NOTES from NYMF Meeting on 6/3/18
SHARING INTERESTS: Creating Community and Connection
Susan Deisroth welcomed 15 meeting participants, 3 of whom were attending an NYMF meeting for the first time. Naomi Glicken led us in an attunement, and then Larry Hurst introduced our program for the evening. He invited us to begin from a place of not knowing, without preconceptions of what the evening will be about. Our process and our groups will be experiential and experimental.
He then invited the group to sense into the list of possible group topics carried forward from the previous meeting. “Which of these sparks your attention to engage in something exciting, adventurous? - Or perhaps a different topic emerges.”
This is where the evening became interesting. We spent quite a while defining a few new topics to be added to those already. Here is the resulting complete list:
Eventually we were able to split into three groups:
Larry added that it was OK to change groups if that felt right. He then guided everyone through a series of steps to help reflect on their group’s unique topic.
These are the results of what fell out :
WRITING GROUP
Common Themes
Needing to change the relationship with writing
Writing as an organizing tool. The challenges of organizing one's writing
Writing as a focusing process
Next Steps
Meeting again to explore if there is enough commonality to write together
LEARNING FOCUSING
Common Themes
Searching inside
Trusting and articulating a Felt Sense from murky to clarity
In partnership
Next Steps
Immersing in focusing –
WHOLE-SELF PRESENCE and WE-SPACE
Common Theme
Finding the Me in the We
Finding the We in the Me
With A Process Model as a guide
Next Step
Continuation of this small group in future NYMF meetings.
We then reconvened in our large group and shared the notes (above) from our small groups.
Naomi Glicken ended the evening by leading a brief community conversation inviting ideas about how to carry all this forward. The general sense was of wanting to hold onto all the possibilities that emerged from the evening’s small groups. People wanted a posting on the website or in an email, not to lose what was created. The “Learn Focusing” group especially wants more actual focusing experiences, not just “about” focusing. Larry added that he was thankful that the opportunities for solo and interactive group Focusing at this meeting had yielded some useful outcomes.
Prepared by Cynthia Callsen
Please save the date for our next meeting: Sunday, September 23 6pm - 8pm
(sign-in and networking from 5:30 p.m.)
SHARING INTERESTS: Creating Community and Connection
Susan Deisroth welcomed 15 meeting participants, 3 of whom were attending an NYMF meeting for the first time. Naomi Glicken led us in an attunement, and then Larry Hurst introduced our program for the evening. He invited us to begin from a place of not knowing, without preconceptions of what the evening will be about. Our process and our groups will be experiential and experimental.
He then invited the group to sense into the list of possible group topics carried forward from the previous meeting. “Which of these sparks your attention to engage in something exciting, adventurous? - Or perhaps a different topic emerges.”
This is where the evening became interesting. We spent quite a while defining a few new topics to be added to those already. Here is the resulting complete list:
- Focusing and Writing
- Focusing and Aging
- Focusing and Art
- Focusing and the Environment
- Focusing and Current-day Politics
- Focusing and Find a Way to WEllness (as opposed to Illness)
- Considering A Process Model Together
- Learning More About Focusing
- We-Space Exploration
- Teaching Focusing in Various Communities
- Living and Speaking from Whole-self Presence as Opposed to Partial Selves
Eventually we were able to split into three groups:
- Focusing and Writing – 4 participants
- Learning More about Focusing – 5 participants
- A combination of Whole-self Presence and We-Space Exploration - 5 participants
Larry added that it was OK to change groups if that felt right. He then guided everyone through a series of steps to help reflect on their group’s unique topic.
- He suggested spending some moments in a personal Focusing process and then sharing with one another what came.
- What is it about this topic that is important for me to know more about and engage in, and perhaps embed more into my life?
- Then he asked us to consider if a unifying theme fell out from all that was present within the group
- And what might a right next step be either for the individual and/or the group.
These are the results of what fell out :
WRITING GROUP
Common Themes
Needing to change the relationship with writing
Writing as an organizing tool. The challenges of organizing one's writing
Writing as a focusing process
Next Steps
Meeting again to explore if there is enough commonality to write together
LEARNING FOCUSING
Common Themes
Searching inside
Trusting and articulating a Felt Sense from murky to clarity
In partnership
Next Steps
Immersing in focusing –
WHOLE-SELF PRESENCE and WE-SPACE
Common Theme
Finding the Me in the We
Finding the We in the Me
With A Process Model as a guide
Next Step
Continuation of this small group in future NYMF meetings.
We then reconvened in our large group and shared the notes (above) from our small groups.
Naomi Glicken ended the evening by leading a brief community conversation inviting ideas about how to carry all this forward. The general sense was of wanting to hold onto all the possibilities that emerged from the evening’s small groups. People wanted a posting on the website or in an email, not to lose what was created. The “Learn Focusing” group especially wants more actual focusing experiences, not just “about” focusing. Larry added that he was thankful that the opportunities for solo and interactive group Focusing at this meeting had yielded some useful outcomes.
Prepared by Cynthia Callsen
Please save the date for our next meeting: Sunday, September 23 6pm - 8pm
(sign-in and networking from 5:30 p.m.)