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 an interfaith spirituality group.
With the online interfaith group, it was fun to create this invitation below with my friend Cathy Stafford. I loved the deliberateness of “…going with heart…” I love it because it speaks to a context that is more and more common.
Reimagining Together:
A Community Workshop that Reclaims Story and Skills for Going With Heart
Human beings everywhere seek more meaningful connection and learning together. With colleagues. With communities. With friends. With family. We seek purposeful, life-giving, and simple ways to be wise together. And kind together. And inspired. And helpful. And authentic. In the causes of our hearts and the causes of our times.
Yet, there is much in contemporary society that stifles such desires. So many of us are pressed for time. And pressed with skewed bias. And pressed with life complexities. And other things that distract and distort.
In this interactive online workshop, we will lean in to each other. For story. For breath. For belonging. For wonder. We will dwell together in the oldest of communal ways — being curious together.
Fun. I love creating invitations of the heart, from the heart.
And in this workshop I loved both leading with, exploring some in the middle, and then reminding at the end — these things below that I hoped they would take home with them, that they would carry in their hearts of remaining together.
- It’s all soulful work. A soulful way. Soulful awareness. Soulful remembering.
- Going with heart matters (even more, don’t kid yourself).
- Distortions and distractions exist.
- There is no substitute for finding your center, what is in your heart, and how you can contribute from there.
- Circle is your friend; so is story.
- Pay attention to a purposeful hello.
- Pay attention to a witnessing goodbye.
- Ask questions that matter.
- Connection is the game, the invitation, the practice — so that we can be more wise, more kind, more inspired, more helpful, and more authentic.
- Everything is connected. Everything changes. Pay attention. All of life is relationship.
- From connection grows learning and experiments for both everyday evolutions and longer arc revolutions.
- Trust your courage. Welcome clarity. Ask for help. Accept it when it comes.
What fun. What joy to be with people in such learning and practice. What delight to create materials from the heart and for the moment.
And I welcome those intuitions that you may have that nudge — maybe it’s time to explore a bit of work together.
Let’s take that to heart please. Let’s take that home.
Greetings All.