Men's listening circle

On September 16th we will have a Men's listening circle at the stone circle in the Common Woods.  We will have a small fire and begin around 7 p.m.
The purpose of the gathering is to practice communication.  We will use different methods over time as decided by group process.

For the first listening circle, we will adapt listening methods as used by Unitarians in companioning and clarification methods adapted from Ullman's group dream work method.

There will be an initial round of sharing where each participant will be allowed to share uninterrupted for five minutes.  No interruption, feedback or comments will occur during this first round.

This will be followed by a round of clarification, focusing on one particular share.  Each members can choose whether or not he wants what he has shared to be clarified.  The group will ask questions about what has been shared in order to be certain about what was said and meant.  Special emphasis will be given to identifying and expressing emotions.  Again, no feedback or commentary will occur during this round.

The round of clarification will be followed by an optional feedback round, focusing on one particular share.  Any member can opt out of receiving feedback.  If a member desires feedback, it will be given without any personal reference to the member who asked for feedback.  For example, the other members would say, "I have experienced something similar and this is what I did or said."  Or, "if I experienced something like that, I imagine I would do this or say this."  There would be no use of "you" in the feedback given.

If possible, as time permits, we would have a clarification round and feedback round for each member, if he chooses.