What’s your call? What’s your song?

I had a next-step salon before I knew what it was. There were five of us, approximately 40-80 years old, talking about how to make change or react to change. We took turns sharing about something we were thinking about doing, trying, or re-doing.

It was an in-between space; a temple for open discussion for ideas that were not totally in form; a room for exploratory conversations. Some people knew each other well, while others did not.

Sometimes, on our own, we see one or two ways to go with something. This gathering loosened the lid of locked-down thinking. It was like a waiting room for the portal of change. We weren’t taking off just yet but rather, sorting out the details together.

Like birds, we put out the call, then sang our song.

What is your call and what is your song?

Like birds, our call is concise, with the short goal of getting information out or inviting it in. The song is our melody, our story. It’s the time to sing our experience once we have someone’s attention after the call.

The call might say, “hey I’m here! What do you think? Hey!”
The song is longer, “sometimes I go around in circles and I see the ground then the sky and I repeat this while I fly and I wonder why….. chirp chirp tweet tweet!”

This really does go for birds or people.

With our intentional discussion group, each of us made a call, followed by a song. Each of the listeners heard the song and sang it back, with variation, a slightly different spin for the original voice to hear. A playback of your song is helpful when trying to figure something out. It comes back with a few questions or suggestions worked in.

It was a chance to practice talking about things not yet clear, and to move in the direction of clarity. Sometimes we can get a bit lost in our own misty orchards, losing sight of the gates in and out.

When getting together to talk about change, someone told me it’s called a “next-step salon.”

Aside from getting our own ideas out in the open, in the sunlight to observe in a friendly group setting, we also got insight into what sort of questions and processes go on for other people.

I liked seeing people see each other. This very quickly led to us seeing ourselves. It was empowering, love in action.

Pick a theme. Invite people. Have snacks. Talk about it. I highly recommend it.

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All photos taken from our meeting place, except the last two, from the front deck.