November Event Review: 2020 – it’s a wrap! Reflecting on & celebrating moments of kindness

We all know 2020 has been tough and most would like to put it behind us but on 25 November we finished on a high!  How do you make a topic like “Reflecting on and celebrating moments of kindness” work on a digital platform like Zoom?

Well, it did, and it’s all down to the quality of the planning, the process and the talent of the team Vanh Mixap, ( Yes Everyone Matters), Greg Collier( Innovation Progression), Rod Barnett (Salient Consulting) Glenda Hutchinson (Life member and past President of ODA) and our current Vice President Kaliopi Tsousis who had the vision and courage to lead the team. Unfortunately, Kaliopi couldn’t be with us that night.

 

In the limited time available a process that some may not have previously encountered was demonstrated in a way that enabled us to establish the necessary depth of engagement and, yes, intimacy to tell our stories and share  “the best version of me” -without embarrassment!

 

Rod set the tone early recalling a saying from Gadigal people “Putuwa” meaning;  “warm your hands by the fire and gently squeeze the fingers of another person”…..and that’s what we did.

 

In groups of 3 with 10 minutes each, we rotated the roles of Story Teller, sharing a recent story during lockdown when the best version of you was in charge, the Oracle of the Sun, listening deeply to draw out the gifts and power evident in the story and the Oracle of the Moon with the role to illuminate what was unseen and unspoken power of the story. The small group and the time we had together worked well.

 

In my group, I thought we were able to share both professional and personal moments and literally “touch fingers by the fire”.

 

Thanks to Rod, Greg and Glenda for their excellent demonstration, Vanh for her expert facilitation and Meredith Crow, who kept Zoom under control. I had a strong sense we were able to connect, share and grow.

 

Geoff McGill

Leadership Group Member