Intentional Society: T-group practice
We're spending our last couple Q2 general sessions reconnecting with one another and solidifying our current community rooted-ness before we dive into our next season on July 11th. This Sunday we tried a new-and-not-new practice called T-group: New to us as a practice, yet very much within the same space as other relational practices we've sampled.
I'm not sure how closely the T-group lineage I've learned in 2021 resembles the mid-1900 origins of the label, and the variety of historical uses which have used it. I've been practicing with the Communication Dojo folks, where we "Articulate your experience of the present moment as clearly and as accurately as possible." Experience refers to "within you, and between you and other participants, in the present moment."
I'd call this the closest cousin I've found to Circling (which is now more popular, though newer). My personal experience has been of T-group as comparatively a little less meditative, a little more plain-spoken, a little less somatic, and equally nurturing - though any of these could vary greatly by the particular people or culture of the group.
Our Intentional Society T-group last Sunday started with high comfort and trust between participants, and (thusly, I believe) we interestingly spent a lot of time in positive-valence resonance. I've observed, and felt in myself, a "looking for conflict to challenge myself" dynamic sometimes, but I hypothesize that the initial conditions lacked that "scary edge" that usually accompanies new-or-uncertain social encounters, which let us steer in somewhat different directions.
We've asked ourselves at times, what are the "core" practices of Intentional Society? Openly and honestly relating and communicating is definitely right there at or near the center of that core. The conceptual core of Intentional Society is the combination of development and relationship. These kinds of practices enhance self-awareness, perspective-taking, and developmental edge exploration, which brings us to that "core" sense of fit.
Cheers,
James