There were only five of us for the day so we started off with
lots of coffee and chat. Jan had recently been on a healing retreat
with David and so we were all interested in hearing about how
David worked.
Exactly what was said - I'm not sure, not consciously, but it's
fascinating hearing about how David arranges sessions and how
he conducts himself. Jan mentioned that David has already begun
before he meets the client, getting himself into an appropriate
frame of mind.
We got started on the first piece of work, which was to practice
the basics. I worked with Colin who described a scene reminiscent
of cartoons with black and red characters. As we went to coffee
we walked down the corridor and there on the wall was a drawing
of Mickey Mouse (who is black and red!).
 | In the second exercise I drew something which had started with a dream which itself was part of the solution to a problem. Curiously, the picture I drew was probably the best drawing I've ever done. I don't normally consider myself as having an drawing skills, and yet this one came from inside - powerful stuff. |
As I drew the picture, Colin notice (and drew (spot the pun) to
my attention) puns, word plays, relationships and 'coincidences',
all of which brought more depth and meaning to the picture. It
raises the question, 'is anything coincidental or random?'
Then came lunch and more coffee and more chat and then more practice.
A big chunk of work revolved around genealogy and finding resources
(re-source, meaning to go back to the source) and around the elements
of fire, earth, wind and water.
Maureen had also drawn a picture during one of her sessions and
we used clean language to ask about various aspects of the picture.
One question or one seemingly (to us) insignificant detail suddenly
opened up a deep and significant line of thought. Another example
(were one needed) of the efficacy of Clean Language, of how issues
hidden to other forms of enquiry can be gently revealed and resolved.
The story continues - next meeting is on Saturday 24th
January 1998 at the TAD Centre, Middleborough.
©1997 Simon Stanton