Blogs
Radical honesty, and...
Reveal your experience sits front and center in many of the schools of AR. Campbell's book goes into the myriad benefits of learning to better honor our truth. And before that there is an actual book called radical honesty. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that this quest for more transparency is on the money.
And, as we attempted to wrestle with our own definition of AR, it was also clear to me at least that the practice of listening needed to take a more prominent role in this movement going forward. We know from the science that humans love to talk. In the brain scanner people's pleasure centers light up when they talk. So much so that we will actually pass up good money to be able to do it.
Now, I have long been curious about the movements roots, and so one rainy day i spent trawling through the web archive's captures of the Boulder Integral Center's website. Starting from late 2011 when McNaughton and Cunov stepped up, and evolving through until its quiet disappearance in late 2018. I am just in awe of their overall zeal, the sharpness of their exploration into their theory frameworks, their commitment to the idea of practice, and to their sangha or community. For about $100 a month you had access to a 700m2 facility, yoga, parties, talks, and all the circling you could eat.
I'm quite sure there is enough on that website to warrant weeks of study, but one thing related to today's topic caught my eye. What was interesting is a blog post dated 2017. It is about the paired nature of reveal your experience, and the idea of listening to really know someone. The formula is this: relating= reveal your experience + listening to get their world. Listening in an active way is highlighted. Here is the actual passage.
"There are two basic moves you can make when weaving shared reality. One is Revealing Your Experience where you are revealing some of your perspectives, your feelings, your intentions, and your beliefs to the other person. The other is Getting Someone's World, where you are listening in an active way such that you are confirming your understanding of the their perspectives, feelings, intentions, and beliefs. Both partners in an exchange must to some degree do both of these moves in order to weave shared reality together." - Michael Porcelli
So if you are wondering why AR facilitators keep encouraging us to lean into reflection and impact, now you know why.
Web archive of the center website:
There is a youtube channel that preserves some of the original video footage:
Note that views expressed in blogs do not necessarity reflect the views of the Project. They are the blog authors version of truth.
