Gathering in circle

End of summer harvesting

Back in the spring we held our first online circle gathering for Radicle subscribers and contributors. It was an opportunity for members of the community to sit around the virtual fire, to make the time to bear witness to one another’s stories, a place for us to be held and heard and to listen deeply to one another. A chance for us to slow down, to reconfigure and practice how we relate. Several attendees have since given feedback on how special and necessary it was to have that space and time.

Nourish and fortify

I wasn’t quite sure of the rhythm or regularity that the circles might take. It has been my intention to at least organise one for the summer. As is often the case, the season has completely run away from me and we are almost at the end of August, but I am determined to offer circle up before the month is out…

I was particularly prompted to do so after listening to a recent episode of “Becoming the People” podcast with Prentis Hemphill. It was an episode called Conjuring Worlds with Maurice Mitchell. There was some really helpful discussion on there about safe spaces and movements, and it reminded me how important it is for us to fortify ourselves in order to continue doing difficult work and to keep showing up.

Circle, to me, is part of that fortifying. A space for us to feel held and nourished and seen in all our complexity. To fortify us in order for us to be able to engage with difference. To practice being compassionate, curious and to listen. This is essential if we are to create the much needed, inclusive “low bar entry, bigger we work” that Mitchell talks about in the podcast.

If this speaks to you I hope you’ll join us. Let’s fortify one another and practice holding space together.

And as we’re deep in late summer, approaching a transition period, perhaps we can take this opportunity to consider together what it is we are harvesting, what we have in abundance, what might be rotting that we need to let go of and put on the compost heap…?

You don’t need to have done any preparation to attend circle. You don’t need to arrive in any particular way or with any particular experience or knowledge. Just come as you are.

The next online circle is scheduled for Thursday, 29th August. If you’re a paying subscriber to Radicle you can find the link to book below.