Learning in the collective

A pleasant surprise:

On Monday, my friend from secondary school emailed to ask is she could come the next day for a cup of tea, passing by to her holiday destination, which has just been changed from Sweden to France.

I replied that she and her family were not only very much welcome for a cup of tea, but that (how convenient) the 5 bedroom guesthouse here was vacant this week, so she could stay longer is she wanted.

So on Tuesday, she and her husband and their three children arrived to stay a night.

Although ;

• we hadn’t seen each other in three years,
• we only had  spoken each other sporadically in that time  and
• she has made clear that my choices to  explore ‘ spiritual life’  and do ‘ energy work’ are not perceived to be close to her heart...

Within minutes, the friendship was fed and watered and completely revitalised again.
Three years compacted in a split second and even the 25 years since our daily contact stopped, didn’t seem that long.

It was a fascinating 21 hours, she spent here in which he had some catching up to do, meanwhile enjoying the opportunity of being here in this really nice spacious location.

With three children ( 12, 10 and 5), the youngest only being part of the family since 1,5 year, from South American origin, I was suddenly part of a  community with a focus on learning and developing (as well as having a good time together).

If I got one thing illustrated, it would be that being part of such a community really boosts the learning and development.

A 46 year old Englishmen learned more Dutch from the 5 year old  in play ( with only 1,5 year of experience under her belt on the topic!)  then he learned in 3 years from somebody with over 40 years of experience.

I smiled wondering.

• What if that is not (only) because I am able to speak English and therefore there is no need felt to learn Dutch that quickly, not being in a Dutch speaking country...
• What if that is not (only) because it is more embarrassing to struggle with a language to another adult who is fluent, than to make a mistake in the presence of a child, with no consequence to the joy of play?
• What if it is simply easier to related in the learning process to somebody who has just recently gone through the same experience......? What if that makes that you are resonating on the same ‘frequency’ on that aspect?

I like that thought... being quite new to ‘ this’ Knowing-stuff and energy work’ myself and finding myself often feeling awkward and newbe-ish (and ‘ different’ / odd) with it.

I like that thought.....feeling I play a role in our human collective to encourage others in the human community ( something that is not my native language!) to use this tool and play with it, share the joy of it and make more great discoveries at high speed, too.

I might be naturally in a better position to do so than I thought  (smiley face).

I also got plenty of examples ( in real time and spoken about) on how the collective can speed up learning and development processes and ... how being without enough inspiring sparring partners who are clearly living by example ‘ operating in the very same community’  (whether that’s a family unit, a work circle or an orphanage) , makes developing more complicated and less a joy.

Thanks for three great days of ‘ anticipation’, ‘ shared company’ and ‘ reflecting on the events’.
Do I need to add:” I was knackered!”?