Transition Support Group

Here's an idea for a simple local group that can provide support for your transition, support for you and for other transtioners in your community.

Simple, fun, effective.

Here's what we do locally.

A few folks get together on a regular basis, in our case bi-weekly, and speak to what's coming up for us as we think, feel, and work through our own transition (especially to a post peak oil world). We simply share  our own transition stuff: hopes and activities, and new thoughts and intuitions that are emerging for us.

We call it a listening circle to stay away from offering advice to others during the meeting, and to give people the time to go deep and see and share what's really true for them. If others could jump in at any moment, then the speaker maybe couldn't find "her" way down to what's really there. We're seldom given space and clear permission to tell what's really up for us.

At this time we're using a "talking stick" (any object that by agreement gives the holder time and space to speak without fear of interruption) and people take the time they need to explore and say what they must.

Format

How we're doing it at present (it's evolving) is:

1) checking in: how are we now? What concerns, new thinking, new excitements around transition, new or old struggles, are coming up.

2)  deepening: take turns reflecting on a theme that showed up in the check-in, or reflecting on a challenging question (e.g., if you were at a crossroads in your life, what would that be?)
Sometimes we use cards (the OH cards are a favorite) and tell our stories around them.

3) what's emerging for us now: what's coming up for us after all this. We're experimenting with saying part of this in the form, "I intend to . . . " with someone else acknowledging that intention. Seems to create real momentum.

Benefit

Given a clear invitation, people become very real and share their honest struggles and successes, what they're learning and living right now.

This is a benefit because we're deeply conditioned to be successful in the world's terms, rich enough, sexy enough, doing it right, not standing out too much, not falling through the cracks. Much of the simpler, smaller energy-footprint life associated with "transition" rubs against that conditioning.

So parts of us that don't fit into that idealized picture (we all have them) don't see the light of day . . . or else they emerge very slowly (so slowly they're not even having fun when they get here). A listening circle is a place where they're welcome right now. As a relocalizer or transitioner, you're a pioneer - you might be either the only one you know about where you live, or part of a small group. A listening circle is a place to hear more of the whole story and move it forward. It has room for everything that comes up for you.

A group like this can quickly become important in the life of members. Our own struggles seem normal when we hear others. We get great ideas - a collective intelligence sometimes seems to kick in.

More detail about how we do ours.

You can do it your own way of course, and call it what you will. We've taken to rotating three roles: facilitator, guardian, and questioner.

The facilitator opens and closes the meeting, gives a sentence about what happens next, could invite or speak an intent, or share some guidelines. (See guidelines here; we're not using them at present but might later. Some structure can be helpful.)

The guardian holds the listening intent for the circle, reminds us should we degenerate into chatter, lose our focus. (This idea came via the great folks over at peerspririt who speak powerfully and useful to the power of "circle".) Just having someone in this role is a reminder of why we're here.

The questioner brings a challenging open-ended question (e.g., if you were at a crossroads in your life right now, what would it be?). A great bunch of questions are here. We might not use a question, but just go with what's emerging in the evening or out of the check-in, but it's good to have it there. The questioner might bring a guided meditation or process too.

Remember that all of the roles rotate weekly, so we don't tend to get stuck.

Want to try it?