The challenge of "luminaries"

Pat Black patoitextiles at gmail.com
Tue Aug 21 12:57:31 PDT 2007


I know we are all throwing around a lot of experience in this thread
and I suppose I am about to add my 2 cents.  I find people who object
to a circle and identify it as "new agey" or "hippie leftover
(granola)"  may those who have judgements about who is doing real work
and who is doing unresearched and tested work.  I find statements
identifying people as "New Age"  is code for people who don't do
scientifically documented work and sometimes code for cultural
appropriators.  It depends on the community using the term.

I mostly work with a mix of people in community groups and almost
never work with groups of professionals in your job place.  The few
times I have worked with a professional work group I have them to be
more timid and more easily rattled by unfamiliar working conditions or
standards than mixed community groups.

I always use a circle, not because I am imposing circles or I think
people "should be able" to deal with circles.  I use circles because I
always have groups sit in circles whether in open space or a class or
anything else.  I work in a circle.  It works for me and I do my best
work in a circle.  I will be able to best meet the needs and goals of
the assembled working in a circle.  I state that out front as a need
of mine and I have always been meet with a generous spirit from
participants.  Some may decide to vote on the circle thing with their
feet and frankly that is fine with me.  In my mind it is possible that
a circle may not be the best place to work for everyone.

I guess my point is that I don't find classifying and judging people
based on whether circles work for them or not helpful.  These
classifications are probably true some of the time but they are never
true all the time.  If I make the judgements I will not know who is in
front of me nor how to best keep space open so they can walk through
it.
Pat Black

On 8/21/07, R. Duff Doel <duff at innergy.ca> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> In my experience, the only people who have a problem with working in a
> circle are those who demand that their positional power or authority or
> superiority over the others in the group be recognized and acknowledged.
>
> People who are in positions of authority most often got there by being
> very aware and politically astute as well as demonstrating ability. This
> means that they are very aware of the significance of a circle and
> consciously choose that they don't want to operate in such a setting.
>
> I realize this is painting with a very broad brush, but I have yet to
> see any other reason as being truthfully the rationale behind strong
> objection to working in a circle.
>
> duff
>
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