BUILDING COMMUNITY
Talking Groups... ...continued from page 51
GLUT FOOD CO-OP • Open to the public — No membership required • Open 7 days / week: Tues-Fri 10 am–8 pm • Sat, Sun, Mon 9 am–7 pm • Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri 9 am–8 pm • Natural foods at the best prices in town • Not for profit and cooperative • More than 40 varieties of cheeses • Nuts, dried fruits, spices & organic produce 301-779-1978 4005 34th Street, Mt. Rainer, Maryland 7KH¿UVWVWHSZHHQFRXQWHUHGDVZHZHUHEHLQJWDXJKWWRDFWXDOL]H this group awareness was to turn our attention to what we now call, ³7KH%HLQJRIWKH*URXS´7KLVLVWKHGHHSHULQWHOOLJHQFHRUFRQVFLRXV - ness that emerges as the group. A coherent, self-aware presence — a living intelligence arising from and through all the individuals of a group yet not reducible to any one of us. It is more than the sum of WKHLQGLYLGXDOV7KH%HLQJRIWKH*URXSLVWKHHVVHQFHRUVRXORIWKH JURXS¿HOG,WFDQEHXQGHUVWRRGDVWKHVSHFL¿FORFDOL]HGHPHUJHQFHRI a higher intelligence within or as a particular gathering. It’s the here- DQGQRZ DULVLQJ LQWHOOLJHQFH WKDW UHÀHFWV ERWK WKH LQGLYLGXDOV SUHV - ent and something beyond us that can arise because we have come WRJHWKHU:KHQZHUHFRJQL]HDQGDWWXQHWRLWWKLV³EHLQJ´VHHPVWR “want” things — it pulses with timing, with direction, with unspoken knowing. It reveals preferences, truths, even impulses for action or silence. It holds the potential for coherence and insight through the unique constellation of people gathered. So, in that sense, the being of the group is what wants something to emerge. Its “wants” are not personal; they are resonances or invitations from a deeper movement. We move along a continuum of awareness. On one end, we iden- tify primarily as separate individuals and regard the group from the outside. On the other, the felt experience is “I am the group” — I am arising as the whole and as the individual. And so, believe it or not, the group actually becomes aware of itself. Please know that no position along the continuum is better than another. What we think is useful at this stage in human evolution is noticing where we are in relation to our groups, moment to moment, and considering new possibilities of where we would like to be, and how we can open our groups, therefore RXUVHOYHVWRPRUHDOLYHQHVVDQGDFWXDOL]DWLRQIRUWKHJRRG ing awareness. We treat everything that happens between us — as us — as useful. It grows each of us, deepens the group’s awareness, and supports the well-being of the Whole. And wow! The out-of-the-box creativity that has the space to arise because we are not stuck on a SRVLWLRQLVDPD]LQJQRWWRPHQWLRQWKHUHOLHI The “Being of the Group” When we are more aware of the being of the group we enjoy an ex- panded self-awareness that becomes co-awareness. We begin to sense the group thinking through us rather than as something outside us. 7KHIDPLOLDUVHQVHRI³PHLQDJURXS´LVMRLQHGE\DQHZIHOWUHDOLW\ ³, am the group, expressing through each of us.” People experience this in their own ways — often as a heart-opening or a physical sense of
The Bottom Line We want to be clear here — and here’s the threshold we are poised to cross — we do this most often as a group consciousness . We recog- QL]HRXUVHOYHVDVLQGLYLGXDOVEXWZHDOVRUHFRJQL]HLWLVWKH Us that we make together that is creating our work, teaching our courses, leading our practice groups, and writing our books. This may sound to you like a loss of individuality; it is the exact op- posite. As our awareness expands, each person’s distinct gifts come into sharper focus and potency, strengthening the whole. That shared wholeness, in turn, invites more self-agency and authenticity from HDFKRIXV7KLVUHFLSURFLW\²LQGLYLGXDOVDZDNHQLQJWKH¿HOGDQGWKH ¿HOGDZDNHQLQJWKHLQGLYLGXDOV²LVWKHKDOOPDUNRIZKDWZHFDOO³(YR - lutionary Groups.” 6R¿UVWZHKDYHFRPHWRLGHQWLI\RXUVHOYHVDVDJURXSEHLQJ6HF - ond, and equally important, we enter into conversation . One of us does not know best. There is no one leader. We each present what is arising in us and then we co-create our way forward . Or, if it’s a “tan- JOH´ZHQDYLJDWHWKURXJK%DFNDQGIRUWK1RDEVROXWHVIHZ³VKRXOGV´ (though they try to creep in). Just presence with who each of us is in WKHPRPHQW ³,WKLQN«´³+HUH¶VZKDW¶VKDSSHQLQJIRUPH«´³+HUH¶V where I go when you say that…” “I’m feeling angry right now.” “How about this?” In the kind of being we are experiencing ourselves to be, every voice is welcomed, valued, and needed. Whatever arises — discord or harmony — gives us exactly the information we need to keep open-
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52—PATHWAYS—Winter 25-26
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