Thursday July 5 (in deference to the holiday) marked the beginning of the sixth year of First Wednesday Conversations. I started hosting this conversation in July 2007, immediately after graduating from OSR. Under the influence of David Whyte, I wanted to have a practice around conversation that would require me to show up. I have […]
The Conversation is the Relationship
ALIA Learning – Dekaaz
Friday, July 6th, 2012At the recent ALIA Summer Institute in Halifax, I learned about a new poetic practice from my new friend Rachel Bagby (thanks to Bob Stilger for the introduction). The practice is called Dekaaz; Rachel describes it as “a small poetic form with big impact”. The “form” is 10 syllables in three lines: 2/3/5. On the […]
ALIA Learning – Mindfulness
Thursday, July 5th, 2012One of the most delicious aspects of the recent ALIA Summer Institute was the twice daily mindfulness practice. Each day, after breakfast, we gathered in a large room to hear teaching from one of the Institute’s faculty, and then to meditate together for 30 minutes. The basic instruction was just to notice what is going […]
ALIA Summer Institute
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012I’ve just completed my first ALIA Summer Institute in Halifax, N.S. (http://aliainstitute.org/summer2012/). It’s been a wonderfully powerful experience and I’m grateful to be connected to this community. I had conversations this week with new colleagues (and some long-time friends) from as far away as Australia and New Zealand and Japan and South Africa and Chile, […]
Visibility
Thursday, April 5th, 2012My friend Posy Gering has a blog that I think my readers will also appreciate. It’s about the internal conversation we all have, and the relationship with ourself that is formed by that ongoing conversation. And, like any conversation, we have the ability to shift it. When you’ve tried the practice she suggests, take a […]
Mulching relationships with conversation
Monday, March 19th, 2012I enjoy writing Haiku poetry from time to time. I follow what I believe to be the English adaptation of the form, namely a first line of five syllables, followed by a line of seven, and a final line of five. A colleague who used a haiku activity as part of a workshop summarized a […]
Stop having the old conversation
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012On December 3, 2011 I was part of a Seattle workshop hosted by the poet and leadership consultant David Whyte. The title of the workshop was the title of one of his (and one of my favorite) poems, “What to Remember When Waking”. That’s where we started, with David reciting this poem in his wonderful […]
Again, please, with conviction
Monday, January 2nd, 2012I don’t make resolutions for the New Year, although at this time of year I sometimes feel the pull of a possible fresh start in some area, or the need to do something better than I have been doing it. One thing I know I can do better is to speak with conviction and precision, […]
Everything in creation
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011“The conversation is the relationship” was on my mind as I prepared to meet my new granddaughter in late May. Tesla le Tigre Byers was born on April 13, to Rebecca and Andrew. They live in rural circumstances south of Ithaca, NY. As I flew across the country overnight from Seattle, I was thinking about […]
InThinking and Conversations in Sunny Los Angeles
Friday, May 20th, 2011Recently I was part of the 10th In2:InThinking Forum in Woodland Hills, CA, which is in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. Every year it has been a treat to meet up with friends for a few days of “thinking about thinking” (= InThinking). For me, this annual conference is the regular resumption […]