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, for stories, for wonders. I have learned through much practice that Circle gives a format for contributing good to one another, in heart and in mind. It connects. It weaves.

These chairs in Circle took on many forms last week. When not 25, sometimes it was groups of three, chairs turned knee to knee. Sometimes it was pairs. Sometimes it was groups of four. The invitation to go together transfers in the moment, and then integrates with invitation to share what happens back to the larger circle and the central hearth.

These are narratives that I love about circle. I’m glad for them. Particularly, because I would suggest that one of the most significantly needed 2020s behaviors is the power and the need to cultivate human spirit together. I’d also say kindness. I’d also say consciousness. I’d also say awakeness. There is a power and a need to bring ourselves into more deliberate flow and energy with life itself, found in the mix of wonderings that people put into a center.

I’m glad to have encountered circle 25 years ago with Christina Baldwin, Ann Linnea, Meg Wheatley, Bob Stilger, and Toke Moeller. I’m glad it became a most central practice not just for the outer learning but also for the inner clarity. I’m glad I’ve worked with many fantastic Circle practitioners over the years — Amanda Fenton, Penny Hamilton. I’m glad I get to continue inviting, particularly through my work with Quanita Roberson that includes Essence of Circle Practice coming in April.

Circle gives a way to encounter each other and to encounter ourselves. Circle gives us a way to lift up aspirations together and to feel inspirations together. There is power and need to have this shape together, this being together — to remember a bit of what might just be the whole-hearthedness together that shapes us into more healthy ways of being.

2 Replies to “The Power and Need of Circle”

  1. What I particularly love about this is the notion that we “need” circle …

    “the need to cultivate human spirit together” …

    “a need to bring ourselves into more deliberate flow and energy with life itself, found in the mix of wonderings that people put into a center.” …

    to have this shape together, this being together — to remember a bit of what might just be the whole-hearthedness together that shapes us into more healthy ways of being.

    oh, so much goodness. the sweetness of it fills me up. leaves me smiling. makes my heart leap a little.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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