IDEAS TO "RESPOND" TO the COMMUNITY FEEDBACK (WED JUL 21)

Yes, I agree it would be good to give the option to suggest weeks without having to do any work to make those changes happen. Maybe with a comment that those who are willing to dig in and do some work, could make an even greater contribution. Or some similar languishing to encourage real engagement versus sideline comments. I trust you know the distinction I'm trying to make here without being critical of any particular folks.

And also, my proposal to reach out to these specific people and offer them a custom template to work with, zeros right in on the people who have very specific laser sharp suggestions. Would love to see them do some of the work to bring this about. I'm certainly not willing to spend the time to make all these customized templates. I would imagine no one on our team has that kind of time, but I could be wrong. Plus I see this invitation to these specific people to be a fantastic way for people to get actually engaged with the actual work of contributing to the wisdom Circles.

Frederico, I love the inclusivenss of your idea here and your invitation for folks who spoke up to participate. And it seems that some are jumping on board. I also feel sensitive to someone being able to see or feel what seems missing to them and still not know exactly how they would change it. I would like people to feel free to comment without having to fix it....tho their ideas about it i would be helpful from their point of view of expereincing the lacking.

encourage different templates for Wisdom/Love circles:

Note to team: below is a draft of how I/we might invite the community at large, and specific community members in our Wednesday gathering to develop their own custom wisdom/love templates. I welcome your feedback ideas suggestions etc. I am very excited about this we have unfolding our process:

Dear NRTH Community, the five of us on the core team (Eve, Summer, Rebecca, Kim, Frederico) gratefully received the powerful feedback in Wednesday's community feedback session. We thank you so deeply for the quality of feedback, deep listening, appreciations, and opportunities for improvement that you gave us (and you ca. join "us" anything). Below is a radical, and we hope exciting idea!

In our debrief after the Wednesday community meeting, we realized that there was a common theme that we could address. And it’s very exciting for us to do so. The common theme is that a number of you were proposing different ways of doing a Wisdom Circle (different than the 30 minute "standard version" we’ve been using for three wisdom Circles so far).

So "let the games begin!" :)

We invite each of you who feel motivated/inspired to bring forth a customized Wisdom Circle -- that you yourself would love to be the wisdom/love receiver of. We will get into specifics below.

And once you create that custom wisdom Circle that you would love to receive, then you experience it as a wisdom receiver! 

If you take on this fun creation:

• know that any of us can get involved in helping you create your customized wisdom circle.

• then you would find your wisdom givers and your facilitator. Schedule a time that all can meet on zoom. And go for it. Have this experience that you’ve been wanting.

• and then debrief, integrate and make improvements to your creation.
  

Once that wisdom circle has been experienced by you, the creator of it, and improved, it can go into the community "inventory" or "smorgasbord" of wisdom/love circle templates that anyone in the community could choose. I am also thinking that for those who feel safe enough and are willing to be vulnerable enough, doing this in a larger group setting (calling an off Wednesday meeting or LiP) enables people to see what is happening, get involved by beings witnesses and holding the space and be more likely to take part in a circle as they see all the ways that the circle can be used. i.e. you don't have to have a big deal happening in order to be witnessed. I was just thinking today that some guiding questions for the Wisdom Receiver in thinking about what they want to bring to a circle process could be something like: What is the issue you find yourself coming back to over and over again? Where do you feel stuck? What tends to trigger you? Here are some examples below:

Rebeccayou have wanted to have a Wisdom Circle that was more spacious, less crunched into 30 minutes. What would that template look like?

Sarah & Ellen:You both talked about having a circle that’s more embodied. Do the two of you want to work together to create such a wisdom/love template? I am trying to reach out to Sarah to work on doing a circle with me. Does anyone have her email? I sent an email to Finlay asking him to forward it but havent heard whether he did that. Also reached out to David and Leah S. (Leah said an emphatic yes!)

David
you talked about breaking the shell, getting past the gooey sweetness. Would you be willing to design a wisdom circle that’s better able to accomplish that? And in its beginning, include the clarification you also wanted: "in one sentence, what is this person’s issue they’re working on?" (so we could all grasp that clarity in the beginning). 

Siobhanhow about you customize the wisdom circle template to give the wisdom receiver more concrete feedback? We’ve already integrated the four quadrant questions into the standard wisdom circle template. But now, maybe you take it the next step in your vision, and focus it on receiving Concrete Wisdom.

Ann Kay:do you feel motivated to create a template that will go beyond being used by individuals? Your wisdom circle could be structured in such a way that a small group, or pod, or even a larger group could give their wisdom and love to a particular inquiry. Love it! I want to play in that sandbox!

SUMMARYSSConsider this your invitation to create your own wisdom circle -- that you sense would be a benefit to our community. Then as the creator, you experience it as the wisdom receiver, and you and your team tweak it for even greater effectiveness. Once it’s gone through this process, it can become one of the custom templates that anyone in the community can choose as their Wisdom Circle. Exciting. I feel like we need to be conscious of people feeling that they have enough support. I know you mention us earlier in the letter, but whatever is emerging is in its fragile stage and is going to need plenty of attendance. I want it to be very clear that people don't get the message that we are saying Okay! Go figure it out!

LET'S ENVISION TOGETHER:Let's envisionand practice?together! We could have 3 to 5 to 7 Different Wisdom Circle formats, each designed for a different flavor or intent. What fun as a Wisdom receiver to be able to pick and choose the one that feels most closely aligned with what you’re wanting.