Live Virtual Group Session: 6pm EDT October 26th 2020

7 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

Our text for this session was the poem “Answers” by Mark Strand, posted below.

Our prompt was: “Write about a time you had two answers to the same question.“

More details about this session will be posted soon, so check back!

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

Also, we would love to learn more about your experience of these sessions, so if you’re able, please take the time to fill out a follow-up survey of one to two quick questions!

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Please join us for our next session Wednesday, October 28th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions page.

 Answers by Mark Strand
 
 Why did you travel?
 Because the house was cold.
 Why did you travel?
 Because it is what I have always done between sunset and sunrise.
 What did you wear?
 I wore a blue suit, a white shirt, yellow tie, and yellow socks.
 What did you wear?
 I wore nothing. A scarf of pain kept me warm.
 Who did you sleep with?
 I slept with a different woman each night.
 Who did you sleep with?
 I slept alone. I have always slept alone.
 Why did you lie to me?
 I always thought I told the truth.
 Why did you lie to me?
 Because the truth lies like nothing else and I love the truth.
 Why are you going?
 Because nothing means much to me anymore.
 Why are you going?
 I don't know. I have never known.
 How long shall I wait for you?
 Do not wait for me. I am tired and I want to lie down.
 Are you tired and do you want to lie down?
 Yes, I am tired and I want to lie down.

7 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6pm EDT October 26th 2020”

  1. michele348

    A time when I had 2 answers to the same question~~~

    Where am I going?
    There was a time when I thought I knew all the answers.
    All the answers to the questions life asked of me.
    Youth has a way of making one cocky,
    of thinking you have solved all of the problems placed before you.
    I started by thinking I knew the direction my life was to be headed,
    and so I stormed full throttle ahead.
    But life had other ideas.

    Road blocks made life take a diversion,
    a change in direction to vistas unseen.
    A feeling of being lost,
    of wandering, covered me
    But in this wandering,
    I found my true compass.
    Life took on true meaning,
    a meaning I had been searching for.

    I am here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • al3793

      Michele, I see the shadow of Mark Strand’s poem in the questions you ask, the journey you describe and the challenges to truth life has posed. I am especially moved by the answers to the question that arrive at, “I am here.” Andre

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  2. Julia Clarissa

    Hello Everyone,

    Thank you very much for this session. I really appreciated it. 🙂

    Here is my piece:

    “What time did I had two answers for the same question? I wonder when it happened…
    It makes me think it may happen more frequently than I may notice.
    When did I had only one answer to one question?
    Why is it that I seem not to remember a time when I had two? I must be shy to share, that’s why I can’t remember right now…
    I think maybe when making a decision I ignore the others possible answers.
    Am I going to volunteer to read and share my piece?
    I see two answers for that one.”

    Best regards,
    Julia

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. Lacey Colligan

    Thank you very much for this session and the chance to share a response to your prompt.
    Describe a time when you had 2 answers to the same question.

    Should I stand up for myself in front of the corporate dragon? Yes! shouts Austin, “you cannot tolerate discrimination.” Yes! shouts my younger self, “you must stand tall with pride and honor.” “No!” shouts my realistic and wise self. “I am afraid. The dragon can eat me.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. al3793

    “Do you think it’s better anywhere else?”
    “Yes, for sure there are places that do it better, and,
    No, I know there are places that are worse.”

    “My question for you is, what is it you want to be?”
    Eye squint, lips tighten slightly but do not part to answer as if practiced.

    “What is it that you want to be…
    A place where leaders ask, “Do you think its better anywhere else?” or
    A place where people come to thrive and serve because creativity prevails and are not expected to accept answers that
    insult the intelligence of those to whom they are posed?”

    A place where slowing down in opposition to the mania of corporate medicine is the remedy.

    Like

    Reply
    • michele348

      Taking time to hear the heartbeat of those served, but also the time to discover what’s in the heart of those served. To be a “true healer” is the ability to “see” the person that sits before you in his/her entirety and to hear the “questions” being uttered even though there are no audible sounds. To short change this process in any way is both detrimental to the patient and to the physician. Both need this “clearing”, this time and this place to flourish, and for the “answers” to be given.

      Like

      Reply

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