Just thought to write something silly, as it is summer time and the heat is amazing…

So:

“Something Silly!”

Is that enough?

Sure you can write something even more silly!

hugs from sunny Strasbourg!

and today (two weeks later than the original post) it is raining like all hell with lightning and thunder!
so the only thing I can do is close the windows and play my ukulele:

New ukulele (known as a "frog")

good isn’t it?

see you!

]]> http://www.viaexperientia.net/our-blog/something-silly/feed/ 2 http://www.viaexperientia.net/our-blog/it-is-only-3-weeks-since/ http://www.viaexperientia.net/our-blog/it-is-only-3-weeks-since/#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 10:35:22 +0000 mark taylor http://www.viaexperientia.net/?p=959 and it is so long ago…

and we still carry those people and visions and sounds…

Remember; somewhere there is a mohawk walk waiting for you!

Mohawk walk waiting for us...

sometimes a song simply fits…

this one was by a tramp and accompanied by Tom Waits:

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
this one thing i know
that He loves me so

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
never failed me yet
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
this one thing i know
that He loves me so

with the magic of a moonlit, midnight dragon boat paddle around the lake to complete a wonderful evening of togethernessness!

togethernessness (note the life jackets!)

The final day saw us reflecting and making plans for the future:

Then it was time to head off to the national park and go to the zen garden for some poetry and haiku…

haiku in the zen garden

and the chance for a great group photo in the little amphitheatre next to the cafe where the via Experientia team met to plan the whole course last year!

until the next time...

On a personal note, Sabaudia was a pretty incredible experience for me and one of the many opportunities offered was the one to jog to the beach and back before breakfast. Each time was different, although the route was nearly always the same. And each time I brought something back from the beach with me. On the day before leaving I arranged them incredibly artistically and kind Ieva took a photo of the result. Artistic? for you to judge!

gift from the beach

Until next time! And once again: huge thanks to Ginte for her brilliant photos!

Talking of the differences between working within nature and other contexts, one group allowed the sandy beach to pepper their conversations:

beach work

One group got right up to the top of the mountain:

Circea mountain reflections (Jurga photo)

One group followed the hints and their spirit to the water:

hint searchers

and one group gave the gift of joy to the citizens of Sabaudia:

For those of you who notice such things, this post comes to you from the recent past – somehow a technical problem prevented it from surfacing on the blog until now.  Still, the pictures from Ginte and Jurga are lovely!

It rained a LOT yesterday, reflecting many people’s moods…

Reflections in zen gardens and other forests often provide stimulation for writing poems, haiku and other thoughts.

Gunnar wrote a poem reminding us of the plenary that became its own mini-silence.

SILENCE

I’m sitting in a circle

of relaxed feelings and emotions.

Here and now

that’s all there is.

Does it have to be

anything else.

Now we can

be Quiet together

And Leonardo gave me a lovely quote from Gaetano Salvemini the other day:

TUTTO QUELLO CHE NON SO,

L’HO IMPARATO A SCUOLA

[which means: Everything I don't know, I've learnt at school.]

(It’s also attributed apparently to Ennio Flaiano).

Until next time…

Team Tree

And then we moved into free choice – sometimes the hardest to make! What should I offer? Where should I go? Maybe to the sea…

wooden walkway across the dunes

to the discussion group on the effects of via Experientia…

effects, experiences, impressions...

Or shall I go off to make a film?

what did we get?

take 2!

or jump back to the beach?

its possible to feel a bit small next to all that...

And we were honoured to receive Martina who came to celebrate her dad’s birthday: Buon Compleanno a te, Gabriele!

Hope to bring you some more of Ginte’s photos and maybe even a couple of little stories soon.

Greetings from Sabaudia!

We meet again in Sermonetta!

We get in contact with the local transport:

Van the men

And get back in touch through the wonderful dance of Tarantella!

Dance and dance again!

Mario introduces Italy

And we go into the first workshops with wonderful guests Karin and Gilberto…

Karin

Gilberto

Providing chances to experiment..

Empathy...

and get into a planned diary moment…

a PDM

all of which should never prevent some serious learning and competition…

Glassworking - possibly not to be tried without senior instructors!

the signs seem to be good for an intense second international seminar on our via Experientia!

And the question of course is: What is this???

Your guesses please write in the "comments"!

How many can get in the same car?

The second Italian Meeting has been held in front of the wonderful view of Farma Valley, in the South of Tuscany, close to Siena.

Mario, Angelica, Luca, Antonio, Leonardo and Paolo were there. Unfortunately Gianmarco had a serious family problem, while Lucia was abroad.

First we needed a warm-up for the group, so we professionally decided to soak in the free thermal baths on the bank of the Farma river. Just an hour of deep meditation on experiential learning. A real reflection on our personal Via Experientia right now followed before dinner.

The second day started with Mario’s proposal of drawing the group’s house on a flip chart sheet, holding together the marker. The outcome stimulated many reflections.
The rest of the day has been dedicated to the sharing of our practice and to reflect about our competence assessment and our learning.  Starting with a sharing and  feed back of our own practices, we reflected on our own learning as facilitators.

The i-group slide!

In the afternoon we planned to continue the sharing in a magic place called San Galgano, where is a big church without the roof and a sword in the rock, probably the one inspiring King Arthur’s legend. But Mario’s car was stronger than the legend and broke down half way.

In the evening, till 1 o’clock at night, we spent the last energies discussing about a subject proposed by Leonardo: the process of decision making.

The last morning we start to think about the future of the Italian and  the international group of Via Experiantia  and many questions come out,  and  we hope to have time to share them with all of you in Italia. Anyway we decided to have another Italian meeting in November to have a clear vision on the future.
Three full days of experience, sharing and friendship.