Circles that nourish
The weaving of new lifeways
This is for Mozaic, a shared space that weaves our stories and learning as we evolve the world of work.
“People need to feel welcomed to arrive and so then, they can be present”. — Sobonfu Somè
Grown in West Africa, in a land that holds space for more than sixty tribes, Sobonfu Somè has spent her life sharing her wisdom with the world. Being one of the Dagara tribe she believes that everyone is born with a gift. Something unique. And that many get sick because their gift was not invited, it was not welcomed.
It is not difficult to be distracted from our uniqueness or even to feel disconnected from it. Even more so in these times, where many perceive work as something so separate from themselves, feeding the tension between what we’re passionate about and what we actually do. But, consciously or unconsciously, there is something ongoing in the undercurrents of each one of us: the search for a way to cope with the environment we live in and the countless relationships that weave, permeate and change our lives.
And that’s where the circles take shape. Alternating companionship through longer or shorter periods of time. Impacting us in unimaginable ways. In her talk Embracing Your Gifts, Sobonfu reminds us:
“Our nuclear family is just one of those circles, our spiritual community is just one of those circles, the city, the state where we are born are just one of those connections, the country and the universe, those are all different connections.”
Also, our work. The circles are not only connections but spaces that bring something into existence.
What is it that you wish to bring into existence? What are the circles that support this journey?
The moment we embody that we are all an entanglement of connections, it doesn’t get difficult to imagine what happens when one of those circles withers or blooms: we all feel it.
At some point in my journey, I began to wonder what life would be like if we all pursued what called us from within. For a while, I tried to imagine what happens when passion meets passion. And what would come out of it. About 3 years ago, I didn’t need to imagine so much. I was living it. And it’s mind blowing.
When the tribe meets up
Cocoon Pro has opened to me a brand new way of being together in the world of work. And there’s one invitation she brings to the ecosystem that spoke to me right away: “What happens when we truly get together?”
Every year I’m drawn to the Ohana Meetup. A big circle that becomes smaller ones that mix among themselves and that then, become a big circle again –but never the same. Relying on open space technology, this encounter passes the limits of a traditional gathering. Letting go of control and entering the realm of all possibilities, people are encouraged to bring the topics they are interested in or passionate about to the big circle.
Through 1 day and a half you freely move however you wish through smaller circles, learning, contributing, sharing. And if at any moment you feel the exchange doesn’t work for you, you can just move to a better place –respecting you and the system.
What I feel is so special about the OM is the generative invitation on the evolution of the world (of work). In brackets, yes! Because finally, in all circles we end up touching a territory that is way deeper than the material or processual one most commonly tied to work. We meet our humanity. When this happens, our passion, our uniqueness, our gift –using Sobonfu’s word– is welcomed. And something so subtle and so forceful flourishes into existence: an organic, lively way of being together.
Gathering with this tribe reminds me that being with one another can be different. When care meets care, regardless of the different reasons for doing so, the collective care reaches another magnitude. As I learned from a session with Giacomo and Manfred this spring equinox at the OM23 in Berlin: we are all gardeners of the circles we are part of.
Nourishing circles open ways
And they exist. Where we are matters. Who we are with, as much.
Shall we seek the circles that nourish our being?
What gardens do you want to garden together? What forests do you want to forest together? If you can’t find them, well… as Harrison Owen writes in the book Wave Rider: “it all starts with invitation”.
