Y’all were talking about group dynamics on your channel today and how challenging it can be to work together and listen/include different perspectives while manifesting a creative “vision”.

It really reminded me of a little blurb I wrote on my Instagram. As follows:

Inclusion of perspectives is part of being inclusive. We can’t all agree on everything, and it’s silly to think that we can. But it’s important to allow others the freedom to speak and express themselves, even when we don’t like what they have to say or we find it to be offensive.

Audio/visual materials via Elaine Alec, Indigenous Author, Cultivating Safe Spaces, Motivational Speaker, Lead Facilitator and Storyteller at Naqsmist (Many Coming Together As One)

Find & follow on Instagram:
@elainealec_
@naqsmist_storytellers_
@cultivatingsafespaces

The attached video is a sample of how this practice works and ideas on how it can be implemented into many circles and communities.

I enrolled and completed a 2 day CSS workshop in 2022 and found the experience to be very humbling and beneficial. She even provided/provides free resources for distribution to help connect people & communities and to encourage & promote communication, patience, and understanding of & between perspectives.

#DYK
▪︎ Effective & inclusive communication is the ultimate master key
• It is the essential element
• It is the primary component
• It is necessary to our survival, growth, & advancement as civilizations, as societies, and as individuals.

This way of interacting and connecting really reminded me a lot of the communication technique I was initially introduced to as a kid in the late 1980s while at Camp Thunderbird
Location: t’sou-ke 😘 nation.
Southern tip of Vancouver Island.
British Columbia, Canada.

This communication technique involved the use of a “talking stick” being passed around while everyone sits in a circle. Each person takes a turn holding the stick while they speak & share, freely & openly, what is on their hearts/minds & what resonates in their soul/spirit.

Many cultures have their own “version” of this communication/sharing technique. This technique is likely “descended” from the ancient practice of sitting around a fire, meditating and sharing thoughts, ideas, and visions.
This ancient practice has even been modified as our civilizations have continued to connect & communicate throughout time (and between space|s).
For example: we advance our social skills by adapting this technique as we interact and share our hobbies, games, special interests, etc. online and IRL. It is up to all/each of us to decide how this “game of life” continues as we all “play” the greatest choose your own adventure “story”.

XOXOX