repertoire the last few years comes from the Practice For
- [Human Centered Design](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/human-centered-design/) - Hmmm... Human Centered Design is a title that can mean a lot of things. It interests me. Always has. My desire in my field of work over decades now has clearly leaned in to the human aspects of people working and communing together more than it has leaned into the mechanical aspects. They all go
- [Create a Space for Listening -- David Whyte](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/create-a-space-for-listening-david-whyte/) - Lately I've been listening a lot to the poet David Whyte. He has a three-week series that he offers. The current one is called Clear Mind Wild Heart. I sign on because I so much value a space created for poetic heart. I sign on because I both like and need my poetic instincts to
- [Invitations from Crocus](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invitations-from-crocus/) - Fun to see the Crocus arriving, as it is every year. They are the first of the flowering bulbs in my garden that find their way to blossom. They hold my attention, inviting a bit of wonder, and beauty. They invite my commitment, to a day of wonder and beauty, in the things on my
- [What of the Loudness?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-of-the-loudness/) - My offering today is another expression of relationship between "quiet" and "loud." It is true for me that the world often feels loud. That it overlooks a contemplative way that I so love, and that it overlooks an "emptied" experience. I doubt that this will change much. So, I return myself to how I orient
- [Joy Is a Radical Act](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-is-a-radical-act/) - I walked with a friend on the weekend. To a park with beautiful ponds, paths, trees, and typically in March, that has oodles of blooming flowers. This year, not so on the blooming flowers. Winter is holding on for an extra 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure what these Canadian Geese may be thinking on this
- [Mooji -- Living From the Heart and Beingness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mooji-living-from-the-heart-and-beingness/) - Mooji is a Jamaican Spiritual Teacher. That's him above. Lot's of warmth in that photo. Lot's of invitation. This little piece below came my way recently through a friend. I love her sharing, her guiding, and I love Mooji's words for the doing and being that arise from the heart. For those of us that
- [Grannies & Guidance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/grannies-guidance/) - I've been staying pretty close to my Granny Gould these days. That's her above. Fern Gould. Granny Gould. Sometimes, Granny Cow, because she and my Grandpa Gould / Grandpa Cow would walk the farmer's fields in Saskatchewan when I was a boy. Grandpa would call / moo to the cows. We kids (my sister, me,
- [Creative Expression](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/creative-expression/) - Lately, I've been reading a few posts from friends that flesh out some of the many patterns we humans have with screen time and social media. One example is Chris Corrigan in which he references "stolen focus." It's the tendency to get swept away (down rabbit holes, etc), following posts and links to everything from
- [Chanting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/chanting/) - I didn't go to chanting school. But I have learned in the company of a few friends and a few elders that chanting brings gifts. I have learned through direct experience, solo and with others. I don't focus on the science of chanting. But I suspect that there is much science to share that could
- [Living In a Poem](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/living-in-a-poem/) - Recently I listened to Krista Tippett's On Being podcast. The guest was Poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, who began with a story in which she writes on the front board of a classroom, "You are living in a poem." Oh, how sweet, to welcome such a notion. To be living in an artistic expression. To be
- [Fully Alive -- Our Job](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fully-alive-our-job/) - Thx Michael Meade. Some jobs are simple. There is clear doing. And clear completion. Take out the trash. Do the dishes. Make the bed. Some jobs are more involved. There isn't meant to be a clear finish line. It doesn't exist. Yet it is useful to notice. "Be fully alive" as named by Michael Meade
- [Little Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/little-things-2/) - A preferred learning style for me is often found in little things. A phrase. An image. A word. A principle. A story. An intuition. When I say "little things," in this case I really mean big things. They last with me. They center. They guide. They remind. They connect. Sometimes I like to flesh out
- [A Little Potpourri](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-little-potpourri/) - A little potpourri today. I'll start with this Buffalo Style Drum. I've had it now for 15 years. I purchased it at a shop with many such drums. I made the drumstick. It's willow from my back yard, and leather from the same shop that the drum came from. I love this photo -- intersecting
- [Appearing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/appearing/) - Yup, living a lot of this these days. Taking steps, sometimes. Not taking steps, sometimes. Walking in a fog, sometimes. Walking with found perception, sometimes. Starting, sometimes. Nexting, sometimes. So, thx Rumi, Persian poet of the 1300s. Thx also Michael Meade (Mosaic Voices) from whom I got this above image. Of course, the walk is
- [Sometimes (Thx Nicole Frederickson)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sometimes-thx-nicole-frederickson/) - Nicole Frederickson is one of my favorite writers / bloggers. I know her from the Fire & Water Rite of Passage Journey and a few other points of connection. I love Nicole's writing for her insight shared in simple ways that grows from her life living with family, farm, travel, etc. I also appreciate Nicole's
- [Podcast Episode Link and Notes -- Linnea Bjorkman (Denver, Colorado, USA)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-episode-link-and-notes-linnea-bjorkman-denver-colorado-usa/) - So glad for this conversation (49 minutes) recorded for podcast purposes. To learn. To cultivate. To animate. To create a world into being. Linnea and I go back to shared practice in The Circle Way. Lots of fun. Lots of purpose. Thanks for listens. Thx for forwards. Linnea is at www.wholerootwonder.com. A Few Episode Notes
- [Collaboration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/collaboration/) - "Collaboration" is an oft-used word in the field of facilitation that I and others practice. Collaboration is a value. It's a noun. It's an important practice. I've been learning lately with a friend some added nuance to "collaboration." For example, when it comes to collaboration, "conflict comes along with it. It just is." I would
- [Gremlins in the Blog](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gremlins-in-the-blog/) - Well, for the last two weeks I've been getting mixed reports of what subscribers are receiving from this blog via "notifications." Some are getting it all, as before, notifications through email. Some are suddenly getting nothing, a giant mystery to me. Some are getting test messages (while a friend and a tech person at GoDaddy
- [Ashes, Descent, Rich Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ashes-descent-rich-life/) - When I wrote A Cadence of Despair (CentreSpoke 2020), I wrote of ashes. I didn’t use that language then. I used the language of descent. And through sharing highly personal material, I mapped some of the relationship that I knew with despair — pain, grief, shame, and loss that, with some luck, some friendship, and
- [North](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/north/) - I am North today. By North, I mean geographically in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton is the area where I grew up as a young boy. I have been with family and friends over the last three days, each aged over the years, as we all have. I'm here for a Celebration of Life, honoring my
- [Late Fragment (Thx Raymond Carver)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/late-fragment-thx-raymond-carver/) - This morning I read a poem with a friend. It's from Raymond Carver, an American Poet that lived in the Western United States in the 1900s. And from this book, Poetry of Presence in which I have many marked pages. Late FragmentRaymond CarverAnd did you get whatyou wanted from this life, even so?I did.And what
- [Living Beautifully](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/living-beautifully/) - One of the narratives that I most appreciate from Fire & Water, the Rite of Passage program that Quanita Roberson and I created, is the narrative that invites wisdom and soulfulness. I appreciate it because it lifts up a fruitful way of being. Because it points to a reality of the human condition -- that
- [Delight in Wander](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/delight-in-wander/) - I've been exploring a new park lately with a friend. It's City Creek, a watershed area near Salt Lake City. It's new path. New sights. Lots of Blue Jays. And beautiful snow fall (shortly after I took this picture, that covered most of the ground). It's the green of the Watercress (from the cabbage family)
- [Mindful in Conflict](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mindful-in-conflict/) - For an upcoming project with a team, I've been exploring this book above from Rosalie Puiman. Lots of Zen in it. Lots of attention to the inner condition that both sees from the balcony and from the ground view. I'm appreciating that. Puiman created a model "PAUSE," an acronym that includes each of the following
- [Men's Group](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mens-group/) - There is unique medicine that comes from men with men. I've known and experienced this over the last 15 years in particular. It's men in story together. It's men in loss and grief together. It's men in laughter and joy together. This was true again last night in my experience with the 11 of us
- [Fire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fire-3/) - Fire is such a goto for me. Always has been. Most often, it's this backyard chiminea for me. All seasons. The photo above is from a cold Utah night last week. I bring things to the fire. And it brings things to me. Sometimes it is rituals -- release, courage, clarity. Sometimes it is requests
- [A Morning Offering (Thanks John O'Donohue)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-morning-offering-thanks-john-odonohue/) - The South Shore of Utah Lake is another place I go when I seek learning. It is mostly orchard (peach and apple trees) and ranch land (some cattle, horses) with a few sparse homes. A shoreline road follows the curves and bends of the lake. I often see Osprey, Bald Eagle (the only place I've
- [Big Changes, Big Skies](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/big-changes-big-skies/) - Antelope Island State Park is a new park for me. It is the largest of a few islands within The Great Salt Lake, in the State of Utah where I live. I've been exploring lately. Needing and wanting to feel big skies, like the one above that looks north from Buffalo Point. Big skies are
- [The Pace of Clarity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-pace-of-clarity/) - I have long appreciated the distinction between "pace" and "speed." In her book, The Seven Whispers, Christina Baldwin offers a distinction that most moved me 18 years ago. As I remember it, "Speed," she says, "is last-minute running through the airport to get to your gate before your flight departs. It's leaping over rows of
- [Flourishing In The Dark](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flourishing-in-the-dark/) - It has been many years now that I have been in regular morning practice to journal and to meditate. It is reflective wonder combined with stillness and breath. It isn’t the pages of words that are the most defining outcome, though that is significant. It is the clarity of mind integrated with belly that has so grown me. It isn’t the posture nor yoga body that most altars me,though
- [It All Goes Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/it-all-goes-together/) - It all goes together. The flowering seasons that are Spring and Summer. The falling seasons that are Autumn and Winter. Fifteen or so years ago, a friend and I were talking. It was someone that I have much respect for, and that has been an important guide for me many times. We were talking about
- [Yes to The Yes -- Thx Sheenagh Pugh & Others](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yes-to-the-yes-thx-sheenagh-pugh-others/) - Thanks Sheenagh Pugh, British Poet and Novelist for this poem below. For your pointing to the times when small things and big things work out, arriving with their teaching and compassion, with their harshness needed to get to the deeply inner. The roses above -- I picked these on the weekend in my yard from
- [Just a Next Step](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/just-a-next-step/) - Just a Next StepJust a next step.That is all that is required.No blame or shame needed.No guilt to serve.A first next step.And then the next after that will show itself.Get out of bed.Start the coffee.Sometimes the next step is a pause.From which a next pause then also shows itself.No holes that need filling.No vacancies that
- [The Deeper Design](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-deeper-design/) - I'm appreciating this offering from Michael Meade. With wonder. Life requires that we live through the troubles of our time in order to learn the deeper design that we carry within. To me, it speaks to learning, one of the deep purposes of life that my grandmothers helped instill in me. There is a particular
- [Giving Thanks](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/giving-thanks/) - It is Thanksgiving Day in USA. A holiday that sources back to European pilgrims arriving to the continent. Settling. Persevering. It sources back to appreciations of harvest, sharing, and inviting community. Turns out it is a much more complex story. All the neglected details, shadows, wounds, and so forth. Indeed. And here we are. For
- [Layers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/layers/) - Layers interest me. Geographically, like those in the above photo taken this weekend. It's mountains in the near, and in the far. Different light, yet connected in one vista. Lots of brown in this photo at first glance. But again, lots of variance -- whites, yellows, blacks, hints of orange, and of course the blue
- [Some Inspiring Words from Satish Kumar](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-inspiring-words-from-satish-kumar/) - Satish Kumar is an East Indian Activist, Writer, and Jain Monk. "...they were not motivated by fame, fortune or power. Buddha claimed no copyright on his teachings and Shakespeare received no royalty cheques... it is not a duty. It is not a responsibility. We are not even the doers... (it) flows through us and not
- [Order for Free](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/order-for-free/) - It was in the early 1990s that I first learned of the concept, "order for free." It was a term that I heard through the writings of scientist, Stuart Kaufmann. I was in my early days of working with Meg Wheatley and The Berkana Institute, where "self-organization" and "living systems" were at the center of
- [Welcoming The Contradictions (thx Tuesday Ryan-Hart & my Grannies)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/welcoming-the-contradictions-thx-tuesday-ryan-hart-my-grannies/) - It was my grandmothers that first encouraged me to accept and learn from the contrasts that live within me. I was a boy, growing up in Edmonton, Alberta. There was Grandma Lena, my Dad's mother, who so encouraged me to learn contrasts in my mind. A thought of this and that, that juxtapose. There was
- [Circle Immersion](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-immersion/) - It starts today. Circle Immersion. There will be 19 of us gathered in Appalachian Ohio. I love these words of purpose in the invitation. It is centering in the basics, yet it is also going beyond learned practice, daring to move into the lived experience of circle. Deep. Fun. Easy. So as to reach new
- [Start Here](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/start-here/) - If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm a fan of clear and simple guidance. It's a hunger in me to stay very much in my heart, and the heart, of things. It's a hunger in me to practice clarity. There's the Zen Stew that I wrote of recently...Everything is
- [Bread, Poetry, Neruda, Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/bread-poetry-neruda-joy/) - One, baking bread is a new hobby. Yup, I'm a bread lover. Particularly of this kind, quite crusty on the outside, and quite chewy on the inside. It's a new shape each time. Takes me back to memories of my Granny Fern, known in part for her bread and baking. The recipe is simple. 3
- [In a Solstice Season](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-a-solstice-season/) - I'm tucking in this blog for a few days. To rest. To honor pause.I'm grateful to all of you that read, and that offer your comments and wonders. I'm grateful to be in a practice of writing, and all of the sense-making that arrises, and often surprises, from that. A bow to the ordinary and
- [A Snowy Start to 2023](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-snowy-start-to-2023/) - It's a snow-covered morning where I live. I love the grey tones. I love the two-three inches of snow that rests quietly on the tree branches. It's an inviting adornment to me. I'll get my boots, winter coat, gloves, hat -- and then walk the neighborhood. And welcome the continued snow to quiet me. It's
- [Practice For Peace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practice-for-peace/) - One of the most important narrative additions for me in 2022 was this "Practice for Peace." It's pretty rooted in what is now a 20+ year friendship with Toke Moeller (the above photo is from one of Toke's social media feeds -- thx Toke). It's also pretty rooted in the work of Prem Rawat, whose
- [Wholeheartedness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wholeheartedness/) - I'm not a person committed to one particular deck of inspiration cards, nor divining from them with absoluteness. I am a person committed to learning. To loving. To feeling. To following intuition. The above deck is, however, a set of cards I find myself returning to often. I find them beautiful. Simple. Centering. I don't
- [The Eyes of Trees](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-eyes-of-trees/) - It's a regular walk for me. And a rain-fed stream. And this tree that has me thinking owls. With delight. I am gratefulfor people doing their good in the world.I am gratefulfor people with passion.I am grateful for people with play.I am gratefulfor people exploring and leading with their being.This life, my life, callsfor a wonderful
- [Siddhartha](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/siddhartha/) - Audible tells me in it's year-end report that my most-listened-to book of 2022 was the above, Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. I'm not surprised. It's been both a multiple listen and a physical read. I love the narrative of spiritual coming of age -- an important thread for me in my last 45 years of living.
- [Courage & Toleration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/courage-toleration/) - It is the 1800s German Philosopher and Poet, Friedrich Nietzsche, that I know to have spoken, "No artist tolerates reality." Indeed. For, it seems to me, artistry challenges the edges or reality. It has the energy to expand, even if momentary. It has the invitation to shift lens through which to see and question reality.
- [Circles -- From Founder Voices](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circles-from-founder-voices/) - First, to clarify, I know that Ann and Christina would nuance the use of the word "Founder" as it pertains to them and Circle. I've heard them speak many times of how circle "found them" through their efforts to improve the bodies of education that they each participated in thirty years ago -- environmental education,
- [A Few Phrases Lately That Move Me (And Excite the Bejeebers Out of Me)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-phrases-lately-that-move-me-and-excite-the-bejeebers-out-of-me/) - On a recorded interview for Healing Circles, Christina a Baldwin and Ann Linnea are sharing reflections and stories. The interviewer (and Co-Director, Healing Circles Global) Diana Lindsay asks Christina and Ann to talk the relationship between circle, language, and story. I've known Christina as friend, mentor, elder, colleague for 20+ years now. She has a
- [Heart Altars (Thx Gwendolyn Ren)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/heart-altars-thx-gwendolyn-ren/) - I really love this recent line from Gwendolyn Ren: And I think this altar on the east wall by the window is really just a reminder to tend the altar in my heart. To sweep it, breathe fresh air into it, hold within it meaning and mystery. Gwendolyn is a person I met recently, she
- [News & Newsletters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/news-newsletters/) - Four years ago I committed to a newsletter. It's quarterly. If you've been reading this blog for while, you know that it highlights a short greeting, some places to participate in events, some pieces to read (mostly already posted on this blog), and a resource or two for listening. I remain committed to invitation, to
- [Reflections on Circle Immersion](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflections-on-circle-immersion/) - A travel day today, returning me to snow in Utah. A returning day today, washing clothes, checking in with neighbors, paying bills, catching up to regular life things, yet at a slowed and buoyed pace. Mostly enjoying reflections -- mine and others, from this gathering of Circle. It continues to move me how learning can
- [Immersed](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/immersed/) - There is just so much to celebrate from this recently completed Circle Immersion. Co-host, Quanita Roberson. This group of 18 people in learning and community together. This retreat center that is Hope Springs. This Appalachian Land including labyrinth. These many present moments that are connected to other dear and key people that have been such
- [The Wisdom of Commitment to Self](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-wisdom-of-commitment-to-self/) - I love this quote from Rumi, the Persian Poet of the 13th Century. It's one that Quanita Roberson and I use often to invigorate our commitments to wisdom and wisdom offerings. Fun to read it today from the Poetry Lovers Group on Facebook. And given our transition today to Hope Springs, to host 19 of
- [Wisdom Series Now Open For Registration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wisdom-series-now-open-for-registration/) - This is the sixth wisdom series that Quanita Roberson and I have now offered. We alter the general focus and themes as inspired so as to follow what most interests us and what feels most helpful to offer. This series will run Thursdays in February 2023, each a two-hour online session. All of the details
- [Completions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/completions/) - In Adams County, Ohio, at Hope Springs Institute, much of what was green in the abundant forests has now turned orange and brown. It is a completion of a growing season, well-tipped to rest. A completion. It is in Adams County, Ohio, at Hope Springs, that a Fire & Water Cohort has just completed. What
- [A Few Wonderings On Rest](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-wonderings-on-rest/) - For the listening mode, a new episode featuring a conversation between Quanita and I on the topic of rest. And pause. And that means some wondering about busy. And some appreciation. It's 37 minutes. Behind it all remains invitation to nurture and cultivate wise and soulful ways of living, amidst the passions that we humans
- [Today, Fire & Water Retreat 3](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/today-fire-water-retreat-3/) - Today starts the third and final retreat for our current Fire & Water Cohort. It's a sixteen month journey with three retreats. Today a group arrives for five days together. Meeting around the theme of "return." It is celebration to be with people committed to growing the deeply inner together, as we say, in the
- [Descent & Perspective (Thanks Daniel Deardorff)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/descent-perspective-thanks-daniel-deardorff/) - I read most of this book on the weekend, as much as I could on a flight from Utah to Ohio. The Other Within, by Daniel Deardorff. What a helpful read, including this quote at the bottom. My digital highlighting pen was quite active. I started this book mostly because my friend Quanita is connected
- [When Planning is Hearthing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-planning-is-hearthing/) - In my living room at my home is a coffee table. That's the dark brown color above. It's a table gifted to me from a dear friend, fifteen years ago. The table, like the friend, is well-loved. Last week, Wednesday through Sunday, Quanita Roberson was at my home. Given the scale of work and life
- [Use Words If Necessary](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/use-words-if-necessary/) - Saint Francis of Assisi is often credited with saying: “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” I'm the kind of person drawn to such notions. I like it for many forms of truth-telling. I like it for the humanness that I feel in giving myself to the mystery that is life. Above
- [Origins of Life -- More Michael Meade](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/origins-of-life-more-michael-meade/) - Yes to drawing from the root of deeper self. I remember my colleague Tim Merry voicing it twenty years ago, as we cohosted a retreat -- "Be yourself. Everybody else is taken." Where, when, and how we "source" is inevitably empty, it seems, if not connected to self. I relate to knowing that is belly
- [To Pick Up The Invisible Thread of Our Own Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-pick-up-the-invisible-thread-of-our-own-story/) - Thank you Michael Meade, one of the elders that I often feel guiding.
- [Little Stacks of Books](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/little-stacks-of-books/) - I'm curious about where and when little stacks of books take form. For me, I have bookshelves that hold many of my books -- novels, poetry, journals, and work-related material that is mixed among varied artifacts. But then there's these little stacks that I like to keep a bit closer. Sometimes for the reading. Sometimes
- [Zen Stew, Part 3](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/zen-stew-part-3/) - Continuing on from Part 1 ("There is only now; there is only the present moment.") and Part 2 ("This very moment is the perfect teacher.")... Both of the above images were gifts to me. "Only Don't Know" was from a couple of years ago. The shedded snake skin was from a couple of weeks ago.
- [Zen Stew, Continued](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/zen-stew-continued/) - It is the time of year where I live, Autumn, in which I like to make stews and soups. My grandmother was a stew-maker by necessity -- putting whatever was available into the pot. My mother was a stew-maker by both necessity and later, by choice -- enjoying the comfort of rich broth, typically spiced
- [Only Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/only-now/) - Last night I sat with a circle of men that I both love and appreciate. Seven of us, seasoned and aged from 50 to 75. We listened to each other. We spoke thoughtfully together about what was in our hearts. Some spoke of the dire qualities of contemporary life. Wars. Manipulations. Misdirects. All of which
- [Simple Truths](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-truths/) - It's the 1900s American Poet Roethke above, one of the people that offered such notion. Oh, the silence compels to a core of clarity. I learn things in the silence that I can't learn anywhere else. Be it at a beach, a forest, or 10 minutes of breath and quiet on the couch. Yes to
- [On Initiation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-initiation/) - There continues to be many ways that I both seek out and offer learnings on initiation. There's Fire & Water, the 16-month cohort program that Quanita Roberson and I created. We are nearing completion with our third group. There's the Wisdom Series, the four-week online program that Quanita and I recently offered. With weekly themes
- [Alter Each Other](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/alter-each-other/) - I remain quite reflective these days. Wishing to dwell in poetic artistry. To make sense of what I can with glimpses of words and images. To feel. I've been immersed in such kind being with people near and far. My heart tells me there is something very important to celebrate, and of course integrate in
- [In Celebration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-celebration/) - I celebrated a birthday this weekend. With family. With friends. With surprise. With ease. With flow. With tender-heart. With joyous belly. With imprinted vista. With many moments of now. I am so moved by it all. And in thanks. I have been celebratedby people near and by people far.In the most delightful of ways.What a thingto
- [An October Blessing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/41400-2/) - October is a time when I seem to harvest reflectiveness. In part, it is the season, Autumn where I live, when the low sun yields to longer nights. In part, it is birth month for me, which tends to bring a little extra ambling into my deeply inner. And, I'm road-tripping today, loving the acuteness
- [Clarity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/clarity/) - I don’t wish clutter in my heart, nor in the hearts of others.There is much that masquerades as importance,while its real influence is distortion.I do wish clarity in my heart,joined with the hearts of others.That invites and yields genuinenessin the on-going practice called living.
- [Beauty In The Season -- Autumnal Tint](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beauty-in-the-season-autumnal-tint/) - There is such beauty in the season. "Autumnal Tint" as a friend calls it in a few pictures above that she shared with me. I love to get lost in these kinds of images. They have a way of saying something that can't be spoken into words. They have a way of inviting pause, reflection,
- [All There Is -- A Summative Reminder to Self](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-there-is-a-summative-reminder-to-self/) - When I'm in very full stretches, I find I need a stilling kind of reminder. A bit of simplified centering. That helps me live in the intersections and in the integrations. So, these words, to remember all of that. All there isis to live.All there isis to do one’s bestto make sense of experience,and, if
- [Leaning in to Race & Equity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/leaning-in-to-race-equity/) - I continue to meet with many people that are exploring race and equity. These are people wanting to do good. They are people feeling the challenge, the necessity, the complexity, the history, the heart yearning, the grief -- all of it. Individually, yes, but particularly collectively. It's true for me that I don't really know
- [September 2022 Quarterly Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/september-2022-quarterly-newsletter/) - As before, a one page with a brief message (Living the Between), and a few links to Participate, Read, Listen. Offered as a periodic compilation. Offered as invitation to explore and join in. Thx for sharing as inspired.
- [Start Again -- Thx Rupi Kaur](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/start-again-thx-rupi-kaur/) - I admire the beauty, this time of year, of the purpled and blued lavender. Lavender takes a while to blossom where I live. But when it does, it is abundant. And when it does, the bees come aplenty, which seems to be a good thing these days. I admire the beauty this time of year
- [Some Guided Journaling Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-guided-journaling-questions/) - After hosting many people in forms of direct conversation together, I love to mix in a little deliberate inner reflection. Last week, it was placed toward the end of a three day gathering, so as to give participants a little more convergence energy, some clarity of what they were leaving with. And, it was at
- [A Cafe on Continuous Improvement](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-cafe-on-continuous-improvement/) - I'm grateful to have learned World Cafe many years ago from Juanita Brown, David Isaacs, Meg Wheatley, Toke Moeller, and Bob Stilger. These were people who were practicing simplicity of guided connection in form. I'm grateful to have continued to learn and practice with many others over the years. Again, connection with some shape --
- [Turned Again To One Another](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/turned-again-to-one-another/) - Sometimes it is at retreat centers. Sometimes at university campuses. Sometimes at churches. Sometimes at hotels. Sometimes in forests. Above is what it looks like this week for me with my colleague Glen Brown hosting a Leadership Development Program / Cohort for people in electrical supplies and sales. What's common across all of them is
- [Circle Immersion -- December 7-11, 2022](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circle-immersion-december-7-11-2022/) - We are getting nearer to this Circle Immersion. Of those registered, I'm appreciating the skill and heart that people bring. I'm appreciating the imagination that people bring. It's December 7-11, 2022 at Hope Springs Institute in Appalachian, Ohio. It's five days, deliberately sinking in. It's well tended food and receptive land. It is my experience
- [Centers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/centers/) - It was in the mid 1990s that I began to learn about centers in a new way. That was with Meg Wheatley, Christina Baldwin, Ann Linnea, Bob Stilger and others connected through Berkana. That was when I was beginning to learn the nuanced aspects of sitting in a circle of chairs, turned toward one another.
- [Full Lives](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/full-lives/) - I've been hosting a bunch the last ten days. Delightful people in learning, story, and community. There's the Wisdom Series that I co-host with Quanita Roberson -- two classes on Elders and Guides as it pertains to Initiation; two classes on Surrender, also as it pertains to Initiation. There's the Firekeeper's Leadership Retreat cohosted with
- [Focussing -- Thx Toke Moeller](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/focussing-thx-toke-moeller/) - If you've been following / reading this blog for some time, you'll recognize that it is often the poetry that moves me. I feel a kind of irrepressibleness in me that loves to lift the poetic in the journey that is being a human being. And I feel a kind of deep joy in connecting
- [In My Nature](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-my-nature/) - The spot at Deer Creek Reservoir that I most often go to is about 30 minutes from my home. In the vista above, this is looking west to Mt Timpanogos, among the Wasatch Mountain Range. Yesterday, I delighted in a couple of hours at one of the Reservoir beaches. Mostly sitting in a chair. Reading
- [Morning Glory](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/morning-glory/) - Morning Glory is one of the most beautiful flowers I know. Where I live, this deep purple and blue is the common color. I love the inner white and pink that mimics shining light from the center. Hard not to gawk at these. Morning glory is also treated as weed by many. It grows hearty
- [Out of The Head, Into the Heart (Ilarion Merculieff, Aleut Elder)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/out-of-the-head-into-the-heart-ilarion-merculieff-aleut-elder/) - This is a delightful read. Oh my! I came across it because of Nicole Frederickson -- thank you Nicole -- in her thoughtful and heartful ways of going about being human with such wonder. Out of the Head, Into the Heart: The Way of the Human Being -- this is the full title. This integration
- [Wild Plum -- Timothy Young (Thx Dan Cavanagh)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wild-plum-timothy-young-thx-dan-cavanagh/) - I love this poem in this book above. The collection was recently gifted to me and to my pal Chris Corrigan from a participant in a recent workshop. Timothy Young is the participant's uncle, and was peers with Robert Bly. Check this. Wild PlumTimothy YoungMaybe you pick a wild plumfrom a wobbly ladder.Go in between
- [Nearness to Home](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/nearness-to-home/) - There is something comforting to me about an Alberta farm field in late summer.Perhaps it is the success of crops grown and now harvested to round and rectangular bales.Perhaps it is celebration of perseverance mixed with grace.Perhaps it is the nearness to home, my youth and young-adult life lived nearby.I know I seek each and
- [There Is Much](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-is-much/) - From a morning of reflection. There is much to learn here.Some is from the old patterns, that beckon a letting go.Some is from the newness, so graciously tethered to longer arc.There are many to love here.Some are the old ones, living their patterned ways.Some are the young ones, refreshing and evolving the moment. There is much
- [The Cure For It All -- Julia Fehrenbacher](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-cure-for-it-all-julia-fehrenbacher/) - Yes, it's a sweet poem, shared with me last week by a friend / colleague. I loved the way that she was sharing her learning. I love the last line in particular -- "Breathe until you stop needing anything to be different." For inspiration. And some cure. The Cure For It All -- Julia Fehrenbacher
- [If You Look Softly Enough](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/if-you-look-softly-enough/) - Yes, this builds a bit on yesterday's post, "If You Look Closely Enough." The photo is from a daytime walk on campus at University of Texas Arlington. I was drawn to the red. I was drawn to the carpet of greenery on the grounds surrounding it. I was drawn to look softly. To let the
- [If You Look Closely Enough](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/if-you-look-closely-enough/) - This photo is from last week. Fort Worth, Texas. On an evening out with Chris Corrigan, Caitlin Frost and me. It was Sundance Square. Summer night. Jazz Band playing. We'd just completed working with a group of senior leaders at University of Texas Arlington. It was three days of Art of Participatory Leadership. When I
- [Abundance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/abundance/) - These are what I think of as "Black-Eyed Susans." They grow abundantly in my front yard at this time of year. They have a way of mesmerizing me. Abundance is one of the bigger stories that I seek to live and to invite others to live. In groups. In teams. Within self. Abundance of spirit.
- [Wake Up, My Soul (Adam Zagajewski)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wake-up-my-soul-adam-zagajewski/) - With a nod of appreciation to Shawna Lemay for posting on her thoughtful blog, Transactions with Beauty, this Adam Zagajewski poem, "Wake Up." I love the invitation to self, waking. Isn't that what so much of living is. And I love these flowers, beautiful as they are, from a recent walk. Wake Up by Adam
- [Reflecting on Circle Immersion](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflecting-on-circle-immersion/) - Circle Immersion is a face-to-face experience, December 7-11, 2022. The location is Hope Springs Institute near Peebles, Ohio. Quanita Roberson and I will be hosting together, welcoming an international group of participants. Circle Immersion is a practicum that will emphasize the deeper notions of living a circle life -- connection, learning, experiments. It is a
- [On Carrying Weight](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-carrying-weight/) - I've found much inspiration over the last five years through Stephen Jenkinson. In books, "Come of Age" and "Die Wise" have been important to me. And through several podcasts and videos -- google away! What I appreciate about his voice and contribution is that which points to depth of being. There is an encouragement I
- [Invitation to Flow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invitation-to-flow/) - I recently participated in a Zoom call hosted by Toke Moeller and Monica Nissen. The purpose was connection and information -- for people that might participate in one of their upcoming Flow Game Host Trainings, a training that I was a participant in 13 years ago. For me, I loved returning to the energy of
- [A Wee Commentary (Rant) on The Pervasive Pattern of Inflated and Invasive Drama](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-wee-commentary-on-the-pervasive-pattern-of-inflated-and-invasive-drama/) - I'm not sure what it is these days.My body has changed.My brain too.My heart too.I don't seem to havethe same capacityto participate in the dramaof it all."It all" seems to be mainstream anything.TV shows, news reports,speculation over this and that,and amped fears steering this way and that way. I've become a personthat likes to watch
- [Practice of the Healthy Masculine](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practice-of-the-healthy-masculine/) - Two months ago when I was in Denmark for Practice for Peace Dojos, one of the morning practices that I so enjoyed with my friend Toke Moeller was with the bokken. It was mornings. It was out on Toke's deck. Last night I dreamed of sword practice. The dream had me back at Toke's place
- [Questions to Create Sabbatical Flow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/questions-to-create-sabbatical-flow/) - I've had a few friends and colleagues that have had sabbatical in the last year. One asked for a bit of guidance to help shape the time. And to shape some of his energy for being in sabbatical. I came up with nine questions that I list below. As always, I love the way that
- [Most Mornings -- Paint the Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/most-mornings-paint-the-day/) - I love it when people reach back to share a comment, or an appreciation, or an insight, or an attraction, to a line from a poem. I love hearing what people notice. Most Mornings is a collection of poems I wrote -- 37 of them. Published recently (CentreSpoke 2022). With each poem, there is of
- [A Little More of the Story - 1](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-little-more-of-the-story-1/) - There is always story behind the story. Or underneath it. There is always nuance. Or association. I'm less committed to all of the story -- don't really believe that "all" is possible. I'm quite committed though to more of the story -- do believe that stories live, grow, change, and have subtle meaning that connects
- [A Story That Seems True](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-story-that-seems-true/) - It's all story -- this is one of my core life learnings. At times, this awareness has created fear. Crumbling that comes with preferred certainties weakened. But this gives way, also, often, to unbounded freedom and the delight that is light shining. And so, these simple words this morning, the last Tuesday in July. As
- [A Love That Stewards All](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-love-that-stewards-all/) - A sweet moment here, recently. It's me with Toke Moeller and Monica Nissen, people that I consider the best of mixes -- friends, mentors, elders, fellow human beings, companions, fellow creatives. The picture was in Denmark at their home. Toke is a person that has had huge influence on me. It's lots of things. But
- [Be Bob](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/be-bob/) - One of the important elders in my life is Bob Stilger. Bob and I met in the mid 1990s. Bob was joining some of the work that we were doing at Berkana -- that meant lots of dialogue and change work. That meant lots of community engagement work. Bob didn't present himself as "elder" to
- [In Pictures](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-pictures/) - I'm a person drawn to the way that images speak words. Or call out words. Or call out associations. We humans..., seems we can't not connect and weave. I suppose my favorite consciousness game is a simple as looking at an image (or symbol) and inviting reflection -- what catches your attention in this image?
- [Living In Complexity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/living-in-complexity/) - There are a lot of kinds of complexities to live in. The global realities -- climate crisis, water supply, health. The closer to home stuff -- race, equity, reparation. The closer to self stuff -- family, love, loss. And a bunch more. Living in complexity is part of being a human being. It's part of
- [Descent to Interior Places Of Wisdom -- Michael Meade](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/descent-to-interior-places-of-wisdom-michael-meade/) - I love these gems from the author and mythologist, Michael Meade. In particular, with this one, there is a key element that Quanita Roberson and I emphasize in our Fire & Water Leadership & Rite of Passage Journey. It is to go to the deeply inner, knowing that it is intricately woven to what is
- [Breath and Mystery and Exactness of Poetry, Always Wins](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/breath-and-mystery-and-exactness-of-poetry-always-wins/) - What a great line (see below) -- breath, mystery, exactness, musicality, chaos, order. It's Ada Limon in response to a questions from Lauren LeBlanc, published in a 2018 BOMB Magazine -- thx Saoirse Charis Graves for pointing me to this interview. As one breathing my way further into "why I write" this passage itself offers
- [A Podcast on My Poetry Publication -- Most Mornings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-podcast-on-my-poetry-publication-most-mornings/) - This was fun to do. It's 34 minutes. It's Quanita interviewing me about this collection of poems, Most Mornings. Some of the why. Some of the what is hoped for. Some of the artistry. And, I read a couple of the poems, offering some of the back story and some of the heart that lives
- [The Now & Flow -- Two Ways of Seeing, Being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-now-flow-two-ways-of-seeing-being/) - There are two orientations to which I continue to return. Both are more Eastern in origin, yet practiced globally. These are orientations that I find bring life. They bring invitation. They bring practice to be in rather complex things. And for me, they also bring bridges to connect things that aren't typically rooted in Zen
- [Way-Finding](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/way-finding/) - Pictures of paths regularly attract my attention. Like this one above, taken in Golden, Colorado, on a day together with dear people. It's the way-finding that is part of it, this love of paths. Both the seeking for, and the arriving at, insight and clarity. It's the letting go and the letting come. It's what
- [Breath, Please](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/breath-please/) - There are times in my life when I must return to the most simple truth and practice that I know. There are times in our lives when we must each return to what is most simple and grounding. Something important is happening anytime any one of us or any community of us find our way
- [Podcast -- Most Mornings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-most-mornings/) - Fun to do this podcast with Quanita. On a monthly rhythm, Quanita and I record a conversation, anything from 10-40 minutes in length. Sometimes it's us exploring a topic. Sometimes it's us reflecting on an experience. Sometimes it's us talking with a guest. The July podcast posted here was Quanita asking me a few questions
- [June Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/june-newsletter/) - Four years ago I started a newsletter. Felt that I wanted to. Felt that I needed to. Wanted to create something simple. It's one way of inviting and offering connection, learning, and steps. Quarterly is the rhythm that works for me. I offer a short general message and then highlight a few invitations to participate,
- [On Independence Day, USA](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-independence-day-usa/) - Sometimes the poetry is to point to what is hopeful, to what is soft, to what tenderizes the heart, and to what insists to flower among the rocks. Sometimes, the poetry is to point to what is discouraging, to what is hard, to what conflicts the heart, and to what can only begin to grow
- [On A Morning Like This](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-a-morning-like-this/) - On a morning like thisI mostly seek stillness.On a morning like thissparrows chirping tree to treesing my heart to song.On a morning like thisa 5:30 sunrisebeckons my wonder to beauty.On a morning like thisslow pacequickens my imagination.On a morning like thisgratitude for lifesteadies me.On a morning like thispause sets things in motion.
- [True to Self](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/true-to-self/) - These Hollyhocks are from a recent walk in my neighborhood. I so enjoyed their beauty. Their "true to self" quality (or the "true to self" story that I enjoyed making up about them). And then there is "true to self" from a recent conversation with a younger man that carries wisdom of an older man
- [And Then, Martha Medeiros](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/and-then-martha-medeiros/) - Martha Medeiros is a Brazilian Poet. Her poem, You Start Dying Slowly is often attributed to Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda, another beloved in my poetry heart. Another nod of appreciation to friend and colleague Katharine Weinmann for posting this poem recently, "You Start Dying Slowly." It is a poem that speaks to me to the
- [Mysteries, Yes -- Mary Oliver (& Thx to Katharine)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mysteries-yes-mary-oliver-thx-to-katharine/) - I woke this morning without energy to follow the pattern of news delivery. I woke today further discouraged by the pattern of sound bytes made to manipulate, aggravate, and often, to recruit. It's quite a thing to live, as many of us are, sorting data, feeling, and meaning. It's quite a thing to live, filtering
- [Daisy Proliferation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/daisy-proliferation/) - I was going to say, "daisy explosion," but in a moment of gut check on default language use, opted for "proliferation." Less aggressive. After all, it's the beauty of it that moves me to share. Where I live, this is the time of year when daisies like this come out by the hundreds. And though
- [Three Questions To Cohere Transitions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-questions-to-cohere-transitions/) - It was a couple of weeks ago that Quanita Roberson and I were coming up with a simple process for our Fire & Water small groups to harvest a bit of learning and a bit of clarity. One of the small groups sat at this fire pit, knee to knee. We were aware that some
- [Through Me -- Nicole Frederickson](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/through-me-nicole-frederickson/) - I love all of this post by Nicole Frederickson. It's Nicole capping a 100-day challenge of writing. As a writer, it excites me when anyone commits to such a journey. I know some of the transition that occurs -- from writing words to being written. It's Nicole's sharing what changed her inner and outer. These
- [I Want to See You Dance -- Gina Puorro](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-want-to-see-you-dance-gina-puorro/) - Gina Puorro is one of the blogs that shows up in my inbox from time to time. There's a rawness in her words that I appreciate. There's a realness that I feel moved by. It's not rawness and realness to entertain. No, I receive it as rawness and realness to awaken from so much contemporary
- [Reflecting on "Most Mornings"](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflecting-on-most-mornings/) - Yes, I'm going to promote and celebrate this book, Most Mornings, with a few posts. With intent to offer a bit of context that goes with the publication. I'm a person who tends to appreciate some of the story under the story. First, I wrote most of it in November 2021. So, winter was arriving
- [Poetry Published](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetry-published/) - Poetry, particularly prose-form poetry, is very important to me. It continues to grow as very important sense-making practice and artistry for me. I love finding essence in a few words and images. I love reflecting through poetry about work, about community, about life itself. Most Mornings is my second published collections of poems. It's hot
- [Waking Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/waking-together/) - What a delight to be with the 19 of us over five days. It was closing retreat for the second Fire & Water Cohort. It was at Hope Springs, near Peebles, Ohio. It is no small thing to journey together, to return home to self, to wake together in deep connection and learning. It is
- [Return -- Fire & Water Cohort](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/return-fire-water-cohort/) - Looking forward to this bunch arriving today. Plus and minus a few for varied circumstance. Looking forward to the reconnection, the community of it, the softened edges. Looking forward to the celebration -- 16 months of journey as cohort. To help grow and integrate the deeply inner that carries to the varied outer that any
- [In Our Nature](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-our-nature/) - I know the above in a modified form about meditation and silence. As told from a Quaker community that would normally breathe together for 10 minutes. As the story goes, in a very busy time, the person leading the gathering acknowledges the busyness. "I know we have much to do today and that there is
- [Learned In A Recent Walk](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learned-in-a-recent-walk/) - It was a spring day, recently. There's me in my travels, feeling opening in mind and heart. It's so great to wander. It's so great to feel and encounter, not just know. It was a spring day, recently that I walked with a new friend. We both welcomed the ease of a wander together. It's
- [Intrigued](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/intrigued/) - I am intrigued by what lays ahead,where the path leads.I am intrigued by what other paths connect,known and not.I am intrigued by people that come to join,with insight that they bring.I am intrigued by how we will find way,to sense-making.I know for me, I seek aliveness in learning and loving,of self, of other, and of
- [A Week of Morning Presence Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-week-of-morning-presence-practice/) - One of the things that I loved about the last week, was practice each morning. It looks like sword (bokken) training. It's really presence. Centering. Movement. Flow. Pictured above is me with new friend Phil, guided by Toke Moeller, doing a bit of the practice on Toke & Monica's deck in Sejs, Denmark. Fun to
- [Practice For Peace -- An Inviting Narrative of Purpose](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/practice-for-peace-an-inviting-narrative-of-purpose/) - I'm glad for this little book, recently gifted to me. It's a fine collection of quotes, phrases, images, and principles that fits nicely in my pocket. It's pre-loved, by a person I admire for his ways in the world. And before him, by another younger man that I have deep respect for. It's the kind
- [Received](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/received/) - What a treat to be greeted by my old friend and brother Toke yesterday. I flew from Utah to Amsterdam. Then from Amsterdam to Billund, near Denmark's Lake District, near Silkeborg. What a treat to see the green of a Denmark Spring season. To feel the green of a friendship that last had us face
- [A Welcome](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-welcome/) - I'm thinking ahead -- spirit of welcome. Quanita Roberson and I will host two upcoming online experiences. One is a repeat of our Essence of Circle Practice. This is one session, online. Four hours. We create deliberate focus on essence as the title says -- what we've learned gets to the heart of practice in
- [Loved](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/loved/) - I returned to my home on the weekend, from a week away. I returned to find newness in parts of the garden. The Columbine flowers, now on top of two foot stems. It's a softening moment for me to step up my front steps and to see the Columbine return. Then there is the Chives,
- [Moving Through The Grief of Racism -- Robin Wright](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/moving-through-the-grief-of-racism-robin-wright/) - I'm moved by this post, written three days ago by Robin Wright. Robin starts with recent racial slaughter in Buffalo, New York. She shares feeling. Processing. Grief. Confusion. Clarity. She shares what it feels like -- witness of the deeply inner played out in repeated, patterned occurrence. She offers suggestions. She calls to the heart
- [Reflective Wonder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflective-wonder/) - This morning I sat in this chair overlooking this lake. It was just before 7:00. It was misty and cloudy, but not cold. Bird song was abundant. Shrills. Whistles. Beeps. Bells. Reflective wonder is regular practice for me. I find I both need and enjoy a generative kind of stillness. All of that readies me
- [Return](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/return-2/) - Last night was a return of sorts. To a retreat venue barely on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River near Cincinnati. It's a venue that I've been to once before. Good to be by a lake. Last night was a return of sorts. To the Original Group of Fire & Water Leadership and Rite
- [There Is A Cosmos](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-is-a-cosmos/) - I enjoyed the walk yesterday. Ault Park in Cincinnati. With Quanita. A break in the day to be in sunshine. With flowers. Broader vistas. Thanks to the park. To the Iris. To Carl Jung for this reference above about order and disorder in the cosmos. To Michael Meade for sharing such cosmic wonders. There is
- [Blooming Abundantly](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blooming-abundantly/) - The Allium bloom abundantly this time of year where I live. Purple umbelled flowers on top of tall-standing stems. Each year there are more. I'm a person that so loves the invitation to notice what is outer, and then connect it to what is inner. There is always relevance. A further layer of bloom if
- [Spring Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/spring-newsletter/) - Glad to offer this quarterly newsletter. It highlights a few links to resources -- to participate, to read, and to listen to. Glad also to offer this newsletter with a few headlines of interest -- David Whyte's Crossing the Unknown Sea is really bringing some clarity for me of the very human search for belonging
- [Slice of Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/slice-of-life/) - Slice of life writing is some of my favorite writing. It takes the slightest of images or experience and offers it a place of harvest, of visibility, of connected tissue. Stick with slice of life writing and I'm very confident that the seemingly most insignificant noticings can be woven to much richer tapestry of meaning
- [Nourishing and Simplifying Vast Possibilities of the Inner](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/nourishing-and-simplifying-vast-possibilities-of-the-inner/) - The skies out my window are fully greyed this morning.Rain falls.I see it streaking to waiting grasses and trees.I hear it collecting at rooftop trough and tumbling to ground.The skies out my window are fully greyed this morning.Rain falls.It quenches droughted land, inner and outer.It nourishes gardened plot, seeds venturing to spring sprouts.The candle on
- [Poetry's Invitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poetrys-invitation/) - This weekend I went through a few bookshelves. My intent was a bit of sorting. Selecting a few to give to the public library. Reclaiming a bit of order on the shelves and stacks that had grown on my floor. Not surprising to find a few books that I'd lost touch with. In particular, a
- [Ritualized Nowing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ritualized-nowing/) - I love a good burn. Fire is a goto element for me. The inside my home variety of burn is a candle. Sometimes a tea-light that burns 4-5 hours. Sometimes a larger jar candle that I can also burn for short periods or extend to 3 consecutive days. The outside my home variety of fire
- [In the New Life](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-the-new-life/) - Earlier this week a friend / colleague, Tim Merry (The Outside) met with Quanita Roberson and me to set up a podcast conversation for the summer. Tim asked a few questions. It was mostly a connection call for what will later be a conversation (Tim, Tuesday, Quanita, me) on equity, presence, systems change, inner change
- [Robust Interior](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/robust-interior/) - I'm in several 1-1 interviews today. The context is the beginning of a 5-month leadership development program. The program is one that I created with a colleague for application internally at the company he works at. The interviews are mostly about connecting -- starting or growing a relationship that will encourage learning, wonder, experiments together,
- [Hope is a Sewer Rat (Caitlin Seida)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hope-is-a-sewer-rat-caitlin-seida/) - Landscapes thrill me. Like this one above, driving through Montana last week. It's all of it. The clouds. The snow-capped mountains. The open fields. All of that opens my imagination. It casts a spell of wonder. Landscapes of other kinds also thrill me. Like the one below, written by Caitlin Seida (shared by Shawna Lemay).
- [Knowing Dark, Knowing Light](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/knowing-dark-knowing-light/) - Yup. Dark feet. Dark wings. With thanks to American mythologist and story-teller, Michael Meade.
- [Simple Words](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-words/) - I remain a person that needs the most simple to guide me. Sometimes a few words of reminder that touches the center of things, the deeper why. Sometimes a feeling that aligns my heart with my head. From earlier today... There is only today.Awakened.Let that be enough.To be with Life itself,lived with others near. Yes,
- [The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy -- Robert Bly](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-soul-is-here-for-its-own-joy-robert-bly/) - Yesterday I received a book, The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy, edited and compiled by Robert Bly. The book's subtitle is "Sacred Poems from Many Cultures." All of that intrigues me. Invites me. Opens my heart. I've been paying particular attention to Robert Bly over the last 6 months. I love having this
- [An Ode to Spaciousness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-ode-to-spaciousness/) - Today continues road trip for me. Today continues an added spaciousness. And words that arise in heart to go with this photo I took last week in Utah. For inspiration. It is in spaciousness,the uncompressed,that I so often encounter flow,life as river. It is in unstructured,the freely unfolding,that I so often come to know myself,sourced
- [Love of Learning; Love of Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/love-of-learning-love-of-journey/) - Today is a driving day for me. Solo road trip. North from where I live in Utah. Landing tomorrow in Edmonton to see my folks and some family that I haven't seen since pre-Covid. I love the open road. I love the Audible listens (Elizabeth II: The Life of a Monarch; Eddie Vedder, I Am
- [Today Begins](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/today-begins/) - Today begins this offering.It's circle honed to essence.It's underlaying principle.It's application from nuanced claritythat I hope simplifies and deepens.I love a good journey to the heart of thingsin the company of 20 participantsand a co-host, co-creator, Quanita,that can both see longer arcs, yet be so keenly attentive to the now. Today begins, for me, like
- [Extraordinary in the Ordinary](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/extraordinary-in-the-ordinary/) - Last week I was part of a podcast panel convened by Dr. Steve Cady of Bowling Green University. The overarching theme was on Collaborative Change. Four of us shared a few stories and offered a few encouragements to a grad student class and a few others that joined online. The overarching message that grew out
- [Roots in Systems Thinking](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/roots-in-systems-thinking/) - It was many years ago that "systems thinking" became a root of my thinking, teaching, and consulting. This history includes my general orientation to life as a young man -- having the hunch that things are connected. It's how I could make sense of things. My love of systems thinking grew in graduate school when
- [Gratitude](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gratitude/) - There are times when I find myself in deep gratitude. Gratitude as an energy. As a disposition. Gratitude as a softened heart. As a widely felt appreciation. Gratitude as an intensity. As a synced heartbeat with some sense of Flow in Life. Today I returned from three days in Southern Utah. Yes, there are palm
- [Living Soulfully](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/living-soulfully/) - I appreciate these words below from Michael Meade, a significant voice for people (particularly men) living with awareness. I relate so much to the invitation to center in soulfulness and wisdom, that gets behind the details of a particular crisis, and into the heart of it. For inspiration. The great crises of the world do
- [Echolocation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/echolocation/) - Earlier this month I co-hosted with Quanita Roberson a group of faith community people. There were 25 of us together for a day of regeneration -- finding connection, sharing insights, and animating purpose. As is so often the case, we began our group process with a circle of people invited to speak their name and
- [Lessons Learned From The Fire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/lessons-learned-from-the-fire/) - At Fire & Water, we often take on tending a fire together. For 48+ hours. It is a medicine to be in relationship with fire. It also gives us a well-tended fire to create ritual. I love the way that fire teaches about both inner condition of being human (emotions, feelings, inspirations, fears) and about
- [From the Other Side](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-the-other-side/) - The pictures are from gathering last week at Hope Springs Institute in Peebles, Ohio. It's beautiful land and space tended by beautiful people. It's beautiful to host Fire & Water with Quanita Roberson this past week. It's beautiful to be in connection and journey. These words below came a couple of weeks ago. They shape
- [Live Wonder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/live-wonder/) - A photo from a weekend hike. Near Dear Creek Reservoir, Utah County. Spring does what Spring does, bringing life. An arising of words, from a weekend ponder. Near to my heart. Clarity also does what Clarity does, bringing life. For inspiration. Bewith what is.Knowwhat bringsyou alive.From that, offercontribution.Give voice to purpose.Invite possibilityand heart.Livewonder.
- [Fire & Water Retreat](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fire-water-retreat/) - Today begins a five day retreat with a group of Fire & Water participants. Wednesday night through Sunday afternoon we get to journey together. I'm so glad to be in person with all of the nuanced connection that comes from sharing meals, walks, learning, and recreation together. It means that Quanita Roberson and I have
- [No Time Like The Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/no-time-like-the-now/) - Sage-ing is a quarterly publication of The Okanagan Institute. I know about it because of my friend / colleague Katharine Weinmann. I love the focus of offering and witnessing grace, spirit, and gratitude. I had a piece published in the Spring Issue. The theme was "No Time Like the Future." I offered a piece on
- [All The Good](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-the-good/) - Musician Jana Stanfield writes, I cannot doAll the goodThat the worldNeedsBut the worldNeeds all the goodThat I can do. First, I like the phrase. Clever. Catchy. Second, I like where it points. To contribution. To practice. To a committed heart. Third, I love the pivot from this material to an invitation for a group of
- [Who Spilled Rainbows on the Wall?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/who-spilled-rainbows-on-the-wall/) - One of my favorite stories ever is from eleven years ago. It is a sunny mid Saturday morning. It involves my then five year-old son waking up from overnight sleep. He's still in his pajamas as he playfully skips down the stairs from his bedroom. I'm in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. My son sees
- [The Power and Need of Circle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-power-and-need-of-circle/) - This is what the starting version of Circle looked like last week. Twenty-five chairs faced into a center. Twenty-five chairs that start with the premise that it is important to remember the feeling of turned to one another. A center that has the feel of hearth. A center that becomes a landing place for questions,
- [Loving The World](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/loving-the-world/) - These images and these words below by Mary Oliver (thanks Libby Smith for recent reminder), grow delight and purpose in me. The images are from the weekend, working and community-building in San Diego, California. I love the big views. I love the close in of "eyes" in rocks. The words of Mary Oliver sing with
- [Invite Beauty -- Within & Among](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invite-beauty-within-among/) - Today I'm headed to San Diego, California. It's at the invitation from a colleague and friend who is based in the faith community world. She's a person seeking to do good, seeking to bring out beauty in her congregation. I would say it is bringing out beauty within and among. I'll do this work with
- [To Notice Well](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-notice-well/) - In working with groups and in coaching, when I search for the core of what I invite others (and myself) to experience, I often land on the simple act of noticing. Be good noticers. It's everything from a dimly lit intuitive observation to three notes of scribbled next step hunches. It's everything from having the
- [Two Kinds of Intelligence -- Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/two-kinds-of-intelligence-rumi/) - There is a Rumi passage (translated by Coleman Barks) that I appreciate. As you will see, it speaks to two kinds of intelligence. In working with groups, so often I'm seeking to cultivate that inner fountain of knowing and wisdom. I'm trying to cultivate fields in which people recognize their intuitions as important and powerful
- [Time to Move Through](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/time-to-move-through/) - I know that many of us are alert to awareness. And healing. And wholeheartedness. Sometimes it's the flow. Sometimes it's a little extra kindness with some wound care. I know that such circumstance is part of growing in life and with life. Cheers to the wisdom that takes root, steadying what is now and what
- [When The Poets Speak](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-the-poets-speak/) - I know it is true for me -- there are many times when I can't hear or see, unless it is through the poets. Something in me needs imagery. Something in me needs relief from data and facts. Something in me needs artistry offered only for what it is. Artistry rather than a cajoling of
- [From the Root -- Michael Meade](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-the-root-michael-meade/) - I'm appreciating images and wisdom that Michael Meade shares (I got this from Instagram). Michael is one who has contributed to a movement of thoughtful men in particular. Yes to the search for deeper self. Yes for that search to be buoyed by a community of others in similar search. And yes for elders that
- [In A Time When Heart Is Needed -- Volodymyr Zelenskyy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-a-time-when-heart-is-needed-volodymyr-zelenskyy/) - As this Putin-lead Russian invasion of Ukraine now approaches a week, there are so many layers of response. I see clips of local and abroad Ukrainians appealing for peace and denouncing war. I see clips of local and abroad Russians also calling out for peace and denouncing war. One part of all war is an
- [Remembering the Simple](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remembering-the-simple/) - It seems that I cycle quite regularly to reminders to be simple. Sometimes it's life feeling complicated. Or full. Sometimes it's grief that beckons me. Sometimes it's right-timed intuitive listening -- "just go back to the simple" is what I so often hear. For me, my relationship with simple often shows itself when I need
- [The Anatomy of Peace -- John Roedel](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-anatomy-of-peace-john-roedel/) - Nod of thanks to Wendy Miller Olapade for sharing this Roedel poem. Roedel is a writer and comic. I love this poem for it's narrative of divorced brain and heart (telling it like it is for so many of us). I also love it for it's narrative of invitation (to welcome breath). Enjoy the excerpt
- [Being Better Humans](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/being-better-humans/) - It's a favorite and central focus for me -- being better humans. I love it as invitation to get beyond the initial surface conversations when working with groups. I love the shift it creates from what can so often be defaulted "tasks of doing" to more exploratory "wonders of being." And I love connecting that
- [Come, Come](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/come-come/) - Yes, a nice invitation from the 13th Century Persian Poet, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. The phrase that stands out to me this time is "...lover of leaving...." I suppose, because within me lives the person that has left a few times. Sometimes, leaving with courage, to heed the irrepressible call of life unfolding. Sometimes, leaving
- [From A Continued Path of Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-a-continued-path-of-learning/) - On goes this Wisdom Series: Forgiveness. It's not just the class time. It's the days between that surface the learning. I find this true when I am a participant. I find it true, as it is this time, when I'm co-hosting others. The beauty of anger (Week 1 theme) is that it points to important
- [A New Offering -- Essence of Circle Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-new-offering-essence-of-circle-practice/) - I'm excited to offer this new workshop. It combines key learning about Circle from Quanita Roberson and myself. In short, the workshop hones some of the most needed aspects of circle practice, essences gained from many years of circle teaching and circle living. Registration is here. More information and description is below. Big welcome.
- [Catching Up to Podcast Posts](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/catching-up-to-podcast-posts/) - Quanita Roberson and I have recorded a couple as part of our Fire & Water Podcast. Check these: Quanita's Book, The InnerGround Railroad (20 minutes, January 2022) -- Quanita's book (coauthor Amy Howton) was then being printed. I didn't want that moment of completion to go unnoticed. This was our conversation. The Masculine & The
- [Point of Light -- Tyler Perry](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/point-of-light-tyler-perry/) - It's a four-minute video with New Orleans-born actor, director, story-teller, and writer Tyler Perry (a nod of thanks to Dave for sending). Yes, there are multiple inspirations included -- "being a point of light" most clearly. I also love the inspiration of what is possible in the kind of listening that Perry describes. Listening to
- [Sacred Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sacred-practice/) - A couple of weeks ago, my friend and colleague Katharine Weinmann posted a blog on Spinning the Sacred Feminine. The whole thing is a good read. I love Katharine's heart and brain and weaving spirit in it. Included in Katharine's post was a list of eight qualities of sacred feminine (sourced from Christine Valters Paintner).
- [Me Being Alive; Your Being Alive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/me-being-alive-your-being-alive/) - Some wise words in this one. I love the shift to "...you looking at the universe that matters..." It's not just the screen that matters; it's the projector. With a nod of thanks to friend / colleague, Toke Moeller, a brother of the deepest sorts for sharing. And nod to one of Toke's key teachers,
- [Give The Heart More Strength -- St. Catherine of Siena](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/give-the-heart-more-strength-st-catherine-of-siena/) - St. Catherine (Catherine Benincasa) lived in 1300s Italy. She lived in a time of class feuds, religious wars, Black Plague, and famine. She was known for love of human beings, and a desire to understand more of God, the Holy. I'm touched this morning by her poem, that speaks to heart and song. Give The
- [Wisdom Path](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wisdom-path/) - This week Quanita Roberson and I will begin another 4-week wisdom series. There are two groups of 12-13 people participating. The overarching theme is Forgiveness. The weekly themes are respectively, Anger, Grief, Compassion, and Grace. This week I find myself stirring with the series and with the themes, particularly that of anger. It's always a
- [Seeing Differently](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/seeing-differently/) - From a nice little drive yesterday, Lincoln Beach, on the south side of Utah Lake. I haven't seen Bald Eagles there before. Yesterday there were four. And a huge Golden Eagle. All in the quiet of a winter morning in which I sought seeing, differently. I woke,wishing departurefrom routines.I drove,seekingsight.Lookingover lake shorewas Bald Eagle.That was
- [A Walk With A View](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-walk-with-a-view/) - This is a favorite view that inspires me. It's from where I most often walk, headed west on Lakeview Rd (could just as easily be called Mountainview Rd, but then that would be true of many roads here). It's looking east toward Mt Timpanogos, which caps at just over 12,000 feet in elevation, part of
- [This Moment -- An Honoring of An Uncle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-moment-an-honoring-of-an-uncle/) - Yesterday I learned that an Uncle died. He had a few health challenges that his body could no longer navigate. And emotional challenges too, that linger in the way that life seems to invoke. And complications related to all of that. He was 69 or 70. It's natural to reflect on a life transitioned. Problems
- [Addendum](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/addendum/) - Last week I posted. A Nuanced Note on Outcomes. I've got one more to add. Calm. So, now it is Hope, Not Alone, Candor, and Calm. Earlier today I was on a call with Quanita Roberson and a man who works much with educators. We were exploring work together that first would begin with the
- [Winter Privacy Poems -- Robert Bly](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/winter-privacy-poems-robert-bly/) - One of the things I appreciate in Bly's writing, as I continue through his Collected Poems, is his commitment to a solitude and privacy. He writes of sourcing that comes out of the subtle, underneath the fields of the loud and the obvious. I continue to learn that there is important sourcing that comes from
- [A Nuanced Note on Outcomes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-nuanced-note-on-outcomes/) - Let's be clear up front -- not all outcomes in all circumstances are the same. We can do better than the seduction that lumps all of those many kinds together. When I'm engaged in conversations with groups about outcomes, I continue to find it useful to differentiate contexts. The outcomes for a clear and simple
- [Four Word Self Help -- Patti Digh](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/four-word-self-help-patti-digh/) - I'm enjoying this Patti Digh book, Four Word Self Help. I don't know Patti Digh personally, but I'm coming to know her words and wisdom (nod of thanks to Chris Corrigan). As she names on her book cover, these contents are about simple wisdom for complex lives. Patti offers short essays to theme sections. She
- [Three Questions to Reanimate Purpose](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-questions-to-reanimate-purpose/) - One of my mentors once shared..., I confess that there is nothing to teach; no religion, no science, no information which will lead your mind back to the Tao. Today I speak in this fashion, tomorrow in another, but always the Integral Way is beyond words and beyond mind. Simply be aware of the oneness
- [True To](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/true-to/) - The Irish poet and playwright Seamus Haney (1939-2013) writes, The true and durable pathinto and through experienceinvolves being true...to your own solitude,true to your own secret knowledge. Yes, this one guides, doesn't it. One of the most essential journeys for any of us, I find, is to dare to lean to the sourcing that is
- [Wisdom Series Starts Soon](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wisdom-series-starts-soon/) - The next Wisdom Series (4 sessions, Thursdays in February) that Quanita Roberson and I host is starting soon. All of the work that Quanita and I offer is intended to grow wisdom and soulfulness. We offer our work to cultivate a grounded and robust center -- inner clarity. We offer our work to cultivate connection
- [A Readied Psyche](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-readied-psyche/) - It seems that every year, sometime about this part of January, I find my psyche readied to return to some routines. Some day to day structure. Some simple and clear tasks. Some stick to it energy. I think of these re-established routines as bedrock to feed the essential non-routine work that I do, growing myself
- [Live in the Mess -- Joan Didion](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/live-in-the-mess-joan-didion/) - Joan Didion was a writer, activist, and political watchdog. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. Didion died December 23, 2021. A friend recently shared this Didion passage below, some guidance to "live in the mess," which continues to inspire me. What I want to tell you todayis not to
- [In The Company of Others](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-the-company-of-others/) - For the last fifteen years, particularly in early summer, I was able to visit and dwell in the forest region above. It's southeast British Columbia, Canada. My parents had a cabin there for many years. It meant many walks among the trees. Sometimes solo. Sometimes in the company of others. One of the super skills
- [A Loud Call To Silence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-loud-call-to-silence/) - It's not new for me to feel this call, a call to being silent and very quiet for a few days. There are times when I feel that I need to be restored by silence. It's different from rest. The call to silence often has me sitting quietly for long chunks of time. Sometimes with
- [Simple Questions for Important Sorting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-questions-for-important-sorting/) - The Cynefin model / framework above is one that I use often, particularly when I'm trying to invoke a bit of nuanced knowing about complexity and its implications in how a group of people thinks about its work and interrelatedness. Here's an overview description. Here's an article that describes a bit more. One of my
- [A Day of Turning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-day-of-turning/) - Today is a day of turning. I've often felt early January as such. For me, it is turning from some of the time that has been family. Kids. A few meals together. Walks. End of year reflections. A few intentions and goals. For me, it is turning to the work that is in front of
- [To The Quiet](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/to-the-quiet/) - There is some tucking in that I'm moving toward. It's December, with Christmas coming.It's Solstice, with the delight of dark aaathat also comes with small daily increments of light returning.For me, amidst noise, this is a time of year when I inevitably seek the quiet.To return my attention to the open and beckoning night skies,
- [Add in Some Bly](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/add-in-some-bly/) - Robert Bly is another poet I find myself reading these days. A little extra, given his passing earlier this year. So, in addition to David Whyte's words that I posted yesterday, I add in a mix of some Bly today, that continue to guide me in my week. Again, with appreciation for Bly's thoughtful and
- [Some Whyte for Winter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-whyte-for-winter/) - A few days back, a Fire & Water participant shared an excerpt from a David Whyte poem (thx Juliet). The full poem is here. I love many lines and images from this poem. In this, "...you can belong to everything simply by listening..." Ah, there it is. The first act. A place to start. Listening.
- [Offer Your Gifts](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/offer-your-gifts/) - I am very delighted to be working with people these last three days that seek to bring themselves forward in such gifting ways. This morning I sit by a fire, readying for our last morning together, grateful for the days passed and for the gifts shared. Offer Your Gifts I believe we live in timeswhen
- [The Need for Wisdom](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-need-for-wisdom/) - One of the stories that I tell myself is that we (people in general and in very specific circumstance) need more wisdom. It's not more data and knowledge, it's more integration. In our jobs. In our families. In our communities. In the circumstance we are called to live in these times. Not more default, narrowed
- [A 50 Hour Fire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-50-hour-fire/) - I love to tend a fire in a fire pit, which I got to do a lot of last week. As part of the Fire & Water journey, the whole group took turns in pairs tending an outdoor fire for 50 continuous hours. It had purpose of being a ceremonial fire in the end for
- [Harvest](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/harvest-2/) - One of the most important teachings that I learned early through The Art of Hosting is harvest. It is the efforting and attentiveness to make visible learning and experience that have arisen. For many years, I've nuanced that teaching into four layers. There is the harvest that is data -- words, write-ups, images, poems. There
- [Remembering the Outside and the Inside](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/remembering-the-outside-and-the-inside/) - It's good to remember what this feels like, gathering with people under the same roof. For the most basic of things -- circling, relating to a center, and relating to a landscape. I'm grateful to the people of Hope Springs Institute that have welcomed our group here. To rest, to be fed, to commune together.
- [Beyond The Front Gate](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beyond-the-front-gate/) - Today is a beginning to a five day retreat for Fire & Water. Twenty or so people will arrive. Some from near. Some traveling from far. The theme for this retreat is to gather medicine (and offer, and create) so as to better be able to stay in life's challenges and opportunities (ordeals). Many people
- [Jeepers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/jeepers/) - I don't know what to call this post. It's a lot, this life. Fragments. Poems. Images. Wonders. Wanders. Frights. Delights. It's human life. Lived in a life. In a day. In two and a half breaths on a Tuesday. The best that I can find is the exclamation, "jeepers," meaning, a convenient word to touch
- [Dreams](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/dreams/) - Most often I write my dreams. Sometimes I need to make scribbles of images -- an alternative to the symbols that are letters and words -- as I did above on the weekend. Sometimes I need the far less concretized. I've come to understand that there are many ways that we humans find our way
- [An Orientation (Rule of Life) to Guide](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-orientation-rule-of-life-to-guide/) - This is a repost. Originally from November 24, 2020 -- so, a year ago. It's also a post that I spoke into a podcast. Listen here if you like -- 18 minutes. Over the last two weeks I've had little time outside. Hurt my knee (in a no-fabulous story way). It's been painful to walk.
- [14 Ways of Looking at Community -- Parker Palmer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/14-ways-of-looking-at-community-parker-palmer/) - I'm grateful to a friend, Lisa Hess, who shared a Parker Palmer article. To Lisa for her wise ways in the world. To Parker Palmer for a life dedicated to nuancing courage and renewal. I'm excerpting below. The "ways" are enough to carry my heart deeply to communal wonder. The full article is here. Community
- [Sweet Darkness -- David Whyte](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/sweet-darkness-david-whyte/) - I'm coming to realize that this poem below, by the Irish / American David Whyte, shows up to guide me with regularity. Sometimes it is in the darkened days that lead to Winter Solstice. When my body seems to know to go a bit further inward. Sometimes the guidance is when I'm tired, and I'm
- [Not Just Harder Questions -- Better Formats To Nurture Engaging Harder Questions Please](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/not-just-harder-questions-better-formats-to-nurture-engaging-harder-questions-please/) - "We must ask harder questions." I loved it when my friend and colleague spoke this recently. We were in a conversation about the future of church institutions and some shared work. She spoke with emphasis and exclamation, as many of us are these days. In this instance, it was an issue of digging deeper to
- [Metaverse - How About Meta Real](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/metaverse-how-about-meta-real/) - It's a spoof, 2 minutes long. One of the things I appreciate with it, is the calling out of the imitation that has supplanted the real. It's not the first time nor the last that imitation, metaverse, displaces the real. There are oodles of examples with ranges of good and bad that go with the
- [Robert Bly, 1926-2021](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/robert-bly-1926-2021/) - He died this week. The Minnesota Poet. The man that demonstrated his courage through his words, through a willingness to be different, through a willingness to stand both for what was true in his belly, and to stand against what made little sense in contemporary norms. I find myself reading a little extra Bly this
- [All Life Is Meeting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-life-is-meeting/) - For a long time, this has been a favorite notion that I've spoken into my facilitation -- All life is meeting. It comes from the work of Martin Buber, a 20th century philosopher. I love the way that it points to small and large meetings at the edges. I love the way that it points
- [There Are Men Too Gentle To Live Among Wolves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-are-men-too-gentle-to-live-among-wolves/) - Today I celebrate this poem from James Kavanaugh. He was an American Catholic Priest turned Clinical Psychologist. He contributed to an awakened men's movement and to religious expansiveness in the mid to late 1900s. His work continues to live in me and in many. I love the poem for its naming and its invitation. Naming
- [Stages of Grief, Stages of Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stages-of-grief-stages-of-joy/) - Swiss-born Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was well known for her model on the five stages of grief. DenialAngerBargainingDepressionAcceptance As one who appreciates acronyms to help my brain remember, DABDA is what I use. Kubler-Ross used the model widely. Initially to help map some of the journey that people experienced in death and dying. But later also to
- [Like A River Flows](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/like-a-river-flows/) - I've referenced this John O'Donohue poem before. FluentI would like to liveLike a river flows.Carried by the surpriseOf its own unfolding. O'Donohue (1956 - 2008) was an Irish philosopher, writer, and theologian. Ireland is in one line of my personal ancestry. These days, I find myself paying extra attention to some of what is affiliated
- [Undivided Attention](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/undivided-attention/) - It remains true for me, that I'm a person that can't not seek some of what is underneath the surface. Often I'll reference it playfully as the thing under the thing under the thing (which turns out not to be a thing). It's not parceled and minisculed data that I seek. Rather, it's more akin
- [This Thing -- Gretta Vosper](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-thing-gretta-vosper/) - I'm grateful for this poem below. It is written by Gretta Vosper, a minister, writer, and atheist based in Canada. I'm grateful to my colleague and friend Katharine Weinmann, who posted this poem in her thoughtful blog / writing. What moves me in the poem is the intersection between what are quite sacred orientations --
- [Four Layers of Context -- A Shape That Reclaims Scale](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/four-layers-of-context-a-shape-that-reclaims-scale/) - There is a shape that is haunting me. By haunting, I mean staying with me. And calling out to me. And occupying brain space. And companioning me. And, in a way, asking me to draw it on napkins and scraps of paper. And, in a way, asking for different colors. This shape has four layers
- [Principles for a Deeper Container](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/principles-for-a-deeper-container/) - So many of us these days are working to create helpful containers. In facilitation, I think of these as containers for learning, as containers for connection, and as containers to nourish a deeply inner clarity that can then grow and inhabit outer being and doing. For some of us, however, the work isn't just facilitation.
- [More Change](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/more-change/) - More Autumn. More change. Mount Timpanogos in the background is collecting snow to hold through the winter and then release to water in streams, lakes, and reservoirs after Winter. Leaves gone golden, grasses gone yellow. On this day, a gray and clouded sky. I would do well (and I suspect many people) to learn further
- [Beauty in the Change](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beauty-in-the-change/) - Nearby is an orchard. An urban orchard. It is many trees on what is left of a city block now surrounded by homes and businesses. I live where urban meets rural. I was there recently at the orchard. The nearby fruit stand sells what remains of harvested apples, tomatoes, and a few vegetables. In two
- [Solidarity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/solidarity/) - I feel very unfinished in this post. It's not a conclusion I write. It's not a summary. It's not the final empty of river to ocean. Rather, this is midstream. Questions that contribute to learning that is both deeply personal, and simultaneously, broadly relevant and lived by many. What is solidarity? What is my responsibility
- [Some Wise Words From a Friend](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/some-wise-words-from-a-friend/) - Recently I reconnected with an old friend, Michelle Coleman. We met perhaps 15 years ago in Nova Scotia, Canada in some shared learning from The Art of Hosting body of work. Michelle and I have stayed in touch periodically through an email here and there. More recently with an invitation from her to explore some
- [A Walk -- Rilke](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-walk-rilke/) - Rainer Maria Rilke is Austrian by birth. He lived in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Parts of my ancestral line reach back to the geography near which Rilke lived. And, there are many poems and writings from him that I simply love. "A Walk" is one of these. I shared it with a friend
- [Tending Time](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tending-time/) - Today I walked for a couple of hours. In and among neighborhoods where I live. It's Autumn, which feels attractive to me with its red, orange, and yellow colors. I suppose the seasonal transition is attractive to me also -- has me reflective and pondering. It's been a while since I let myself just wander
- [Teachings Come -- Richard Wagamese](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/teachings-come-richard-wagamese/) - Teachings come from whereverwhen you open yourself to them.That's the trick of it, really.Open yourself to everythingand everything opens itself to you. Richard Wagamese is an Ojibway Elder. His writings and teachings have inspired me many times. It's the book, Embers, that I often go to. That and, One Drum. I'm glad for the guidance
- [On Fire & Sense-making Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-fire-sense-making-together/) - As long-time practitioner of circle, for many years now I have been inviting people to consider not just the methodology of circle but the being that is circle. It is both a format for meeting and a reclamation of a worldview that expects connection. I've been reading a book recently by Heather Haying and Bret
- [Movin' On -- Jonathan McReynolds](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/movin-on-jonathan-mcreynolds/) - Well, there's a sweet song. It's Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music. It's just under four minutes. Movin' On. I love the invitation to courage and clarity, to the letting go that is such a significant part of moving forward. Grateful to LaTanya for sharing this one, and for the way that she embodies courage and
- [What Shall I Do -- Christina Baldwin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-shall-i-do-christina-baldwin/) - I met Christina Baldwin in the late 1990s. It was some leadership work that my boss at the time, Margaret Wheatley, was beginning to form with Christina. Christina had the circle part of it. And a bunch more. Well became good colleagues and friends over the years. Christina influenced me much then, and has continued
- [A Fragile Bend of the Heart -- Shelley Blooms](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-fragile-bend-of-the-heart-shelley-blooms/) - I'm grateful for this poem, shared last week as a Start Point for a class on The Circle Way (thx Kimberly). And I'm grateful to this poet, Shelley Blooms for inviting such feeling into what is the deep work of this time for many of us -- feeling our way home. a fragile bend of
- [The Circle Way Essence Cards -- Now Available for Purchase](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-circle-way-essence-cards-now-available-for-purchase/) - For purchases, please email me, tenneson@tennesonwoolf.com. I'm generally the kind of human that appreciates simplicity. Not narrow and with blind eyes (hopefully not, though, garsh, I know I have that in me too). But rather, an appreciation that reaches for an essence or for deep guiding principles. Over the last couple of months, Quanita Roberson
- [Toward Being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/toward-being/) - Some of my writing is about my facilitation work. Sometimes it's a new insight on a process or a framework. I get excited about those things. Some of my writing is about seeing the world. Through my eyes and heart, whether it be beauty, or sorrow, or the many things between and combined together. I
- [Elders](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/elders/) - I've thought a lot about elders over the last couple of years. Some of that has been my own eldering that I offer to others. Some guidance. Some grounding. Some questions to follow. Some witness. Some of that has been the eldering that I have received or sought out. For the same qualities of guidance,
- [Simple -- Reflections](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-reflections/) - I included a chapter, "Simple" in my 2020 book of poems and reflections, A Cadence of Despair. Simple is something I come back to often. Like central and essential lake for water in the forest. Simple restores path for me. I've excerpted a few paragraphs below, with one of the poems included in that section
- [Let Life Through](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/let-life-through/) - It's Monday morning. The sun has yet to rise where I live. It's near frosted overnight at the elevation where I live. That will likely come later this week. These colors, these natural changes in the trees (above, from my neighborhood), continue to delight and amaze. This day is named in several ways for me.
- [Nobody Knows](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/nobody-knows/) - Everywhere I go, I meet people who are learning to lean in to the reality that most of our environments are just too complex to know completely. It doesn't mean that we don't know anything. It does mean that nobody can know everything. My work, on the surface, is mostly process consulting and facilitation. That
- [Truth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/truth/) - sd This weekend I was a participant in a class (Friday - Sunday) that helped to stir the pot of "truth" a bit. It sparked this narrative for me (the narrative matters a ton -- it's what we then build experience and perception around). There is more unseen than there is seen. Always. It's liberating,
- [Stacked Wood](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stacked-wood/) - Just a photo today. From a walk earlier this week. At a home not far from where I live in this rural meets urban area. Toward Timpanogos and its Wasatch Range. There is something about stacked wood and turning to Autumn that I love. I suppose it is about getting ready to turn inward for
- [Quarterly News](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/quarterly-news/) - For those of you who read this blog often, my version of a newsletter is quarterly. You'll see some familiar things. Options for participating in events that I'm a part of. Readings from a few of my blog posts. And links for listening to a few podcast recordings. Thanks for continuing to read, reflect, and
- [Showing Up](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/showing-up/) - I'm very glad for a conversation I had yesterday. With a colleague I've now known for five years. We were sharing many things. A recent trip. Shared friends and colleagues. What it takes to interrupt old patterns. What it takes to be in more awake and conscious journey through life in both the bigger arc
- [Space, Pace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/space-pace/) - On the weekend I got to visit a friend, and walk among these autumn leaves. I loved the friendship. I loved the carpetedness of this forest section. I've been writing a bit lately about yearnings. And about the spaces between tasks and todos in which integration is the important work. It's not just brain work,
- [Reset -- Gaining Clarity In A Time of Conflict](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reset-gaining-clarity-in-a-time-of-conflict/) - In my work with groups of people, sometimes specific teams, I have learned that the best of people periodically need reset. It's reset of intention to remember what matters. Sometimes it's reset of momentum to find an ease in flow together. Sometimes it's a general spirit of pause and retreat, to contribute health and wellness
- [Birthing Leadership Mind & Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/birthing-leadership-mind-heart/) - In a corporate leadership development program that I've created with a colleague, one aspect of the structure is 1-1 coaching calls. They are monthly. They follow a 3-day launch retreat together. As I share with the people in these calls, "they are largely about keeping your learning alive so as to develop more of your
- [Awake](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/awake-2/) - I spoke this Rumi passage recently with a group of ten of us gathered. RumiAwake a while.It does not have to be forever.Just now.One step upon the sky's soft skirtwould be enough. I love the kindness of awake, even if just for a moment. The relief of not being forever. Just now. I continue to
- [It's So Damn Intimate](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/its-so-damn-intimate/) - Thanks to my buddy Roq for sharing this Ben Bushill spoken poetry. Bushill is a UK poet, carpenter, and father among other things. Ah yes, it is so damn intimate to be human. It is so damn intimate to be hereto be sharing this wild earth with yousharing this breath,drinking the same watereating from the
- [Gathered](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/gathered/) - What a treat to gather in a place like this. This was hearth space, in Kenton County, Kentucky for a Fire & Water retreat. We were a group of ten in five days together. To create connection. To encourage letting go. To create more connection. To learn from the relational way of being together. So
- [The Inner Work of Opposition](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-inner-work-of-opposition/) - I've been needing this kind of medicine lately. Offered by the Swiss Psychiatrist, Carl Jung. I saw it posted by American Mythologist, Michael Meade. Whenever my outer world focusses on opposition, I've learned to look further inward. I find I really need a space of quiet. Often sitting in meditative ways for a longer period.
- [Bounty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/bounty/) - It was the day before I left for travel that I picked these garden tomatoes. I thought there were 2-3. But sure enough, hidden under a few vines and leaves, was this ample bowlful of harvest. That kind of bounty is particularly satisfying to me. The surprise. The fruit that has soaked up sun and
- [Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning/) - This week I will cohost with Quanita Roberson the first journey for another Fire & Water Cohort. There will be 11 of us. We will be face-to-face. I find myself anticipating the feeling of a shared living room, shared meals, and an added ability to meander together in the space of words, silence, images, and
- [Levels of Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/levels-of-joy/) - I'm grateful to those participating in the current Online Wisdom Series I'm cohosting with Quanita Roberson -- Wisdom of Joy. I'm grateful to those so willing to journey, experiment, and practice. We are two weeks deep. One week with focus on Joy as Commitment. Another week with focus on Joy as Activation. From that, arises
- [Learning Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-together/) - Many years ago, myself and a few colleagues were playing with alternatives to the statement, "The business of business is business." We were challenging the product and profit narrative. We were wanting to emphasize other aspects of being in groups and communities. "The business of business is community." Or, "The business of business is learning."
- [Webbed](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/webbed/) - This kind of image so often captures my attention. It's the web, reminding me of connection. It's the impressive creation that spiders weave, reminding me to build and to let go. It's the dew bubbled, reminding me of the beauty of cohesion. It's the often invisible brought to visibility, reminding me of the importance of
- [Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-2/) - Today is a day that begins a 4-week series on wisdom through joy. Today's focus in particular is about joy as a commitment. In the process of offering this wisdom series, one of the things my cohost and I typically do is a "joy ride." We invite people to list 7-10 items that bring them
- [Principled](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/principled/) - A couple months back, my daughter and I were in a conversation that was centered on a few future life choices she was considering. Lots of details from her. Lots of thinking. A fair amount of worry too. As her Dad, I was really looking for a principle to share with her. Because, I could
- [Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rumi/) - There are times in my lifewhen I feel that all I want to dois return to the poetsfor their simple truth-telling offerings.Because I want to feel more of the stillness,and beauty,of which they speak. Rumi is one of the people that I return to, when I feel this way,in his 13th century Persian times. Enjoy
- [Wisdom of Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wisdom-of-joy/) - Last call folks. It's a 4-week series online that starts this Thursday. Our weekly themes respectively are commitment, activation, freedom, and flow. Our overarching purpose is to grow wisdom in and among us -- for these times and circumstances in which we live. We'll be a small, intimate group. As always, it will be a
- [3 Questions For Helpful Beginnings (and Middles, and Ends)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/3-questions-for-helpful-beginnings-and-middles-and-ends/) - Over my years of facilitation, I have come to realize that I'm often asking three basic questions with groups of people. Often, I ask them in the form and process that is circle. So that we can create what I like to call hearth with one another. Often, I ask them as a way to
- [Home](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/home-4/) - Home is a theme that I often find myself circling back to. In thought. In heart. In symbols. In my night time dreams like the one last night that had me back in my grandparents home that I knew as a kid. It seems I return to the theme of home about every six months
- [Peace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/peace/) - You know how an important question has the ability to change everything? To help get unstuck. To inspire new energy. To bring clarity. Sometimes it is a question with self. Sometimes it is one asked with others. Often, this kind of question is very value-centered for me -- reminding me of what I care about.
- [Path](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/path/) - A couple of weeks ago I drove from my home to Miller Lake, up in Utah's Uinta Mountains. The drive itself was about 90 minutes. A very easy pace that winds around a couple of reservoirs. And then a couple of back roads. Again, more easy pace, with the windows down on the back roads
- [Summer Break](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/summer-break/) - I love the pumpkin blossom fully opened in morning sun. The vine now reaches a dozen feet into the garden patch, with full and growing vine. I love the feeling of tending to garden, inner and outer. I'll take two weeks off from writing this blog. To move my attention to some other writing. And
- [Three Lines of a Poem](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-lines-of-a-poem/) - With appreciation to Martin Challis, who gave me a collection of his poems when I was in Australia a few years back. Though I don't know Martin well, I feel like I knew him quickly through his grounded ways. And through his invitation to light, seeing, and home. Three Lines of a PoemMartin Challisthe first
- [4-Week Wisdom Series Now Open For Registration](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/4-week-wisdom-series-now-open-for-registration/) - At the heart of all that Quanita Roberson and I offer in our programs, rests a commitment to contributing to more wise and more soulful ways of being. We think of it as helping to land people in more of themselves, individually and communally. For leadership. For family. For community. For inner journey and for
- [Stacked In Balance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stacked-in-balance/) - The image above is from a beach on Whidbey Island. From my recent trip, two weeks ago. It is looking north and west into the Puget Sound near Bush Point. One of the things I love to do on such a beach is stack stones and shells. Simple moments of balance and spaciousness. Impermanence given
- [Big Courage For Small Steps -- Creating Connection in Groups](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/big-courage-for-small-steps-creating-connection-in-groups/) - I am in several conversations these days about purpose and meaning. With teams that I'm working with. With colleagues old and new. With family. With participants in the programs I get to be a part of offering. It's not new to be in these conversations. However, it is renewing. One of those conversations is about
- [A David Whyte Poem](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-david-whyte-poem/) - I meandered and wondered on the weekend. Into old friendships and old companionships. Into food and scotch, and night-time dreams shared over coffee. Into an island that has meant so much to me over the last 25 years. I love so many of David Whyte's poems, who resides on Whidbey. So today, I pull one
- [Low Tide Walk](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/low-tide-walk/) - I've just enjoyed the weekend on Whidbey Island, celebrating life with a few friends. Walks in forest and along beaches. Foods that were yummy, salty, sweet, and sometimes all at the same time. Stories of times recalled and of current adventures . Music that settled and soared the spirit. I'm grateful to Charles and Sarah
- [Of Course The Day Is A Poem -- Shawna Lemay](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/of-course-the-day-is-a-poem-shawna-lemay/) - I so enjoyed this recent post from Shawna. Thoughtful. Imaginative. Inviting. Heart-filled. Shawna has a way of connecting together an ecosystem of wonder and witness. This recent post includes a William Stafford poem, Being a Person. I love it for the way he nudges toward more wholeness. For inspiration. And wonder. And witness. Shawna's full
- [Upon Entering Sabbatical](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/upon-entering-sabbatical/) - I spoke with a friend and colleague recently who is about to begin a 3-month sabbatical. It is for him a period of rest, celebration, reflection, play, and a few other things. This is a person who invited me to ask a few questions upon his sabbatical entry. To shape some of his wondering, imagination,
- [Serenity Prayer, Michael Dowd](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/serenity-prayer-michael-dowd/) - God (Life / Reality)Grant me the serenityTo accept the things I cannot change,The courage to change the things I can,And wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time,Enjoying one moment at a time.Accepting hardship as a pathway to piece. A friend sent this to me recently. It's 25 minutes of Michael Dowd, a
- [Thistle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thistle/) - Yesterday I began the day with an hour bike ride. There is a biking and walking trail near my home. It leads up through houses and neighborhoods. And eventually to the mouth of a nearby canyon. I suppose I wanted and needed meandering yesterday. And more direct connection with some of this landscape in which
- [Fire -- Judy Brown](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fire-judy-brown/) - Quite regularly I find myself returning to this poem by Judy Sorum Brown. It is called Fire. I love it for her description of the space between the logs. For me, her poem points to the essentialness of space in living. And closely associated to that, the essentialness of pace that is not always defaulted
- [Three Grounding Orientations -- Ria Baeck, Helen Tichen Beeth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-grounding-orientations-ria-baeck-helen-tichen-beeth/) - A couple of weeks ago my friends Helen Tichen Beeth and Ria Baeck hosted an online session for the Art of Hosting Community of Practice. It was harvested above by Nguyen Truong Bao Khuyen. Helen and Ria are people that I have known now for 15+ years. We've shared stories. Wondered. Laughed. Cried. Though the
- [Dominant Culture](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/dominant-culture/) - One of the first steps in systems change is always the naming. I learned this in my early days working with Margaret Wheatley. Coming to see what has been with more awareness, and thus more ability to choose and act in different ways. It's not all of the characteristics of a dominant culture (whiteness being
- [Life Finds A Way -- Robin Wright](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/life-finds-a-way-robin-wright/) - I love this poem from Robin Wright, shared here with permission. Robin is participant in the Fire & Water Leadership Journey that Quanita Roberson and I created -- we are now five months deep in the current journey. I know Robin as a deeply thoughtful human being committed to learning and wonder in honest and
- [Invitation -- Fire & Water 16 Month Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/invitation-fire-water-16-month-journey/) - It might be you. It might be someone(s) you know. I'm inviting you to give full consideration to joining the next 16 month Fire and Water Leadership Journey & Rite of Passage. It starts August 2021. Acceptance is by application and shared discernment. Quanita Roberson and I offer Fire & Water as a depth of
- [Celebrating, Grieving, Evolving](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/celebrating-grieving-evolving/) - Today is Canada Day. July 1st. Since 1867, intended to honor the birth of Canada as a nation. Part of the British Commonwealth. I've celebrated Canada Day with delight. I've waved my Canadian Flag. I've enjoyed parades. I've loved picnics at the park with family and friends. I've marveled at Canada's majestic geography. As a
- [Appreciation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/appreciation/) - There is nothing quite like the appreciation of simple things.Like the raspberries that now grow from backyard canes.They don't harvest in heaps. Rather, just 6-8 berries per day.It's sweet to pick them, feel them in my hand for a moment, and savor taste. There is nothing quite like the appreciation of simple things.Like easy friendship,
- [The Beauty of Boredom](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-beauty-of-boredom/) - As a young boy, I remember summer camping with my grandparents. It was them, my sister, me, and my two younger cousins. Us kids were aged five years apart from oldest to youngest. We were elementary school aged, and eventually in to young junior high. Our location was a lake in the interior of British
- [New Day](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/new-day/) - I love the spaciousness and the activity in this photo from today's sunrise. I'm at Yuba State Park in Central Utah. Refreshing myself. 75 miles from my home. Kayaking yesterday. Walking through the campground. Noticing lizard, chipmunk, squirrel, blue heron, grazing cows, rabbit, seagull, raven, and fish jumping in the reservoir. Loving the sunrise spaciousness.
- [It's Possible](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/its-possible/) - I got this twitter thread from Chris Corrigan. It features, as you can see above, a vision and possibility for the future from Robert Jago. It's a future that reclaims right relations emotionally and structurally. Robert Jago has several numbered posts in his thread that shape the vision. What I love about this is that
- [Return](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/return/) - In my work, return to meeting face to face is both long awaited, yet also happening quite fast. Groups are ready to be together, yet still a bit hesitant to be together. People have learned a few things about themselves, their circumstance, and their procedures together. Sixteen months of CoVid changes who we are. In
- [An Incessant Delight With Wandering](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-incessant-delight-with-wandering/) - This time it is a Sunday. At this park, Jefferson Market in New York. This time it is with my daughter and son in-law. This time it is into flowers, a bench for contemplation. This time it is a plaque to read of this garden's history as a detention center and courthouse. Things change. I
- [On Reconciliation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-reconciliation/) - Beautiful post here from Chris Corrigan's site. It's a poem by (Wasauksing First Nation) poet Rebeka Tabobondung. It's a poem that has stayed with me since reading it two weeks ago. I love the lines, We are waking up to our historyfrom a forced slumbe...and we will gently whisper the circle backand it will be old and
- [A Walk -- Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-walk-rumi/) - My eyes already touch the sunny hill,going far ahead of the road I have begun.We are grasped by what we cannot grasp,it has its inner light, even from a distance --and changes us, even if we do not reach it,into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are;a gesture waves us on, answering our
- [Bayo Akomolafe -- Pacifica Commencement Address](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/bayo-akomolafe-pacifica-commencement-address/) - I'm so glad to have listened to this commencement address. It features Dr. Bayo Akomolafe (begins at the 17:55 mark), with a theme of "Let's Meet At the Crossroads." Thx Nicole Frederickson for sharing it. Lots of material that I found inspiring. Brought me to alertness. And a gratitude for truth-speaking. "But those instances were
- [Joy As A Radical Act](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-as-a-radical-act/) - My friend Sarah reminds me that joy is a radical act. Sarah is turning 80 this July. She is spry. Sharp. Has eyes that shine. Or glow. Makes a mean cup of coffee. Loves a dram of scotch in the evening. It's her awareness that creates this alert vibe. She's no stranger to the challenges
- [Drop The Knife -- Hafiz](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/drop-the-knife-hafiz/) - Ah, I'm feeling a continued deep appreciation this week for these poets of the Persian region. They are helping me to pause from the rigor of unrelenting tasks in a todo day. They are helping me dwell in the rigor of matters of heart and spirit. To take in my surroundings, like this newly harvested
- [Weeds](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/weeds/) - It is a walk I often take. These days in the growing heat of summer, I most often go in the morning. Nearby used to be a field with 3-4 horses. It's the part of urban-meets-rural that I love about where I live. I'd often gather a couple of apples from a wilded apple tree
- [Hey -- Rumi](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hey-rumi/) - The photo above is from a section of garden at my home. Lupines blooming is favorite occurrence for me. It's a May-June thing in my climate and elevation. I stop to see them just a bit more than normal. In the spirit of "...well look at you...." Rumi's 13th century poem (translated by Daniel Ladinsky),
- [Hosting Diversity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hosting-diversity/) - A month ago, Quanita Roberson and I were invited to offer a session on hosting diversity. It was a 2-hours convened by several skilled Art of Hosting Practitioners. About 60 people participated. The two hours included small group and large group process, some of it harvested above by the skilled listening of Jon Dorsett. This
- [Colonization](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/colonization/) - Ever since I've known Chris Corrigan (we met in the early 2000s), I've been learning from him about colonization. It's a history that I was mostly blind to. Chris has been advocating indigenous ways of knowing and being from his studies and from his practice. He's been advocating awareness and action that interrupts colonized ways
- [On The Rhythm of Home -- Chris Corrigan](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-the-rhythm-of-home-chris-corrigan/) - I'm appreciating buddy Chris Corrigan's words shared recently in his blog. He writes of the home noticing he is having in CoVid non-travel. The garden. Plants. Birds. Cycles. Chris writes, "Despite my close intimacy to rhythms of the land here, I think this is the first time I have really felt time as an actual
- [Hafez -- Find A Better Job](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hafez-find-a-better-job/) - With nod to Shawna Lemay, who included this Hafez poem in one of her recent posts. Given my last post on "jobs," this poem brought me to full grin. It's healthy to remember, and be reminded from time to time, that worry isn't really "lucrative" nor as promising as the advertisements state, no? Here's to
- [My Job](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/my-job/) - I love this view of Dry Canyon, looking at the near of greened Spring through to the snowy far of the Wasatch mountain. I love images that invoke right here and the longer arc. When it comes to views near and far, I grew up in a family system in which "job" was an important
- [There Is Only One Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/there-is-only-one-story/) - Joseph Campbell was an American Mythologist. He gave attention to the bigger stories that guide and influence who we are as human beings and where we are headed. I remember reading some of Campbell's writings in the 1990s. They were awakening kinds of material to me. A friend, Dave Waugh, recently reminded me of a
- [Rules of the Road (And Other Important Guidelines / Assumptions With Groups)](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rules-of-the-road-and-other-important-guidelines-assumptions-with-groups/) - Last week I co-facilitated a group of 40 people. It was with my friend and colleague Quanita Roberson. The group was all staff for a United Church of Christ conference. It was four hours. I like working with this group. Their leadership is inspiring. Darrell Goodwin and Audrey Price are committed to a deliberateness in
- [Three Seeds -- Charles Eisenstein](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-seeds-charles-eisenstein/) - I'm grateful for this essay, "The Three Seeds." Shared by Lisa Hess, whom I know through a few contexts of learning and journey. Written by Charles Eisenstein in 2010, who has such a way of helping to narrate the times in which we live. It's about the bigger human story of separation. It's about the
- [Staying In Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/staying-in-journey/) - This podcast, Staying in the Journey (22 minutes), is one that Quanita Roberson and I recorded in relation to our Fire & Water Leadership Journey & Rite of Passage. We speak to the importance of staying in the journey. Not numbing to it. Not just passing time. We speak to the importance of welcoming what
- [Elders Gathering](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/elders-gathering/) - I'm appreciating these videos put together by The Circle Way. They feature a gathering of four women, seasoned by circle and seasoned by life, one of whom I know quite well. They address a particular question -- why is it important for elder women to gather in circle? I love the commitment to listening. I
- [Karma](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/karma/) - Sadhguru, the East Indian spiritual guide, is teacher to one of my teachers. I tend to enjoy his words with pause and reflection. In the above, I'm glad for the hint of possibility that is a conscious planet. And, wow, that feels so distant. I'm glad for people that stand for the significant change. I'm
- [Relational Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/relational-leadership/) - I've enjoyed these last two weeks in a unique way. I've enjoyed a few walks. I've enjoyed a few bike rides. I've enjoyed being in relationship with more of the geography in which I live. The above picture is towards Spanish Fork, Utah. It's on the way to Lincoln Park. It's where the urban features
- [Taking A Little Rest](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/taking-a-little-rest/) - I love this Allium growing next to some stacked stones in my garden. The purple blossoms are coming a plenty this time of year. Time for me to rest a bit from this blog, to spring my writing into essays for a book project. And to be in the garden a little extra. Human to
- [Love Your Ordinary](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/love-your-ordinary/) - A dear friend recently offered me some advice and guidance -- "love your ordinary." In a younger time of life, I can remember rejecting such notions. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to compete. I wanted to excel at everything. Job. Sports. Family. Such desires to do well are natural. Whether as a
- [Two Essential Framings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/two-essential-framings/) - One of the poems that I included in my book, A Cadence of Despair, is a poem that I've posted before. "Only Momentary" is included in the chapter "Simple." It represents some essence learning about impermanence even when there is a permanence that many of us seek. Only Momentary This placeis only a stopping ground,attractive
- [Internalized Capitalism](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/internalized-capitalism/) - I'm not an economist. My understanding of capitalism as an economic system is simple and basic. I think of it as a system for producing goods and services that relies on market freedom such that a society's needs and desires are fulfilled and such that overall health and well-being is created for individuals and for
- [Light Shining](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/light-shining/) - I'll stay simple with this. And need to today. It's been a full last four days involved in family wedding celebration for my son and daughter in law. My heart remains full, best communicating with images more than words. Here's to light shining. I love the way the sun is upon this leaf. And here's
- [Views Distant and Near](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/views-distant-and-near/) - This is one of my favorite views in Utah County. It's looking south from the Lindon / Vineyard area. I love the wetlands that though browned from winter, will soon green themselves to spring. I love the distant view of this part of the Wasatch Mountains. Still snow covered, an artifact of winter's run. With
- [Crumbled -- By Saoirse Charis-Graves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/crumbled-by-saoirse-charis-graves/) - I love this poem shared recently by a friend, Saoirse. She's thoughtful and presences with a big heart and awareness. I love this poem for its spirit of remembering and honoring both the exterior and the interior. Enjoy. And thanks Saoirse. CrumbledSaoirse Charis-Graves The house has been standing a long time. Bare wood shows through
- [Adaptation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/adaptation/) - It is not uncommon to speak of the need for adaptation. Whether in organizations or families. Whether in communities or as individuals. As the saying goes, the only thing constant is change. Like many, I've been impressed by the capacity to change and adapt. Sometimes people and groups changing by choice, crafting a plan or
- [Convening Fatigue](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/convening-fatigue/) - As I listen with my colleagues, we are each coming to realize what I would call a kind of "convening fatigue." The context in which I'm speaking is more to do with online spaces. So let's call it online convening fatigue. Online convening fatigue isn't about whether the cause is good or not. It isn't
- [Scale](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/scale-2/) - In my yard blooms an ornamental cherry tree. It was planted by the person that lived here before me. So, more than ten years ago. I enjoy the blossoms not of my planning or doing. This week I found myself mesmerized by buds readied to flower. I love the white and pink colors ready to
- [Fire & Water Applications Welcomed For Fall Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fire-water-applications-welcomed-for-fall-journey/) - Fire & Water is a 16 month leadership journey and rite of passage. It's about growing wisdom inner and outer. It's about reclaiming soulfulness and awakeness in the journey. It's about departures from norms. It's about community in support. It's about return with gifts meant to be expressed in these times in which we live.
- [Instructions for the Journey -- Pat Schneider](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/instructions-for-the-journey-pat-schneider/) - Pat Schneider is poet, playwright, author. A friend (thx Jim) reminds me of this poem today, written by Pat Schneider. Just in time. I so love the instruction, "And if that fails, wash your own dishes." INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE JOURNEYPat Schneider The self you leave behindis only a skin you have outgrown.Don’t grieve for it.Look
- [Energetic Nest](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/energetic-nest/) - One of the conversations that I most appreciate is about "essence." I've learned about myself that I work well when I know and feel a deeper why. Or when I claim a deeper why. I've learned about groups that the deeper why is often unattended. Or obscured. Or sometimes even sabotaged. In a delightful conversation
- [Old Song](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/old-song/) - Old Song is a West African saying. It is included as a poem / song in the book, The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, in a chapter called Loving the World Anyway. I suppose I love this poem because it points to the simple, yet the profound. It points to the carrying on
- [Getting Grown](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/getting-grown/) - I know that many of us track the deeply inner to the outer. I'm so glad for people that can see such things. That can explore such things. What it means to live in these times. How we contribute our gifts. How we go kindly together. I also know that many people map the longer
- [The Circle Way Online](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-circle-way-online/) - This week starts another round for me of co-teaching The Circle Way. This version is online. It is four weekly classes. I co-teach this with Amanda Fenton. This time we have guest storytellers to bring a few insights as BIPOC people in circle practices. As before, in this class we emphasize "the components wheel" of
- [The Deeper Why](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-deeper-why/) - It's one of my favorite things to facilitate. I love to take a group into a question about their deeper why. Sometimes it is for the individual -- what is the deeper why of your work? Or the deeper why of your life? Or, how is it that the deeper why of your work connects
- [Blossoming](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blossoming/) - From a walk yesterday. Magnolia trees (my son calls them Tulip Trees) are so immensely abundant and vibrant. Thousands of blossoms and petals. I love this time of year when such Spring growth comes into such capturing view. Here's to beauty, abundance where we find it. Where it finds us. To the joy of a
- [The Slow Movement of Rivers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-slow-movement-of-rivers/) - This is the Ohio River. Near mile 471 on its way from Pennsylvania to Illinois, where it empties to the Mississippi River. This is looking from Cincinnati to the river and some Kentucky countryside on the other side. This is a slow-moving barge working it's way down the river with a little assist from the
- [March Quarterly Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/march-quarterly-newsletter/) - A couple of years ago I created a format for one-page quarterly newsletter. To share a few headlines. To invite connection. To welcome people to events. Here's the March 2021 version, with an extra appreciation of rhubarb.
- [Starting Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/starting-now/) - With thanks to Lisa, participant in Fire & Water, for sharing this poem by Joyce Sidman, poet and writer. I love the words in this poem that open my heart to beginning and to the company of others. Starting NowJoyce Sidman It is time for us to wake:we who stumble through the daywith our gripes
- [Dance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/dance/) - When I was young, my mom was a dance teacher. That's her above, Myrna, likely 18 years old (late 1950s), close to the age when she became a mom. She taught out of our basement in our Edmonton home. It was tap. Others came that taught baton and jazz. Mostly to neighborhood kids. I remember
- [Balance Near Fire](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/balance-near-fire/) - I so enjoyed yesterday evening with a small group of friends. Near a forest. With a fire in fire pit. I so loved the friendship, spoken into words, yet also eased in silent stares to the fire, or up to the half moon. With background hoots of Barred Owl. I so loved balancing this stone.
- [Fire & Water Cohort 2](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fire-water-cohort-2/) - This is a week in which a new Fire & Water Cohort convenes. There are 25 of us total. People that come from varied walks of life. People who are oriented to learning. People who seek to find their place in the mystery. People who want depth together. And evolution together. And courage. And wonder.
- [Fruitful](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/fruitful/) - Looking south of Utah Lake, near Lincoln Beach Park, grows this young orchard that slopes up into the Lake Mountains and foothills. I couldn't get close enough to see what kind of trees. They are likely peach or apple. Rows and rows of anticipated fruitfulness. Close to 1,000 trees planted on this slope. Utah is
- [Reflective Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reflective-practice/) - From another long walk, recently. This one marveling a bit at Provo Canyon, and looking up to clouds mirroring snow-dusted Wasatch Mountains. For me, one of my reflective practices is writing. There's this blog, Monday through Thursday. That's anywhere from 15-60 minutes of connecting belly to brain to fingers on keyboard. But there is also
- [Still](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/still/) - Lindon Harbor on Utah Lake is a rather still place, as harbors are meant to be. It is ten minutes from my home. I've walked there, on paths near this spot above. I've paddled kayaks there, and out onto the larger lake. I've swam there, for relief from the heat of summer. Last week I
- [Long View](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/long-view/) - This is one of the views from Lincoln Beach Park on Utah Lake. It is looking north toward the snow-covered and cloud-layered Wasatch Mountains. Last week I took several long walks, a few long drives, and several long meditation periods. That wasn't my plan at the start of the week. However, it became a week
- [When Less Is More](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-less-is-more/) - I love it when the Crocus blooms in Spring. They are delicate. Yet, they are also bad-assed, working their way through some of last years died-off and dried stems from Fever Few Daisies. The Crocus doesn't last long where I live. Usually 2-3 weeks. But their impact is significant. For me they emanate "less is
- [For Some of Us](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/for-some-of-us/) - A poem that came through this morning. That balanced in me, like the stones on my bistro table yesterday in Spring's warming sun. For Some of UsTenneson Woolf For some of us,we aren't to remainin wounded vulnerability forever.For some of us, we are glad to have been guidedto peek, to dwell, to let intensify.For some
- [The View](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-view/) - From a walk recently. For me it's a ten minute drive to the Dry Canyon Trailhead. And then a quarter mile hike up to this vantage point. That's Timpanogos snow-covered in the background. The melt up there hasn't started yet. But will. Filling reservoirs and streaming rivers. Sometimes, I just need the view. Just 10
- [Discombobulation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/discombobulation/) - Fun word, right. Not so fun experience. I'm finding myself in some deep enough learning these days that there is also some accompanying discombobulation. I'm going to say that is a good sign. It's also a scary sign. Feels like, around some things, I'm not sure which way is up anymore. Feels like outer space,
- [Beloved is Where We Begin -- Jan Richardson](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beloved-is-where-we-begin-jan-richardson/) - Yah, this poem says a bit about the journeys we take, doesn't it. These big adventures that we choose -- perhaps life itself. Or jobs. Or relationships. Or seasons of life. And the poem says something about the journeys we take that fall into our laps. With less choice. That we know in our guts
- [A Few Important Truths](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-important-truths/) - Many people have spoken such things about how the world isn't what it seems. Or, that there are a few more choices. Or, that a few key defaults have become harmfully habitualized and concretized. I have most often felt my heart awaken and my spirit enliven, to hear affirmed that there might just be other
- [Beginning Invitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/beginning-invitation/) - Today begins a 4-week series that I will be cohosting with Quanita Roberson. The series is on race, equity, power, privilege, diversity, inclusion. Yes, it is a lot. It will be with a group of 20 people. The invitation to offer this series came from a good desire -- from an organization that wants to
- [I Have Three Needs](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-have-three-needs/) - I'm grateful to my friends Casey and Kelly for invoking one of the poems I published in A Cadence of Despair. The context was the start of a listening circle, to hear stories of dear people in thoughtful noticing of their lives. The poem speaks to needs. The poem speaks to a kind of clarity
- [Grief + Insight](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/grief-insight/) - I learned this morning of an acquaintance, a colleague, that died over the weekend of CoVid complications. It is a surprise. It is a punch in the gut. It is grief. I know that many of us know this grief personally. And if not personally, know it collectively. The US is making headway with CoVid.
- [Little Yes's, Little No's](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/little-yess-little-nos/) - Thanks to one of my most lasting teachers, I'm learning a lot these days about little yes's and little no's. To be in the joy of little yes's and little no's. To be in the simplicity of little yes's and little no's. To be in the now, the present moment, of little yes's and little
- [Start Close In -- Thanks David Whyte](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/start-close-in-thanks-david-whyte/) - It snowed this week where I live. Enough to dress the trees and blanket the ground. It snowed in a way that had me pausing to delight in what was right in front of me. David Whyte's poetry and writings have long inspired me, also right in front of me. He has a way of
- [A Few Whispers From A Saturday](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-whispers-from-a-saturday/) - It is one of my favorite things, to sit with pen readied for paper, or fingers readied for keyboard. And then to have words and images come. And to feel the shape of lines arise. And to feel the heart of it all in a few words of noticing. From the weekend. On A SaturdayIt
- [Blissful Being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/blissful-being/) - Yes, I can go for that. Thx Sadhguru, East Indian guide and spiritual leader. Because too often, I, and others, seek our bliss externally with things, when bliss' lasting roots grow internally with self and with self in community. It's not at all about blame. It is, I believe, about falling in to incessant kindness,
- [Opportunity to Be Alive](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/opportunity-to-be-alive/) - I'm lifting up an old post today, from December 2014. An old post, yet perhaps, timely reminder. "People don't know what to do when given the opportunity to be alive." This observation shared by my friend / colleague Kathleen Masters, still impacts me. There are many of us building participative, relational leadership into the culture
- [Three Essential Focus Areas For Thriving Organizations](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/three-essential-focus-areas-for-thriving-organizations/) - I've worked with many teams over the years. Some, very senior, stewarding and leading very complex environments. Some, more task oriented, contributing their respective pieces to a larger management puzzle. It is work that I love, growing from what I think of as my three core professionals lineages: 1) The Circle Way with Christina Baldwin
- [Still Here -- Langston Hughes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/still-here-langston-hughes/) - I find myself turning to poetry a lot lately. Even more than normal. Because it is a medium that helps me sync with the need for both bigger picture, and, the details, of these times. I continue to see, in myself and in others, the need for capacity that includes, but is more than, just
- [Simple Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/simple-things/) - I look for simple things.Sometimes, it is slowed pace with workthat interrupts the default of speed.Sometimes, it is simple foodthat uses up the left-overs.Sometimes, it is a walkthat meanders me through the neighborhood.Sometimes, it is quiet breaththat settles the mood of the meeting.Sometimes, it is scratching the dog's earsthat returns so much appreciation.Sometimes, it is
- [Yet Another Expression of the Importance of Now](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yet-another-expression-of-the-importance-of-now/) - William Stafford is an American Poet that I have really appreciated over the years. He was prolific in his writing, in his sense-making. He was generous in his questions. Stafford's poem below helps me to see and feel how it is the "now," this very moment, that is so ripe and nourishing. I've being saying
- [What If?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-if/) - I am a person that is oriented to "what if" questions. I love the feeling of exploration. I love the feeling of going beyond the known. I have the feeling that exploring has been too often relegated to the non-essential. I am also a person that so appreciates "guiding" systems. I love a series of
- [The Violence of the Binary; The Kindness of Multiplicty -- A Human to Human Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-violence-of-the-binary-the-kindness-of-multiplicty-a-human-to-human-podcast/) - Been thinking a bunch about this one. The subtle ways that too much of contemporary life is skewed to either / or, right / wrong, this / that. The binary is embedded in way too much, acting as a vicegrip on our brains and hearts. It's an age old issue, perhaps amplified by the digital
- [On Formation -- Some Wise Words From Charles LaFond](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-formation-some-wise-words-from-charles-lafond/) - Charles and I go back over a decade now. In colleagueship. In friendship. His pottery, his writing, his cooking, his spiritual direction and his professional fundraising are all phenomenal. As is his journey in which he shares choices of a little yes here and and a little no there that have created pattern. He writes
- [Low-Hanging Fruit of Participative Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/low-hanging-fruit-of-participative-leadership/) - dsdf I continue to learn that saying hello, a check-in, is one of the low-hanging fruits of participative leadership. Low-hanging, like the peaches on my trees from several years ago that were already ripe and did not need a ladder to be reached and picked. They were just available. Immediate harvest. Immediately delicious. I also
- [So Let Us Plant Plant Dates -- Thank you Rubin Alves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/so-let-us-plant-plant-dates-thank-you-rubin-alves/) - Recently I stumbled upon this piece below by Brazilian Poet, Rubin Alves. Actually, "re-stumbled upon" is more accurate. In this life of so much online medium, I've been invoking "poetry interludes" as a way of shifting energy for myself and the people I'm meeting with. This poem below was one of those interludes, from a
- [We Are Needed](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-are-needed/) - I am meeting with a group for the first time. It is a group committed to doing good work and to growing community. This is a group of six people, various "leads" within one organization. I learned long ago that meeting for the first time is not about planning. It is not about all of
- [Joy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy/) - Last week I drove from my home to a nearby trailhead. It was nearing sunset, which now happens at about 5:20. On this day, I wasn't looking for the hike along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Rather, I wanted to be still, seeing out over the valley. I wanted to see Utah Lake. I wanted to
- [Turn Up Your Soul -- Shawna Lemay](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/turn-up-your-soul-shawna-lemay/) - It's all Shawna today, on this frosted-over Monday in Utah where I live. Because pretty much everything about this post "turns up my soul," as Shawna says. The poetry. The images. The questions. The wondering. The framing. The angst. The simple, unexaggerated choices that contribute to a world, or even a person, with the smallest
- [The Hill We Climb -- Amanda Gorman](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-hill-we-climb-amanda-gorman/) - Because this was tremendous. Thank you Amanda Gorman. Thank you Biden / Harris Inauguration. May we grow, imperfect as we may be, committed to values that lift the human spirit.
- [Tenacity Has Its Place; So Does Instrospection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tenacity-has-its-place-so-does-instrospection/) - There was a time in my life when tenacity was how I proved my worth. Tenacity was how I got seen. Tenacity was how I felt good about myself. Tenacity was how I felt belonging and the right to sit at the table. It was effort. It was work. It was competition. I relied on
- [Yearning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yearning-2/) - We all have yearning in us. Yearning tends to connect with the most basic of desires. Love. Growth. Being seen, heard, witnessed. Contributing. Perhaps it is as simple as it is for this broken poinsettia stem, resting in a glass of water -- yearning to bring life. On the weekend I co-hosted a group with
- [Repurposed](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/repurposed/) - Each year, for part of my set of Christmas Tree ornaments, I slice and dry a lemon, an orange, and a lime. I've been doing it now for 10+ years. I love the slight fragrance that comes with them. I love the way the sun shines through them. I love the way my kids have
- [Relational](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/relational/) - I am fresh out of hosting NGLI. It was five days online. It was co-hosting with my friend, colleague, Quanita Roberson. It was pastors (Next Generation Leadership Initiative). It was hosting from my home -- with backdrop of these Utah Wasatch mountains above, rather that Arizona's desert and redrock. I have learned that when a
- [All My Friends](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/all-my-friends/) - I'm so enjoying my friend Katharine Weinmann's writings and posts, found in A Wabi Sabi Life. Katharine and I know each other through many years of circle practice, including a few years of shared time on The Circle Way board. See writes today of how friends matter, found in a poem by Christopher Wiman. As
- [On Noticing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-noticing/) - A poem I used this week. Written by St. John of the Cross (1542 - 1591), a Spanish Theologan and Mystical Poet. I offered it with a group to invite attention to being good noticers. Which is so much the work of being in community together. May it inspire. A Rabbit Noticed My Condition(From Love
- [Allies](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/allies/) - Another of my favorite cards is the one above, hand-made by a friend (thank you Ann). The words featured are from the poet David Whyte, who inspires with regularity. "We have so many allies in the world: the color blue in the sky, the breeze, the ground beneath our feet." Love it. And my friend.
- [Circled](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/circled/) - Today begins a very active and full, out of the gate, hosting period for me. There is two days hosting university leaders. There is five days hosting pastors. There is four days hosting a leadership training program. It's a full time. I'm glad, with good people. The image above is from one of my favorite
- [This Present Moment](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/this-present-moment/) - Last day of the year. It's poignant. Though not. Just a day. Just a thing called a day. Unique in it's present moment. Yet also with familiar shape and sound. Like a river. Consistent, yet never the same. This present moment is one of the most compelling themes that engage me and pull me forward.
- [Kindness Garden](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/kindness-garden/) - I am grateful for friends, family, and colleagues that have dug deep in their learning paths. I'm grateful for encouragement from the same, to claim and dwell with simple clarity. A few words below, that slipped away from me recently, but then grew again. It might just bethat kindness to self is the first and most important
- [The Grief of Fulfillment](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-grief-of-fulfillment/) - This phrase, "the grief of fulfillment," remains an intriguing and helpful phrase to me. For making sense of experience. For guiding others in their experience. I find that it shows me layers here and there, like layers of an onion that peel to reveal a center. I first heard this phrase, "the grief of fulfillment,"
- [When The Light Comes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/when-the-light-comes/) - I just like the way the sunlight shines in this picture. It's through an east facing window in my living room. I'd say the sun is particularly low, casting long shadows, but this is just the mid day angle of light at this time of year where I live. I also just like the artifacts
- [Oh Holy Night](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/oh-holy-night/) - Hmm... Please indulge me. As a boy, I loved Christmas. In our family, it wasn't particularly religious. It was more about gifts. Family. Food and drink. Games. Songs. Play. My favorite Christmas carol as a kid was The Christmas Song. The version that I hear in my head is the one by Nat King Cole.
- [Making Room For Ourselves](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/making-room-for-ourselves/) - In the northern hemisphere, solstice is a time when many people reflect upon the small beginnings of the return to light. People reflect on making choices and on making room. Some people find room in religious and cultural celebration. Some people find it in nature. Some find it in quiet contemplation or added rest. For
- [Open Awareness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/open-awareness/) - Pema Chodron, the Buddhist Nun, is one of my favorite teachers. Over the last 15 years, I've listened to or read several of her talks and books. Her words used to express an orientation of wholeness have a way of sticking with me. They grow in me. "This very moment is the perfect teacher..." is
- [The Beauty of Dark and Quiet](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-beauty-of-dark-and-quiet/) - I continue to learn that there is unique gift in the darkness. There is also gift in light. I continue to learn that there is notable life in the descent, just as there is life in the ascent. I continue to learn that there is importance and essence in the isolation, just as there is
- [Guaranteed The Experience of Disequilibrium](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/guaranteed-the-experience-of-disequilibrium/) - The above book is a very ear-marked book for me. Co-authored by my friend Ann Pelo, about every third page of my copy now has margin scribbles, notes, and underlines. I love this effort to get underneath the description and assumptions of teaching. I love the commitment to nuanced pedagogy. Some of my love of
- [These Winter Days](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/these-winter-days/) - and This morning I found myself appreciating a few things where I live, in Utah, in a valley wilded by Wasatch Mountains. I found myself appreciating this season of snow, frost on windows, frozen breath, shortened days dancing with longer nights. These Winter DaysTenneson Woolf These Winter Days,I particularly enjoy heat on my handsthrough the
- [A Taoist Prayer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-taoist-prayer/) - Grateful to Leena Sharma Seth for recently sharing this poem / prayer by author and artist, Deng Ming-Dao. I love things that nudge to the now, the present moment. For me, it's like remembering heart beat, and then starting again from there. All we need is the morning.As long as there is sunrise,then there is
- [Mirrored](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/mirrored/) - I love these images of mirroring and reflection. They are from Southern Utah. Photographed in early December. While I was with my 23 year-old son. I love the stillness in them. I love how easy it is to get lost in the reflection off of the lake, in momentary wonder of what is real and
- [Surrender -- A Fire & Water Podcast With Guest, Swedish Musician Krister Linder](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/surrender-a-fire-water-podcast-with-guest-swedish-musician-krister-linder/) - It was a lot of fun to record this conversation together last week -- Quanita Roberson, Krister Linder, me. The podcast is audio only, but I love the laughter that we are sharing above in the video recording. Together, we followed our way through several aspects of surrender and soulful living. "I don't know what
- [A Nod to Seeing With New Eyes and Heart](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-nod-to-seeing-with-new-eyes-and-heart/) - A nod today, to my friend, mentor, and colleague Meg, seen above from an experience in Galapagos. Meg has written ten books over the last thirty years. She writes recently of an overarching theme that glues those books together -- seeing with new eyes. Meg writes, "Since 1992, I have published ten books, given countless
- [Decision Making in Circle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/decision-making-in-circle/) - I rely on circle for so much of what I do with groups and teams. For connection. For learning. For animating wisdom and soulfulness together. A well-held circle creates a field in which people tend to relish added intelligence and heartfulness together. As a friend and mentor Meg Wheatley taught years ago, "who we are
- [Constrasts and Suffering](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/constrasts-and-suffering/) - Some of my wisest guides have been people that encourage seeing things as they are. Not running from what we don't wish to see. Not running from what is painful. Rather, turning toward. I have learned over the years that it takes a certain kindness and compassion to be able to turn more openly to
- [Learning With Community Organizers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/learning-with-community-organizers/) - Some of the people that have really influenced my learning on working with groups are Community Organizers. This is work that is about justice. About equity. Inclusion. Diversity. Power. Systemic things. These are people that are committed to pressing and important causes and initiatives. At the heart of it, community organizers are calling people to
- [Yes, Attention](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/yes-attention/) - The best of a world that incessantly seeks our attention, and that has the ability to reach us, be that through devices or direct contact, is connection. It is community. It is learning. It is kindness. It is wondrous experimentation. It is compelling emergence. It is new configurations. It is magic. The worst of a
- [From Rilke, A Short Story](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/from-rilke-a-short-story/) - The skyline above is from where I live in Utah Valley, taken as photo earlier this week. I've come to love this skyline, these Wasatch Mountains, for the way that they hold the eastern edge of valley, over which sun rises. And for the way that they take me away to a certain kind of
- [Five Questions of Curiosity for Partisan Times](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/five-questions-of-curiosity-for-partisan-times/) - November 3rd, 2020 was "Election Day" in the United States. It's the first Tuesday of November every year. This year was unique in that the Presidency was up for election, something that happens every four years on that first Tuesday. Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. To say that the Election
- [Thanks Giving US](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/thanks-giving-us/) - Today is Thanksgiving in the USA. At its best, it marks a day of extra attention to gratitudes. It is a day for extra energy of thankfulness. At its best, it is a day of gathering with family and / or friends. For joy. For celebration. For support. For softness. For sharing gifts, be they
- [Podcast -- For Guidance in These Times: 8 Orientations to Grounded Journey](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcast-for-guidance-in-these-times-8-orientations-to-grounded-journey/) - Yes, so, this is followup to yesterday's post and prose, An Orientation to Guide. I found myself wanting to stay in the energy of guidance. The podcast, 18 minutes, fleshes some of that out. Thanks for your listens, wonders, and follows.
- [An Asian Fable](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/an-asian-fable/) - The forest was shrinking,but the trees keptvoting for the axe. For the axe was cleverand convinced the treesthat because his handle was wood,he was one of them. Bear with me. Trying to get words this morning, to go with a simple clarity from a rather deep yearning. It's worth paying attention to, no? This fable.
- [On Meeting a Stranger -- John O'Donohue](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-meeting-a-stranger-john-odonohue/) - It feels like a John O'Donohue day to me. A day to seek the most simple. Yet a day to be moved by the subtle profound. One could say that all of life is meeting. This includes strangers. Sometimes, the stranger is us. Circumstance or community reveals our longing, which we then can come to
- [Wise, Soulful - A Fire & Water Reflection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/wise-soulful-a-fire-water-reflection/) - It is true that the first Fire & Water Cohort has completed. It was a group of 17 participants. From 20s to 60s. He's. She's. They's. Community organizers. Educators. A farmer. A few entrepreneurs. A few managers. All leaders. We went together for 16 months. Plus a couple of months before that for applications and
- [Christina Baldwin & A Bhudda's Nudge](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/christina-baldwin-a-bhuddas-nudge/) - Christina has a way of telling the big story, yet connecting in to the every day. In thought. In action. It's one of the things I've loved about her over years of colleagueship and friendship. She's posted recently. A narrative. And an assist from Buddha. An application in today's ripe and raw context. Christina starts...,
- [A Few of My Favorite Things](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-of-my-favorite-things/) - Yesterday we completed the Fire & Water Leadership Journey and Rite of Passage. The Original Group, a delicious group of 17 we're convened for the last five days. Online. For connection. For witness. For learning. For return. For goodbye. It's been 16 months of journey. I'm proud of the way the way that my friend
- [Within Me -- Thanks to Albert Camus](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/within-me-thanks-to-albert-camus/) - Albert Camus was a French author and philosopher from the early to mid 1900s. I love his pointing in the passage below, to what resides within. “My dear,In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.In the
- [On November 11th](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/on-november-11th/) - In the US it is called Veteran's Day to honor those who served. In Canada, where I have my roots, it is called Remembrance Day, with some similar intent. From "In Flanders Fields," a poem written by John McCrae, a Canadian soldier who fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. In Flanders felds the poppies
- [The Vessel](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-vessel/) - I am grateful for this gift, received yesterday from a friend. She was honoring the closing of a journey. She was living as I know her to live -- in kindness and generosity. A vessel.That holds.That gives.That holds my hands.That lets my hands hold it.That awaits tea.Or flowers.Or some other surprises. A vesselthat remindsof journey,of
- [A Nod to Rilke](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-nod-to-rilke/) - Glad for this poem this morning, from Rilke, the Austrian Poet of the late 1800s and early 1900s. I believe in the end, and particularly in these times, we humans are meant to move more toward what is real, not further away, lured by illusion. It is to the simple and clear that has importance,
- [Words That Haunt Me](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/words-that-haunt-me/) - And by haunt, I mean in a good way. Words that linger with me. Words that sync with heartbeat. Words that buoy and lift spirit. Gunilla Norris wrote in her book, Inviting Silence, some of those words. I've included them in this blog before. “Throughout the years I have found that beneath whatever we might
- [Contributing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/contributing/) - I contributed yesterday to The Circle Way. In support of their 2020 Fall Fundraising Campaign. As they theme it this year, "to inspire hope and to support community transformation." I gave what I could, and stretched it a bit more -- which is my practice for giving. If you are looking for a place to
- [A Gratitude](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-gratitude/) - A Gratitude There is a lot to be learning these days. I like it that the edges of "normal" are being challenged. Both in the external world, in what we "do" -- as well in the internal world, in what we "feel." Or, perhaps nuanced a bit from "like" is an appreciation for attention given
- [In The Simple](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/in-the-simple/) - I've just spent the weekend in Soultime Men's Retreat. It was five sessions online, spread out from Friday night through Sunday evening. About 12 hours total online. But then, the online portion is only part of it. There's also dreams. There's also informal coffee, also online. And there's the way that a shared space carries
- [Every Day Is A Poem -- Jacqueline Suskin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/every-day-is-a-poem-jacqueline-suskin/) - What's not to like about such a title and invitation. This is the book that I started reading yesterday. I received it as a birthday gift. I'll let myself meander through this one. With ease in pace. Resting with it when it seems right, like stopping to rest in the sun on a long walk.
- [Never Done Before -- A Festival](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/never-done-before-a-festival/) - I like the spirit of this online gathering. Behind it is Myriam Hadnes and a few other good people. It's November 20-21, 2020. It has energy of creativity. I love the invitation to "never done before." Yet realize that most everything has been done before. The framing of the session I will host is less
- [Witness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/witness/) - I love this simple photo from yesterday. I love the sun shining through window, and past palm tree plant to create a bit of shadow and light on my buffalo style drum and drumstick. I love this little moment of witness and beauty, taken by the light. One of the frameworks and orientations that has
- [Rumi, and Fields](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/rumi-and-fields/) - I am grateful for reminder of this little piece from Rumi, 13th century Persian Poet, that speaks to fields. "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I'll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass,the world is too full to talk about.Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense."
- [Stillness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/stillness-2/) - One of the vibes of the area in which I live, Lindon, Utah (named after the Linden tree), is stillness. It's an urban meets rural vibe. Which means there is some rural stillness that I enjoy, nested within city. The city's motto includes, "...a little taste of country...." The photo above is from a walk
- [The Turning of The Narratives](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-turning-of-the-narratives/) - I'm participating in a few online message threads. One of these is in relation to The Circle Way. More specifically about the principle, "reliance on wholeness." Inspired by what others had contributed, I found myself offering these words below. Wanted to share them here, for inspiration and invitation. I continue to learn that there are
- [Presence With One's Self](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/presence-with-ones-self/) - I love this photo of Parker Palmer, who has contributed so much through his writing, teaching, and convening about courage, renewal, and presence. More on Parker in a moment. For a long time now, one of the things I've encouraged with the people in the groups I facilitate is personal practice. For awareness. For stillness.
- [Liberation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/liberation/) - I'll offer this image first, taken this weekend near where I live. I was driving. The morning light captured me. I pulled over and used my phone. There is something that I love about the layers in this picture. Distant sky. Distant mountain peek skimmed with snow. Closer mountain with autumn color. Foreground of tree
- [Cumulative](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/cumulative/) - With many of my colleagues and friends, one thread of conversation these days is best named as "cumulative." It's cumulative fatigue of being online. It's cumulative missing of not using spaces designed to hold community in face to face ways. It's cumulative fear for an uncertainty that grows in this season -- in regions like
- [Become -- Sadhguru](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/become-sadhguru/) - Yup, I like this little piece from East Indian Sage, Sadhguru. This morning I sit in my bedroom, with window open, listening to birds as morning light arrives. It's a practice of pause. And breath. And centering. I've always appreciated simple wisdom and guidance to be nature, for we are nature.
- [A Few Words of Simplicity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-few-words-of-simplicity/) - A few words of simplicity that I woke with and wrote this morning. From some yearning. May they inspire. Or soften. Or welcome. A Few Words of Simplicity -- Tenneson Woolf Just breathe.Just live, with permission to attend to this moment.Let go of obligation to the noise. If in doubt, stuck, or in struggle, consider re-starting
- [Joy Is Radical Self-Care](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/joy-is-radical-self-care/) - I am grateful for this passage by Cleo Wade. It was shared by a participant in the last class of the Wisdom Series -- Presence, that I cohosted and convened with Quanita Roberson. The last week theme was Joy. Joy, for me, isn't denial of difficulty, nor naivety to circumstance. Rather, joy is choice, a
- [Ways of Seeing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/ways-of-seeing/) - Different ways of seeing have pretty much always been interesting to me. All the way back to some early psychology classes in my teens that included exercises with images like this above -- older woman, younger lady? Though I haven't always had language for it, something in me has trusted that human perception, and cultural
- [Perspective](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/perspective-2/) - And then there is that. I laughed when I saw this cartoon, sent from a friend. When the absurd becomes not so absurd, there is a bit of humor in the painful tinge of truth, no. And then this morning, in waking, I found myself seeking simple words. Simple perspective. Some guidance for today. Just
- [Slow is Fast, Less is More](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/slow-is-fast-less-is-more/) - To help emphasize a leadership approach, "slow is fast," a good friend of mine shared a story. His context was firearms certification, which was required for his job. He told me of the struggle that he and others were learning their way through, that involved drawing firearm from holster, aiming, and in this case, firing.
- [How To Be At Home](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/how-to-be-at-home/) - I am grateful for this 5-minute video, How To Be At Home. It's from KarmaTube. It's a collaboration between poet Tanya Davis and animator Andrea Dorfman. I'm grateful for the friend that sent this video to me, with her one word description, "Superb." I'm grateful for this video's simple messaging. For its kind messaging. For
- [A Man Lost By A River -- Michael Blumenthal](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-man-lost-by-a-river-michael-blumenthal/) - Mostly what I love from this poem (below) is the pointing to the inner voice, and the way that small things (a mandolin, already playing within) can change big things (an entire orientation to the outer). From the anthology, The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, edited by Robert Bly, James Hillman, and Michael
- [We Shall Be Known](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/we-shall-be-known/) - It was friend, colleague and participant, Amy Howton that brought this 4-minute video as a Start Point for one of our days together. A group of 18 of us were together in virtual retreat over five days. It was our Fire & Water Leadership Cohort. We connect to connect. To learn. To feel the flow
- [What We Get Is What We Get](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/what-we-get-is-what-we-get/) - Thanks Quanita Roberson for sharing this Octavia Butler quote. Butler was an American Science Fiction writer, among other things. She died in 2006. Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be
- [Balance](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/balance/) - It was about 15 years ago that I was introduced to rock balancing. It was buddy Chris Corrigan that got me going. That, and an Art of Hosting facilitation in Ontario, Canada on the shore of a river with rather giant stones. I loved the beauty that was created through a momentary focus, with minute
- [Flow, Wander](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/flow-wander/) - In the last month, with my friend and colleague Quanita Roberson, I've been involved in hosting three deliberate Flow Games. Each was to support a different team of 5-6 people in their goals for doing well together. Each game was four hours in duration. Each game was about inviting and invoking a spirit of flow
- [The Fifth Grade American Song Book -- Christina Baldwin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/the-fifth-grade-american-song-book-christina-baldwin/) - Over 20 years now, Christina Baldwin has been for me a friend, a teacher, a colleague. A writing coach. A welcome for overnight stay in her and her partner's guest room. A shoulder to cry on. An honest voice to count on. A profound thinker and contributor. A person who offers tea and a wedge

## Pages

- [Go Well Together; Do Well Together; Be Well Together](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/) - Utah based Leadership Developer, Team Builder, Group Process Facilitator. Helping people, organizations, corporations and communities be wiser together.
- [Event Schedule: Jump In](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/event-schedule/) - There's nothing better than getting together. See the upcoming events I will be attending or presenting at. See you out there!
- [Kind Words](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/kind-words/) - "How you curate with care, hold space, and mentor is sustenance for this warrior heart. Always enlightening, always connecting, always learning. Most grateful for your gifts Tenneson."adJenny SpectorWander School Participant "Tenneson Woolf reflects a peaceful soul coupled with outstanding facilitation skills. He is wise, and he helps each participant feel wise as well. He has
- [My Books and Stuff](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/products-for-purchase/) - A collection of Tenneson Woolf's writings that are available for purchase now. Get on Kindle or paperback: In My Nature, Most Mornings, A Cadence of Despair.
- [Client List](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/resources/client-list/) - The list below is a rather long list of clients and communities of practice I have worked with. However, with each, I feel gratitude. With each I have felt invitation to work authentically, with clear purpose, and to build collaborative capacity. There's a few general categories. Most of my work tends to be with Community and
- [Colleagues](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/parters/) - People I Call First Glen Brown — Salt Lake City, UTGlen is a local colleague for me. We've created and hosted a 6-month Cohort Leadership Development program for corporate leadership (now in its 4th year). We've also hosted trainings, workshops in support of participative leadership, and enjoyed great curry together. He is really a great thinking
- [My Articles & Newsletters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/my-stuff/) - A list of articles to browse, going back to 2009. Some written by myself, others written alongside partners. Also an archive of his newsletter since 2019.
- [Human to Human: The Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/h2h-podcast/) - The Podcast is where I have conversations with colleagues and friends about compelling themes. In 2024, that theme is Practicing For Peace.
- [Becoming & Belonging (B&B) Series -- Inner Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/about-participative-leadership/) - With participative leadership methods, I help groups and organizations access more of the wisdom already present in in order to become smarter, together.
- [Contact Me](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/contact-me/) - The first step on the path is always a conversation. To meet by phone or video. To hear or share a bit of the story about hopes and challenges, purpose and possibility. To start with wonder and some skilled wander. Email tenneson@tennesonwoolf.com
- [My Podcasts & Videos](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/podcasts-videos/) - Human to Human: The Podcast, Shades of Life, Fire & Water, and more! Listen and watch me do some sage-ing with many of my friends and colleagues.
- [Store](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/store/) - How This Store Works Choose items below for yourself, your friends, or your colleagues. Select the quantity (Qty) of each item you wish. Enter your contact information and click Submit. When I get your order form, I'll email you an invoice via PayPal (accepts credit cards) with amount due, plus USPS shipping (typically arrives in
- [Participative Leadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/participative-leadership-work/) - With participative leadership methods, I help groups and organizations access more of the wisdom already present in in order to become smarter, together.
- [Poetry by Tenneson Woolf](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/poems/) - In My Nature, Most Mornings, a Cadence of Despair, and more poetry. "Poet" is an important claiming for me. It's something I do. It's something I be.
- [The Basics: What I Do](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/the-basics-what-i-do/) - Meeting Design & Facilitation For many years, I looked for words that could describe what I do. Simple enough to get it. And yet honest enough to reflect the depth of what is happening. I am a facilitator. I design meetings and retreats. I coach people on designing their meetings. To help people be smart
- [Contact Me](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/contact/) - The first step on the path is always a conversation. To meet by phone or video. To hear or share a bit of the story about hopes and challenges, purpose and possibility. To start with wonder and some skilled wander. You can also meet me at an event. Here's my schedule. Email tenneson@tennesonwoolf.com Phone 801
- [Group Facilitation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/) - Meeting design, group facilitation, strategic visioning, participative leadership, workshops multi-day retreats, coaching and more. For individuals and teams.
- [Newsletter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/newsletter/) - [newsletter]
- [Articles By Others](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/articles-by-others/) - Below are a few articles I think of as goto. I use them often. I've grouped them as Goto, The Art of Hosting, Open Space Technology, The World Care, and Provocative Stuff. Goto Corrigan, ChrisOpen Space Technology Overview (www.chriscorrigan.com)A great overview of what Open Space is, when to use it, and what is needed. Frieze, Deborah
- [Group Facilitation: Years of the Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/about-group-facilitation/) - The Basics: What I Do It's meeting design and facilitation. It's strategic visioning. It's participative leadership. It's workshops to multi-day retreats. It's coaching individuals and teams. Helping us be smarter together. More about The Basics The Subtle: How I Do It The subtle here is a reference to what is underneath. It is true to
- [Human to Human: The Blog and Podcast](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/human-to-human-home/) - Human to Human: A Blog and Podcast. In the blog, Tenneson shares his thoughts on a variety of compelling topics. In the Podcast, he invites guests to join him.
- [Helpful Resources for Facilitators](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/resources/) - From Tenneson My Products for Purchase In My Nature (Poetry), Most Mornings (Poetry), The Circle Way Essence Cards, A Participatory Leadership Journal (for faith communities), A Cadence of Despair. My Articles & Newsletters / Podcasts & Videos On The Art of Hosting, on Leadership, on Human to Human depth, on Presence. My Poems A small
- [Photo Samples](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/more-photos/) - I keep most of my photo collections on Flickr. I love catching images of people in connection and learning -- there are so many more choices that passive listening. Below are a few sample sets from select events, more recent, and a few oldies. asdf Next Generation Leadership Initiative, United Church of ChristCarefree, AZBuilding Great Teams
- [The Subtle: Beneath The Basics](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/the-subtle-beneath-the-basics/) - Consciousness Hosting what? Hosting consciousness. Rather, I believe, what happens is that we are hosting a field of consciousness. Consciousness at the next level. Shared consciousness that stimulates meaningful action. Though "conversations that matter,” "conversational leadership,” "participative leadership,” "stakeholder engagement” and anything else we want to call it are powerful, they become transformative when next level of consciousness arrives.
- [More on Theory](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/more-on-theory/) - Living Systems My early learning with Margaret Wheatley and Myron Rogers was that organizations are living systems. Not machines. This distinction is simple but significant. Living systems have a way of organizing themselves. Like ant hills, termite mounds, schools of fish, flocks of geese. Machines don’t. They need to be controlled, primarily by rules that predict
- [Methods To Engage Groups](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-train/) - All of my work utilizes participative leadership methods, whether with small teams or large organizations, to help access more of the wisdom already present in a group, and, to help groups be smarter together. I most often count on these methodologies: The Circle Way — beyond changing the chairs is some important structure and practice. Circle
- [Frameworks To Increase Group Impact](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/frameworks/) - Behind methods are always frameworks and world views that amplify impact and purpose. I've learned, honed, and applied a few frameworks with colleagues over years that continue to change the way I feel we can approach change. Descriptions of essence are below. Further material is available following the links or utilizing the search function at
- [Harvests](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/harvests/) - Blog post from November 27, 2023 Harvest is a form of capturing what is helpful and relevant at events. In short, it is for me, making learning visible. An older form of harvest would simply have been a report, one that would often go unheeded. A newer form includes a much wider range of options and social
- [Change Password](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/change/) - [uwp_change]
- [Reset Password](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/reset/) - [uwp_reset]
- [Forgot Password?](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/forgot/) - [uwp_forgot]
- [Login](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/login/) - [uwp_login]
- [Register](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/register/) - [uwp_register]
- [More Websites](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/more-websites/) - Amanda Fenton(www.amandafenton.com)Amanda is one of my closest hosting companions. She's got great stuff on her site. The Art of Hosting(www.artofhosting.org)A great collection of resources from The Art of Hosting community of practitioners. The Berkana Institute(www.berkana.org)Berkana represents a lot to me. Lineage is part of that. This is where I gained my footing in social action and organizations
- [Books By Others](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/more-books/) - I love all of the books below. They are several that have remained with me through the years, listed alphabetically by author last name. They are on my shelves. These books have lots of my scribbles and notes in them, ideas that I have used in workshops and presentations. When people ask me what books
- [Entanglement, Liberation, and Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/entanglement-liberation-and-practice/) - This is a perspective I’ve put together and used more lately. It names three areas of focus for groups, as well as a background story. It is a response to the question, “What are we really doing and what is really going on here, particularly when groups are doing well together?” In short, entanglement is from
- [A Simpler Way](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/a-simpler-way/) - The more I work with people, the more I learn that the most likely way to create lasting change is by reclaiming the story that organizations are living systems. It sounds a bit funny even to say that. Lasting change. Perhaps it is the lasting ability to keep changing, keep evolving. Beyond facilitation. Beyond methodologies,
- [Divergence and Convergence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/divergence-and-convergence/) - This is a way of thinking that I was first introduced to by one of my favorite graduate school professors, Bonner Ritchie. Bonner was the kind of person that had an insatiable curiosity for the new. He would always ask what you were reading. I remember he talked about divergence and convergence as a model
- [Chaordic Stepping Stones](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/chaordic-stepping-stones/) - I use this primarily as a helpful planning tool. It is called chaordic, from the work of Dee Hock, pointing to the sweet spot between chaos and order and the relationship between the two. I also use this model as a way of charting the landscape when first interacting with a client. It is good
- [Chaordic Path](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/chaordic-path/) - It was Dee Hock, former leader of Visa International that coined this phrase, "chaordic." It is the place where that natural state of chaos and the natural state of order intersect. Just as it is in the model of divergence and convergence, there is an emergent possibility between the two. A wildly creative place that must
- [Cynefin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/cynefin/) - Cynefin is a Welsh word meaning “habitat” used by the Welsh Scholar Dave Snowden while working with knowledge management projects at IBM. He offered this framework as a way of seeing how complex systems evolve. I use this model often, first with a bit of description, then with some embodied experiential exercises, and then with
- [Four Fold Practice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/four-fold-practice/) - This is a teaching that I’ve been using a lot. Each of the circles in this represents what feels like a life-long curriculum to me. And if not life long, they are worth significant time. If it were a post graduate education program, I’d recommend six months on each of these. Each plays off of
- [Inspired Learning Spaces, Touching The Hearth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/inspired-learning-spaces-touching-the-hearth/) - Inspiring Learning Spaces In the early 2000s Toke Moeller and I talked about these. We named some of what it takes to create good learning together. Since then, I’ve given much thought and practice to developing a wider view of inspired learning spaces. What I love about it is that it looks beyond conversational leadership. Often,
- [Hobbit Tools](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/hobbit-tools/) - This is one of my favorite teachings. Playfully named for the bare bones needed to embark on big adventures, the simple things you can carry in your pocket. I often teach this at the end of a workshop. It is a marker for simplicity that can be applied at all levels of scale, whether working with
- [Frameworks](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/frameworks-2/) - Helpful Models / Frameworks I think of core models and frameworks as ways of seeing. They are glasses to try on. To make visible or clear that which isn’t. I build varied exercises around these when working with groups. Below is brief description of some that I use most often. Divergence and ConvergenceA Simpler WayEntanglement,
- [Search](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/search/)
- [More on Reflecting / Writing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/i-write/) - Blog -- Human to Human is a daily blog, Monday through Thursday, in which I post current learnings (taking sporadic weeks off to write longer pieces or to rest). Posts are 300-500 words, often with photos, intended to be read in five minutes, and inspire individual and communal reflection on varied aspects of participative leadership
- [Writing, Reflecting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/group-facilitation/writing-reflecting/) - Human to Human — is a daily blog, Monday through Thursday, in which I post current learnings (taking sporadic weeks off to write longer pieces or to rest). Posts are 300-500 words, often with photos, intended to be read in five minutes, and inspire individual and communal reflection on varied aspects of participative leadership practices, insights,

## Categories

- [General Learning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/tw/)
- [Edited](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/edited/)
- [Old Blogger](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/old-blogger/)
- [Questions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/questions/)
- [New Stories](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/new-stories/)
- [Welcome Text](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/welcome/)
- [Tenneson Woolf Poetry](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/category/poetry/) - This is the tag that will be used to display the content on the Poetry Page

## Tags

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- [#growth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/growth/)
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- [#mercynow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/mercynow/)
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- [#participativeleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/participativeleadership/)
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- [#presence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/presence/)
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- [#assimpleas](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/assimpleas/)
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- [#memorialday](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/memorialday/)
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- [#home](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/home/)
- [#dialogue](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/dialogue/)
- [#listeninginorganizations](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/listeninginorganizations/)
- [#DonaldTrump](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/donaldtrump/)
- [#maturedleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/maturedleadership/)
- [#maturedpsyche](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/maturedpsyche/)
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- [#QT](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/qt/)
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- [#ChrisCorrigan](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/chriscorrigan/)
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- [#operatingprinciples](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/operatingprinciples/)
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- [#churchleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/churchleadership/)
- [#CPC2016](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/cpc2016/)
- [#emergence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/emergence/)
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- [#UCCleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/uccleadership/)
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- [#berkana](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/berkana/)
- [#leadershipandthenewscience](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/leadershipandthenewscience/)
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- [#organizationalchange](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/organizationalchange/)
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- [#leadershipdepth](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/leadershipdepth/)
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- [#time](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/time/)
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- [#roleofpolice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/roleofpolice/)
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- [#henrinouwen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/henrinouwen/)
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- [#adolscencerunamuck](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/adolscencerunamuck/)
- [#emergenceinpolitics](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/emergenceinpolitics/)
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- [#collaborativeleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/collaborativeleadership/)
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- [#delusionalwinning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/delusionalwinning/)
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- [#BenjaminFranklin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/benjaminfranklin/)
- [#impermanence](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/impermanence/)
- [#essentialagreements](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/essentialagreements/)
- [#essentialvalues](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/essentialvalues/)
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- [#ComingHome](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/cominghome/)
- [#educationalleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/educationalleadership/)
- [#importantquestions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/importantquestions/)
- [#participativeleadersip](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/participativeleadersip/)
- [#rhondarabbit](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/rhondarabbit/)
- [#wilkesbarre](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/wilkesbarre/)
- [#CircleEnergetics](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/circleenergetics/)
- [#evolutionaryleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/evolutionaryleadership/)
- [#fritjofcapra](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/fritjofcapra/)
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- [#descent](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/descent/)
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- [#HarrisonOwen](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/harrisonowen/)
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- [#](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/718/)
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- [#presenceisleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/presenceisleadership/)
- [#diamondofparticipation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/diamondofparticipation/)
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- [#wobbleinleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/wobbleinleadership/)
- [#connectivetissue](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/connectivetissue/)
- [#corpuscallosum](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/corpuscallosum/)
- [#groupenergetics](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/groupenergetics/)
- [#curiosity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/curiosity/)
- [#curiosityisleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/curiosityisleadership/)
- [#greatsaltlake](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/greatsaltlake/)
- [#leadershipadaptation](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/leadershipadaptation/)
- [#perpetualperplexity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/perpetualperplexity/)
- [#eringilmore](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/eringilmore/)
- [#faithcommunityleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/faithcommunityleadership/)
- [#holymischief](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/holymischief/)
- [#ivythomas](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/ivythomas/)
- [#StoryMatters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/storymatters/)
- [#WhyTalk](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/whytalk/)
- [#givingway](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/givingway/)
- [#seasons](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/seasons/)
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- [#artofhosting](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/artofhosting/)
- [#changebeliefs](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/changebeliefs/)
- [#lorisortino](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lorisortino/)
- [#mentalmodels](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/mentalmodels/)
- [#innerandouter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/innerandouter/)
- [#IOEL](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/ioel/)
- [#newmoonritesofpassage](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/newmoonritesofpassage/)
- [#LittleBrook](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/littlebrook/)
- [#tennesonwoolfpoetry](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/tennesonwoolfpoetry/)
- [#CPCUCCMeets](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/cpcuccmeets/)
- [#GlenBrown](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/glenbrown/)
- [#ROMOCO](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/romoco/)
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- [#containers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/containers/)
- [#worldcafe](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/worldcafe/)
- [#KellyRyan](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/kellyryan/)
- [#largegroups](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/largegroups/)
- [#compromise](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/compromise/)
- [#shimonperes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/shimonperes/)
- [#whenwinningislosing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/whenwinningislosing/)
- [#deepcenter](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/deepcenter/)
- [#rilke](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/rilke/)
- [#rootedliketrees](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/rootedliketrees/)
- [#bepresentbecurious](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/bepresentbecurious/)
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- [#sethgodin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/sethgodin/)
- [#challengeassumptions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/challengeassumptions/)
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- [#kathleenmasters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/kathleenmasters/)
- [#robertlupton](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/robertlupton/)
- [#toxiccharity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/toxiccharity/)
- [#center](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/center/)
- [#irrepressiblelife](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/irrepressiblelife/)
- [#natureinleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/natureinleadership/)
- [#digitalheroin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/digitalheroin/)
- [#drnicholaskardaras](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/drnicholaskardaras/)
- [#glowkids](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/glowkids/)
- [#parentingwithdigital](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/parentingwithdigital/)
- [#toomuchmedia](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/toomuchmedia/)
- [#participatoryleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/participatoryleadership/)
- [#powerfulquestions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/powerfulquestions/)
- [#questionsaretools](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/questionsaretools/)
- [#christinabaldwin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/christinabaldwin/)
- [#ettyhillesum](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/ettyhillesum/)
- [#lifescomplexities](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lifescomplexities/)
- [#peaceofmind](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/peaceofmind/)
- [#thesevenwhispers](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/thesevenwhispers/)
- [#sjcathedral](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/sjcathedral/)
- [#youaregoingtobeok](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/youaregoingtobeok/)
- [#AwareOfProjection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/awareofprojection/)
- [#CaitlinFrost](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/caitlinfrost/)
- [#GiftOfProjection](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/giftofprojection/)
- [#ChristyLee-Engel](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/christylee-engel/)
- [#EndOfTheWorld](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/endoftheworld/)
- [#InDifficultTimes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/indifficulttimes/)
- [#JohnTarrant](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/johntarrant/)
- [#PacificZenInstitute](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/pacificzeninstitute/)
- [#DavidGouthro](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/davidgouthro/)
- [#helpfromfriends](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/helpfromfriends/)
- [#hockeykindness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/hockeykindness/)
- [#HorizonLearning](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/horizonlearning/)
- [#VestryLeadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/vestryleadership/)
- [#deeplisteningingroups](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/deeplisteningingroups/)
- [#listeningtospirit](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/listeningtospirit/)
- [#crisesisconsciousness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/crisesisconsciousness/)
- [#crisesofourtimes](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/crisesofourtimes/)
- [#detachment](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/detachment/)
- [#lettinggo](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lettinggo/)
- [#briangreene](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/briangreene/)
- [#embraceuncertainty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/embraceuncertainty/)
- [#exploreunknowns](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/exploreunknowns/)
- [#glendaeoyang](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/glendaeoyang/)
- [#humansystesmdynamics](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/humansystesmdynamics/)
- [#charleseisenstein](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/charleseisenstein/)
- [#practicekindness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/practicekindness/)
- [#prayforpeace](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/prayforpeace/)
- [#randomactofkindness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/randomactofkindness/)
- [#kumbaya](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/kumbaya/)
- [#learnthecircleway](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/learnthecircleway/)
- [#weirdtowyrd](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/weirdtowyrd/)
- [#wyrd](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/wyrd/)
- [#evolve](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/evolve/)
- [#growupAmerica](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/growupamerica/)
- [#nowwhat](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/nowwhat/)
- [#uselectionresults](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/uselectionresults/)
- [#americansfirst](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/americansfirst/)
- [#biggerpicture](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/biggerpicture/)
- [#graciousleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/graciousleadership/)
- [#HRCConcession](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/hrcconcession/)
- [#Maga](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/maga/)
- [#POTUS](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/potus/)
- [#bowenislandaoh](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/bowenislandaoh/)
- [#salmonrun](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/salmonrun/)
- [#twoloops](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/twoloops/)
- [#AoHBowenIsland](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/aohbowenisland/)
- [#Closings](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/closings/)
- [#TennesonWoolf](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/tennesonwoolf/)
- [#TeresaPosakony](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/teresaposakony/)
- [#restmatters](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/restmatters/)
- [#thanksgiving](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/thanksgiving/)
- [#JohnFKennedy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/johnfkennedy/)
- [#SpirituallyPoor](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/spirituallypoor/)
- [#meaningmakingcreatures](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/meaningmakingcreatures/)
- [#meaningprojectingmachines](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/meaningprojectingmachines/)
- [#thanksgivingpoetry](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/thanksgivingpoetry/)
- [#makingsenseofdreams](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/makingsenseofdreams/)
- [#subconsciouslife](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/subconsciouslife/)
- [#symbolsthatarepersonal](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/symbolsthatarepersonal/)
- [#thomasmoore](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/thomasmoore/)
- [#wakinglife](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/wakinglife/)
- [#extraordinarymoments](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/extraordinarymoments/)
- [#transitions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/transitions/)
- [#lenoremewton](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lenoremewton/)
- [#parkerpalmer](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/parkerpalmer/)
- [#soulwitness](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/soulwitness/)
- [#sarahhennessy](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/sarahhennessy/)
- [#silenceiswise](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/silenceiswise/)
- [#societyoffriends](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/societyoffriends/)
- [#menswork](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/menswork/)
- [#soultime](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/soultime/)
- [#steadywork](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/steadywork/)
- [#bowenisland](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/bowenisland/)
- [#menincircle](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/menincircle/)
- [#engagingshadow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/engagingshadow/)
- [#evolvingshadow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/evolvingshadow/)
- [#exploringshadow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/exploringshadow/)
- [#trainingsinsaltlakecity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/trainingsinsaltlakecity/)
- [#loseyourmind](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/loseyourmind/)
- [#lost](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lost/)
- [#liberatedmindbody](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/liberatedmindbody/)
- [#Guante](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/guante/)
- [#healthymasculine](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/healthymasculine/)
- [#manup](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/manup/)
- [#befriendingshadow](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/befriendingshadow/)
- [#lifeaffirmingleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lifeaffirmingleadership/)
- [#advent](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/advent/)
- [#thedailysip](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/thedailysip/)
- [#Kabir](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/kabir/)
- [#DavidBrown](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/davidbrown/)
- [#givingvoice](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/givingvoice/)
- [#HarmonyProject](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/harmonyproject/)
- [#imperfectionasgift](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/imperfectionasgift/)
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- [#lightgetsin](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/lightgetsin/)
- [#happyholidays](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/happyholidays/)
- [#simplebeauty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/simplebeauty/)
- [#timpanogos](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/timpanogos/)
- [#bigmagic](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/bigmagic/)
- [#captainfantastic](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/captainfantastic/)
- [#creativelife](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/creativelife/)
- [#needfornature](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/needfornature/)
- [#perpetuatedmyths](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/perpetuatedmyths/)
- [#roqgareau](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/roqgareau/)
- [#askquestions](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/askquestions/)
- [#certainty](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/certainty/)
- [#certaintyisoverrated](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/certaintyisoverrated/)
- [#masculinebravado](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/masculinebravado/)
- [#notknowing](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/notknowing/)
- [#radicalinnerjourney](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/radicalinnerjourney/)
- [#arammons](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/arammons/)
- [#asimplerway](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/asimplerway/)
- [#clear](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/clear/)
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- [#needoggod](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/needoggod/)
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- [#chaordicsteppingstones](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/chaordicsteppingstones/)
- [#planningtool](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/planningtool/)
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- [#composite being](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/composite-being/)
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- [#evolution](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/evolution/)
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- [#processleadership](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/processleadership/)
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- [#makeitsix](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/makeitsix/)
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- [#magicincommunity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/magicincommunity/)
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- [#unitydiversity](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/unitydiversity/)
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- [#resonatenw](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/resonatenw/)
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- [#Iamflying](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/iamflying/)
- [#perspective](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/perspective/)
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- [#AOH-CO](https://www.tennesonwoolf.com/tag/aoh-co/)
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