I finally got my driving license renewed! Yay! The freedom that comes with being in control of your own path is exhilarating even if it is only to the neighbourhood market:)
Given this long gap, I noticed today that when I shifted gears I felt a bit of a jerk. When I drive and when it is the right time for the gear to change, it just shifts so smoothly as if it was calling you out to change!
I remember when I was learning driving, my brother in law made me really sense what was happening with the gears.....so if I stayed in a lower gear longer than needed, the car made a weird screeching sound. If I changed to a higher gear before it was needed, I felt a jerk. He told me (this was 19 years ago and I still remember!)...."Mana, listen carefully.....what is the car telling you..."
Today as I was driving, I realised how deeply this is connected to facilitation. One of the skills we have is to sense what is the the next right move. We may come up with a very detailed step by step design and are so excited to follow it as we have planned it. But when we are there with the group...somehow its like listening to the car.....we need to sense how the group is in every phase.... is it time to stay on a bit more in that stage or are they ready to move on.....Sometimes I just know that the group is not ready to move on and they need to rumble with whatever is happening a little more (like moving to the second gear much too quickly....) And sometimes I know that the group is just calling for the next step. Sometimes the next step as I had planned it does not even make sense (like moving to second gear after the third when you have a wide open road in front of you!)
When our design and flexibility matches the pace of the group, magic happens. Something we may not even have imagined. And this "sensing" is a lifelong homework ....
So next time you drive, just notice how you feel? Notice your connection with the car? Listen to what the car is telling you.....and driving moves from being a technical head heavy skill to the heart/ hand art that very often makes it so much more fun!
