I am an avid attendee of the EQ lab meetups in Hong Kong which run twice a week. This week are the sessions that wrap up 2021 and I have been consistently attended most of the 2021 meetings at least once a week (including my time through my bypass surgery)
What I love is the Dialogic format of these sessions which introduce a topic and lead to small group dialogue with a recap then with the larger group. This technique has percolated into all of the sessions that I run as an educator while doing the work that I do.
Yesterday’s topic of conversation was around what 2021 stood for and where we see ourselves as a group in 2021. It was a good meeting ground of old hands. Though there are different viewpoints, lenses, and perspectives, this motley bunch of people have their hearts in the right place. I have found this a safe environment to be transparent and open, throw out and validate ideas, listen, and be listened to.
I used to participate in various meetup groups, forums, and other sessions and slowly these have fallen off my calendar for this group to be only my sole support group for my ideas. Not in a way of a cult as the people in the group have different backgrounds, methods, and practices therefore not leading to a stereotype of thoughts and therefore leading to active conversations.
I go into each one of these sessions as myself, participate as myself and leave these challenging me to improve on my ideas, thoughts, and practices. I have never felt judged or bullied and always had the feeling of being among friends. I often come out with a bunch of open Chrome tabs with websites, studies, and books to read. A never-ending source of information to catch up on and acquire knowledge to build on.
And I am sure this will continue in 2022. And if it does, I am thankful for the pandemic for one to have forced this group online and made it available to a global set of interested participants all over the world.