I pay a lot of attention to expressions in checkout circles. It is a great way to hear and feel some of the deeper threads of what has happened. Everything from very serious comments to very playful ones. It is quite a thing to witness to the group what has been meaningful.
Last week in Nova Scotia at the Art of Social Innovation, here are a couple of those expressions that stayed with me.
-“It has been a great privilege to be here. I feel like I know everyone here, even without talking to everyone.” (I love this as an expression of strength of learning field, feeling the whole.)
-“This is a great collection of human beings.” (Great to honor the skill in the room, the inquiry in the room, and the love shared.)
-“I feel quite renewed. I felt shaken earlier. Fragile. Our time outside with the trees helped me to feel stronger.” (I like this because it speaks well of the fragile qualities we all carry at times, and of the way place, Windhorse Farm in this case, supports us.)
-“Even when you are alone you can give yourself a big high five.” (The smile that came with this was enormous.)
-“You’re not the boss of apple sauce.” (OK, this is just plain useful. Thanks Sheila. It carries very naturally to work and family.)
-“I don’t share my emotions much. But this is what I feel now.” (I do love the cracking open that I experience in myself and that I see in others. It is such a strong condition for doing good work. Sometimes it feels as simple as meeting in our humanity and friendship. So that we can be in our a depth of work that matches the scale of our dreams.)
-“This has brought the sacred and the sabath into work such that it doesn’t feel like work.” (I do hold this work as sacred. Meeting in conversation to do what we care about is sacred to me. Important. Inspiring. Glad to hear it expressed so heartfully here.)
-“We are the sum of all relationships we’ve every been in.” (And perhaps the ones across generations also. Thanks Jerry for bringing this piece. I heard him offering it as a description of how many of us were fed in this gathering.)
Thanks to all for a powerful learning week that contributes to a field of working cooperatively at scale.
