It's 6:30 a.m. here in Bodega Bay, California. The sun's just starting its daily job of illuminating the world as this big round tilt-a-whirl turns us toward warmth and light once again. Hooray for the sun! It's cold at night here (low 30s), and the mid-day heat is very welcome.
Today's the third day of a four-day training, held in a redwood forest, on how to effectively facilitate experiential learning (hands-on) games/exercises/elements, including low- and high-ropes courses. I expected to spend hours trying to understand the safety mechanics of pulleys and knots and belay devices, which we will get to, but we're mostly learning the heart of this work, about creating the space for real learning and exploration and risk taking to emerge. To help individuals and groups synthesize what they experience and transfer that learning into "real life" situations back at work/home/etc. There are 16 of us here. Many are from California, but we're also from North Carolina, Minnesota, Iowa, and even France! Tom Courry, owner of The Next Level, is hoping to expand his business internationally in the next year, and we're all hoping to find ways to help him do that.
One thing that someone said on the first day has really struck and stuck with me, and it's the idea of discovering "the strength in your own vulnerability." At first, it's a brain-bender. The perspective that a lot of us carry around goes something like this, "Hang on, the strength in my own vulnerability? But being vulnerable means I'm weak and open to being hurt and like I'm prey just waiting for something or someone to pounce! Yuck! No way!" And it's an understandable perspective, especially if I've been hurt before. And, holding that perspective keeps me closed off, not in true relationship, not trusting, needing to control my environment, and in an exhausting state of constant vigilance. Mostly, I'm not in relationship with myself because I'm always "out there," on the lookout for what might be coming that could hurt. It can be a pretty tiring and lonely state, actually.
I could write chapters on this topic, but instead, I'll leave you with a few questions, and feel free to comment on this posting with your thoughts or email me at laura@moreinyou.com. Here they are:
What might it mean to let yourself fall into the strength of your vulnerability?
What would need to happen to make room for that?
What might the gifts of it be?
How might it manifest?
Have fun!
Today's the third day of a four-day training, held in a redwood forest, on how to effectively facilitate experiential learning (hands-on) games/exercises/elements, including low- and high-ropes courses. I expected to spend hours trying to understand the safety mechanics of pulleys and knots and belay devices, which we will get to, but we're mostly learning the heart of this work, about creating the space for real learning and exploration and risk taking to emerge. To help individuals and groups synthesize what they experience and transfer that learning into "real life" situations back at work/home/etc. There are 16 of us here. Many are from California, but we're also from North Carolina, Minnesota, Iowa, and even France! Tom Courry, owner of The Next Level, is hoping to expand his business internationally in the next year, and we're all hoping to find ways to help him do that.
One thing that someone said on the first day has really struck and stuck with me, and it's the idea of discovering "the strength in your own vulnerability." At first, it's a brain-bender. The perspective that a lot of us carry around goes something like this, "Hang on, the strength in my own vulnerability? But being vulnerable means I'm weak and open to being hurt and like I'm prey just waiting for something or someone to pounce! Yuck! No way!" And it's an understandable perspective, especially if I've been hurt before. And, holding that perspective keeps me closed off, not in true relationship, not trusting, needing to control my environment, and in an exhausting state of constant vigilance. Mostly, I'm not in relationship with myself because I'm always "out there," on the lookout for what might be coming that could hurt. It can be a pretty tiring and lonely state, actually.
I could write chapters on this topic, but instead, I'll leave you with a few questions, and feel free to comment on this posting with your thoughts or email me at laura@moreinyou.com. Here they are:
What might it mean to let yourself fall into the strength of your vulnerability?
What would need to happen to make room for that?
What might the gifts of it be?
How might it manifest?
Have fun!
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