Loose Leaf Notes

“I had fun,” one of the women in my dialogue circle said at the end of our monthly gathering.

“Me too,” I nodded.  “That’s just how weird I am. This is my kind of fun.”

We all laughed, knowing that we had just shared some innermost thoughts and that much of our talk was emotional and revolved around death, grief and loss.

I shook during the circle when I shared the full body knowing that recently woke me in the middle of the night: a resistance, an insight, a false belief revealed.  “A piece of the puzzle.  Progress,” I called it.  But then why was it so hard to talk about it? Wasn’t progress supposed to feel good?

We don’t give advice at dialogue.  We don’t talk about others or philosophize.   We are each there for our own inner work and only address what relates back to that.  At least that is the overriding premise of the practice.

“If we can’t be fully ourselves at this stage of life, when will we? If we don’t tend to our issues now, when will we?” I later posed to a friend who asked what dialogue circle was.

I tried to explain:  Each holds a piece of the whole story, and when we are done the circle is usually complete.  It’s diverse, shines with a common theme and extends to something larger than ourselves.   I think of a dialogue circle as a work of art, made with the honesty of words, personal reflection and listening.

– Read more about dialogue circle HERE.