Human to Human

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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, tucking in a few last details, before heading to the venue,I find I often want to remember values that guide me in the work. Values that anchor and animate clarity of purpose and opportunity.

I often put these into my private journal. Here’s sharing some of that for today, in a bit of prosed form.

So much to learn.
So much to encounter. 
Listen for the needed truth of the day,
the story of our jobs,
and
the bigger story of humans claiming who we get to be together.

Pay attention 
to the flow 
of just the right things 
arriving at just the right time.

Do good.

Day One. Here we go.

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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 John. Nephew Michael. Auntie Ann (she’s now 94). A phone call with Auntie Cindy. All of these people shed light many times in my life. Guiding. Growing. Being patient. Encouraging. Loving the bejeebers out of me in the way that families do. It’s important to me to remember these roots. I don’t forget them. But there’s something special about feeling it live, topped up in person. It’s meals together. Conversations. Old jokes. Cards. Watching a little curling on TV. And every now and then, a drop-down conversation that usually checks in on the heart of what matters now.

I’m here this week to work with my friends Chris and Caitlin, who are also a kind of root system to me. We’re working with MacEwan University this week. Bringing the Art of Participatory Leadership to a learning cohort that journeys together over the next year. I love the years of friendship with C & C, that we’ve fed together over a few eras of life. There too is meals, conversation, jokes, and often, drop down conversations as we top up our love of learning together, and as we inspire our week of guiding the group in their leadership paths.

Roots matter. Coming home. Shoots matter too. How we bring what formed us into the new of what we grow together.

Here we go.

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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 the road less travelled by that peaks my awareness this morning.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Here’s to thoughtful choices and celebration.

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Live Wonder

Tenneson Woolf, Most Mornings, Live Wonder

“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 is today’s list of todo and areas of focus.

Most of my poetry is written in response to a question. The question through much of Most Mornings is how to live with more purpose as a human being. In the day to day, morning to morning. And in the longer arc of life timeline.

Perhaps there is insight for you too.

Live Wonder

Be
with what is.

Know
what brings
you alive.

From that, offer
contribution.

Give voice
to purpose.

Invite
possibility
and heart.

Live
wonder.

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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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