Tough Talks in Transition
On Tough Talks in Transition – a Transition US call I’m facilitating 2/22/12
On Wednesday, I am going to be facilitating a call on this subject via Transition US. I really appreciate the opportunity to do this for several reasons, not the least of which is the feeling of honor at being part of the group of people who have given these talks in the past, people who I admire tremendously, such as Joanna Macy, Bill Aal, Kit Miller, Rob Hopkins, Chris Martenson, and Trathen Heckmen. These people are to me, giants in the areas of thinking and activity that I long to contribute in. I am humbled to be seen as being able to offer something in this context.
At the same time, I feel a bit anxious, thinking to myself, “What could I possibly offer that these other amazing people couldn’t offer more eloquently and capably?” And right there, I had a bit of a panic. But at the same time, I thought, there must be some reason for my being asked to offer a call. . . I must have SOMETHING to offer. So, I listened to some of the previous talks on the Transition US archives, (a great resource by the way!) so as to get a feel for what had been talked about before, and to try to get more clarity about the unique gift that I might be able to offer.
I’ve come away with a couple of realizations from listening to these talks: First, so much of what we do in Transition really does come down to having the capacity to be out of our comfort zone. “Tough talks” require us to be confident, honest, and open-hearted all at the same time. I think this way of being is a skill that is increasingly valuable in this world, especially during the Transition.
Secondly, there is an area that I have a special interest in exploring with people on Wednesday because I have a particular passion of moving out of the didactic and into the shared experience of the present moment in our bodies and our hearts. I’ve had some success offering space for moments like this with groups in the recent past, and I think it’s possible to tap into the visceral experience of lending our full presence into a shared audio space. This is an exciting possibility for me, and I am rolling it over in my mind… I think it’s doable – but it will be an experiment. I invite you to play with me and the others on the call Wednesday. I think the experience will give us an opportunity to practice being present when we’re challenged by where others are coming from, and grow our capacity to offer ourselves fully to whatever’s alive in the room that we’re in.
I hope you can make it. To learn more and to register for the call, click: http://transitionus.org/event/tough-talks-transition