NOTES from Program 1/25/19
Embodied Thinking Has Wings
Facilitated by Lynn Preston
Almost forty participants gathered on Friday evening to attend the NY Metro Focusing program “Embodied Thinking Has Wings” facilitated by Lynn Preston. Susan Deisroth introduced Lynn. Susan then led the attendees in a focusing exercise to discover something of the emotional quality of their relationship to the world of thinking and ideas.
After the participants shared, Lynn spoke. According to Lynn, Eugene Gendlin wanted to study not so much philosophers’ ideas but where they got their ideas - the larger realm at the edge of thinking. That is a world we all have access to, a vast realm of creativity and newness - the edge where something hasn’t quite yet formed.
Gene communicated how we get to the world of thinking. In Focusing we go to that larger realm for concerns in our personal life. In Thinking at the Edge (TAE) the same process of contacting the larger realm is directed at something more universal. This realm is the meeting place of the implicit (what we haven’t yet thought of) and the explicit. We stand at the fuzzy edge waiting for light to illuminate it. The realm of the implicit is a realm of metaphor and of the body.
Lynn said, thinking is how we make sense of experience. Every idea starts with an experience. If the idea gets too far from the experience it becomes dead. Creative thinking is a process of opening up to experience so that it is alive and grows. Lynn then asked people to come up with an idea and, working in pairs, circle the main words and talk about what they wanted the words to mean to them. For many people, this seemed to enrich their idea and open avenues for further development.
During the community conversation which followed, some people expressed the interest that NY Metro Focusing have more programs on Thinking at the Edge. They were excited to have been introduced to TAE and wanted to learn more.
And. . . . there were a few announcements:
1. Tom Brockland brought postcards telling us that anyone interested in viewing and possibly purchasing Janet Pfunder’s art work may contact him directly at 917-583-2578 or by email at tmbrockla@yahoo.com
2. A reminder that Susan Rudnick’s memoir, Edna’s Gift: How My Broken Sister Taught Me To Be Whole, will be released in June. We are excited that she will be with us for our September meeting to read from her book and guide us in experiential writing, a very popular recent NYMF meeting and the process she used to write this book. You may visit her author website: https://susanrudnick.com
3. Beth Mahler and Maria Skoufas are facilitating a Winter Retreat February 22-24 in South Seaside Park, NJ. “Finding Calm . . . Focusing.” https://www.facebook.com/njfocusers/
For more information contact, bfmahler@optonline.net or maria.skoufas@gmail.com
4. Robert Lee will be returning for a weekend intensive of Macro Domain Focusing the weekend of April 4-7. More information will be available soon.
Embodied Thinking Has Wings
Facilitated by Lynn Preston
Almost forty participants gathered on Friday evening to attend the NY Metro Focusing program “Embodied Thinking Has Wings” facilitated by Lynn Preston. Susan Deisroth introduced Lynn. Susan then led the attendees in a focusing exercise to discover something of the emotional quality of their relationship to the world of thinking and ideas.
After the participants shared, Lynn spoke. According to Lynn, Eugene Gendlin wanted to study not so much philosophers’ ideas but where they got their ideas - the larger realm at the edge of thinking. That is a world we all have access to, a vast realm of creativity and newness - the edge where something hasn’t quite yet formed.
Gene communicated how we get to the world of thinking. In Focusing we go to that larger realm for concerns in our personal life. In Thinking at the Edge (TAE) the same process of contacting the larger realm is directed at something more universal. This realm is the meeting place of the implicit (what we haven’t yet thought of) and the explicit. We stand at the fuzzy edge waiting for light to illuminate it. The realm of the implicit is a realm of metaphor and of the body.
Lynn said, thinking is how we make sense of experience. Every idea starts with an experience. If the idea gets too far from the experience it becomes dead. Creative thinking is a process of opening up to experience so that it is alive and grows. Lynn then asked people to come up with an idea and, working in pairs, circle the main words and talk about what they wanted the words to mean to them. For many people, this seemed to enrich their idea and open avenues for further development.
During the community conversation which followed, some people expressed the interest that NY Metro Focusing have more programs on Thinking at the Edge. They were excited to have been introduced to TAE and wanted to learn more.
And. . . . there were a few announcements:
1. Tom Brockland brought postcards telling us that anyone interested in viewing and possibly purchasing Janet Pfunder’s art work may contact him directly at 917-583-2578 or by email at tmbrockla@yahoo.com
2. A reminder that Susan Rudnick’s memoir, Edna’s Gift: How My Broken Sister Taught Me To Be Whole, will be released in June. We are excited that she will be with us for our September meeting to read from her book and guide us in experiential writing, a very popular recent NYMF meeting and the process she used to write this book. You may visit her author website: https://susanrudnick.com
3. Beth Mahler and Maria Skoufas are facilitating a Winter Retreat February 22-24 in South Seaside Park, NJ. “Finding Calm . . . Focusing.” https://www.facebook.com/njfocusers/
For more information contact, bfmahler@optonline.net or maria.skoufas@gmail.com
4. Robert Lee will be returning for a weekend intensive of Macro Domain Focusing the weekend of April 4-7. More information will be available soon.