Tag: #simplepremise

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Wise Words From a Friend

I’m returning today — transitioning really — from cohosting QT in Cincinnati this last weekend, to participating in board meeting for The Circle Way. It’s an early morning ride with Quanita to get friend Rina Patel and I to the airport. It’s a flight that ironically stops in Salt Lake City (my home airport) where I change planes to go on to Seattle. It’s boarding the plane for Seattle only to learn of a “full ground stop” in Seattle. That means bad weather and they are not allowing flights to get near Seattle before something shifts. Me and about forty other people are using the plane to rest, do some work, read, etc. It’s not bad — just me in Row 19 and I have a power outlet.

QT, a creation by Q, Quanita, and me, T, Tenneson continues to have these foci and intents:

  • to experiment with real-time, deep inquiry.
  • to devote a weekend to the practice of being deliberately curious with friends.
  • to connect more soulfully to what is important to you.
  • to come into different relationship with stress and challenge.
  • to interrupt unhelpful patterns and thoughts that restrict vibrancy and choice.
  • to an ongoing annual series of dialogues that change human lives.
  • to listen further to the whispers that come from soul.

The short of it is that I love this gathering. It’s honest. It’s simple. I learn things uniquely at QT that really come from a learning “field” — a shared energetic connection.

It was Quanita that offered these wise words this time.

“Most people think you have to be hard on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s about protecting what is delicate internally because the world is too rough. However, it’s just he opposite that is needed. Soft on the outside — to be able to encounter other and ourselves in relationship with others. And hard on the inside — meaning clear on what your purpose is and on what your contracts are.”

I’m grateful for Quanita’s wisdom, and the wisdom that comes from this group of 13 being so deliciously connected over the last two days that such gems can arise as more than cute words and slogans, and instead be felt as solid communal truths.

Wise words from a friend. It might just be that the friend is the group itself too!

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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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asd
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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asd
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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