This circle ((our circles)) is a commitment to repair.
An ever-expanding web of resonance and reflection.

Not an escape but an antidote.
Not a denial but an essential commitment to reimagining.

These spaces are not all there is.
But they are something quite significant:

An affirmation that we are living with purpose, rooted in reciprocal service.
That we are bringing to this fractured moment
a deep devotion to tending to the wounds we see
by offering into the mix our own unique remedies.

We are carving into the abyss a space for learning, tending, belonging, trust, and connection.
Making certain that it exists, that it thrives.
That we exist. That we thrive.

Reminding ourselves that joy is an act of resistance.

That gathering together is a healing.

That we don’t have to do this alone.

Over these last weeks, we’ve explored a vast range of tools and practices to deepen into our space holding work and tend to ourselves in the process.

We began by delving into the essential tools of engaged facilitation. We rooted into the core why of our gatherings, looking at how our intentions can inform and guide our agendas. We invited co-creation by setting collective agreements and intentions and creating learning containers that encourage participation, bravery, intimacy, and hold space for difference. We explored a program structure framework that we can build our offerings on — and that allows for freedom and trust. We integrated our own justice lens, deepening our awareness of self and others. We looked at navigating with and through conflict and challenging group dynamics. We’ve talked about ritual, and deep listening and questioning, and embracing imperfection.

This week we close our circle.

In the end, we return to the beginning, to our intention — as we befriend feedback and assess impact. We expand our commitment to co-creation and inquiry — asking our participants how the experience was for them and checking in with ourselves as well. This process is so often overlooked and yet is absolutely essential for continuing to create and facilitate responsive, transformative gatherings.

This week’s video includes:

1. Ways to acknowledge and attend to impact

2. Practices of befriending feedback from our participants + ourselves

3. Tools to integrate the information

Download the Workbook for Week Five here.

▷ Click the arrow below to watch.

Holding Space for Ourselves

I want to tell you this.

It is okay that we arrive tangled in self-doubt. That we sometimes wrestle with our worth. That we feel the weight of the world while holding fast to the beacon of possibility. That we are complex and curious and human. We are.

But this is not the moment for us to play small, to dwell in our doubt, or neglect the veracity of our deeper knowing.

Now is the time for us to prioritize the work that always gets pushed aside. To tend to our own creative longings so that we can better serve our people, our planet. To amplify the impact of our actions.

Now is the time for us to bring to life the essential gift of our most heart-drenched offerings.

…….

As our Holding Space circle comes to a close, some questions to consider. (You may want to pour a mug of tea and reflect in your journal, or perhaps take a walk and muse on these prompts, or something else entirely!)

1. As you reflect on your own arc from Intention to Impact during this course, where do you land?

2. How can you commit to deepening your work in a way that nourishes your vision, your community, and also yourself?

3. What have you learned about yourself through this process? What have you affirmed? Released? Where would you like to keep expanding?

4. What feels most energizing to you in your work as a space holder moving forward?

5. How can we support you?

Our final Audio Love Note is from me. This visualization is intended to support your presence, calm, and clarity — visioning into the circles you hold and the circles that hold you.

Here’s to our ripples of impact and our own imperfect readiness.

Just click below to play.

Making Learning Come Alive

Thinking about the core why of your gathering, what are you hoping your participants will come away with? As the writer Alexandra Franzen prompts, what will they “feel, know, and do” when the gathering comes to a close?

To this end, what question, activity, quote, song, or ritual will help close the container of your gathering?

What will complete your circle?

This week, create a list of closing practices you’ve shared with groups, have experienced and loved when you’ve been a participant, and/or might like to try in a future gathering.

>>> As we close our Holding Space time together, please take a couple of minutes to share your thoughts and feedback with me. Your reflections will help shape the future of this offering and let me know how I can continue to support your thriving.

"Look closely at the present you are constructing.
It should look like the future you are dreaming."

—Alice Walker

Expanding Our Learning Community

Meet Michael, Jennifer, and Dawn! Notice where you see yourself and your practices (desired or existing) in these interviews — What resonates? What surprises you? What are you already doing? What might you want to try?

“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundreth gale…When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.”

— Clarissa Pinkola Estes