As a professional group facilitator, I was taught and trained to be neutral, to not influence the content of the conversation My job was to take care of the process and success emerged when I became invisible; when the group started to lead itself.
This approach tapped into a personal core dilemma hovering around visibility and recognition, and revealed my shadow side: the ability to influence and manipulate proceedings without taking responsibility.
Now that I am relearning to write, your essay has reminded me that I am trying to resolve a similar dilemma.
As a facilitator, I learned that my training rested upon an impossible ideal, where the observer was not part of the system being observed. This ideal has shown to be fundamentally flawed in science, where expectations and observation itself can influence what you discover.
I discovered that my views and my character had value, and had more value when I was conscious of the timing and the way I revealed myself - the way I facilitated myself as a temporary member of the group I served.
I helped to resolve the dilemma by calling myself a Consultant Facilitator, where I realised the dilemma can never be resolved ... permanently! But it can be resolved in the moment when I feel whole and become a conscious part of the whole i.e. when I am true to myself and my character (more than personality), whilst tuning into the character of the group.
Now, as a writer, I realise that I have gone, and are going, through a similar process. I have started to call myself a Contemplative Writer. I don't really know what that means yet, but it feels right. I like wearing this new jacket. 😊
But the truth is, I have hardly published anything. And now I know why. My attempts to publish have not felt part of a conversation; either to start a dialogue, or to join one. This comment is likely to be the seed of a new [published] essay, because your writing has prompted me to join the conversation ...
thoughtful
Kind.
As a professional group facilitator, I was taught and trained to be neutral, to not influence the content of the conversation My job was to take care of the process and success emerged when I became invisible; when the group started to lead itself.
This approach tapped into a personal core dilemma hovering around visibility and recognition, and revealed my shadow side: the ability to influence and manipulate proceedings without taking responsibility.
Now that I am relearning to write, your essay has reminded me that I am trying to resolve a similar dilemma.
As a facilitator, I learned that my training rested upon an impossible ideal, where the observer was not part of the system being observed. This ideal has shown to be fundamentally flawed in science, where expectations and observation itself can influence what you discover.
I discovered that my views and my character had value, and had more value when I was conscious of the timing and the way I revealed myself - the way I facilitated myself as a temporary member of the group I served.
I helped to resolve the dilemma by calling myself a Consultant Facilitator, where I realised the dilemma can never be resolved ... permanently! But it can be resolved in the moment when I feel whole and become a conscious part of the whole i.e. when I am true to myself and my character (more than personality), whilst tuning into the character of the group.
Now, as a writer, I realise that I have gone, and are going, through a similar process. I have started to call myself a Contemplative Writer. I don't really know what that means yet, but it feels right. I like wearing this new jacket. 😊
But the truth is, I have hardly published anything. And now I know why. My attempts to publish have not felt part of a conversation; either to start a dialogue, or to join one. This comment is likely to be the seed of a new [published] essay, because your writing has prompted me to join the conversation ...