First Day of Group Dynamics Class

The teacher, an imposing woman, greets us and says, "the feedback you give really says more about you than about the person you are responding to."

She also says that if something comes up in the group--conflict, feelings, reactions--we cannot process it outside of the group. We have to wait and bring it back next time. "You need to live with the tension," is how she puts it.

Without any further instruction, she stops talking, and there is silence in a room of twelve people. This is how it will be: no facilitation, no theory, no direction, no topics, no help. Just silence, and waiting for someone to speak: the beginning of three hours of class.

People risked, and spoke, and others responded. There was a lot to say, and a lot going on. I loved it! And it gave me a headache.