Judi Richardson wrote:
> Chris.... As I read your graciously generous posting, I smiled as I > have several pages of similar notes. How ever-willing that > self-critic is to jump right in there just when I think I've achieved > a mind free from doubt. At that point my attempt to just hold my > ground requires the "inflatable shoes" to become lead shoes. Your > stunning description of silence resonates. On my own and with groups > I share meditation, silence (although often stormy) is welcome. Yet > in working with groups I fall into mindreading as I sense others are > uncomfortble with the silence, the host in me who is conditioned to > insure that everyone has a good time wants to fill in the space and > silence. My knowing is that this is manipulative and closes space > still it offers over and over. Yep re: mind reading. That is part of the key I think to why my efforts to be in the silence that had enveloped the room were failing in my own head. I was trying to respond to what i thought others were doing. When I stopped trying, I just became authentically me. And then I felt better. i have no idea how the group felt, but my change did happen at the same time as a change in the group's energy. That could be a fallacy along the lines of "Every time I get sleepy, the sun goes down," but there you go. Funny that when walking the circle these really tiny and subtle shifts are magnified hugely. Part of my practice, especially as a parent, is trying to make the rest of my life be so rich an experience as that. Chris -- NEW EMAIL: ch...@chriscorrigan.com CHRIS CORRIGAN Consultation - Facilitation Open Space Technology http://www.chriscorrigan.com ch...@chriscorrigan.com RR 1 E-3 1172 Miller Road Bowen Island, BC Canada, V0N 1G0 phone (604) 947-9236