Workshop on Gratitude and Grievance
Joseph Olejak will host a workshop titled Gratitude & Grievance on how to recognize gratitude in ourselves and others and also how to understand conflict and move from high conflict to good conflict. The workshop will be held at the OLd Chatham Quakers Meetinghouse on Saturday March 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
At some point in every human life we encounter conflict. Sometimes it is in the home, other times at our workplace or even our houses of worship. Finding constructive and creative ways of dealing with conflict may be the most important tool we have in a society that has become rife with disagreement in recent years.
Gratitude and Grievance is based partly on the work of Amanda Ripley and her book High Conflict. It uses gratitude as a way to bridge gaps in human understanding and creating shared reality and explores how to listen profoundly as a way to move from conflict toward understanding
The workshop will be facilitated by Joseph Olejak, a peace activist and long time member of the Outreach, Peace and Justice Committee for Old Chatham Quakers and Sarah French, a facilitator of workshops using fun and play to connect across differences.
At some point in every human life we encounter conflict. Sometimes it is in the home, other times at our workplace or even our houses of worship. Finding constructive and creative ways of dealing with conflict may be the most important tool we have in a society that has become rife with disagreement in recent years.
Gratitude and Grievance is based partly on the work of Amanda Ripley and her book High Conflict. It uses gratitude as a way to bridge gaps in human understanding and creating shared reality and explores how to listen profoundly as a way to move from conflict toward understanding
The workshop will be facilitated by Joseph Olejak, a peace activist and long time member of the Outreach, Peace and Justice Committee for Old Chatham Quakers and Sarah French, a facilitator of workshops using fun and play to connect across differences.
Hour by Hour Breakdown of Coming Together Program
This is a one day program to provide a forum outside of the Tuesday night group to notice what we appreciate and a chance to learn conflict resolution skills. All are welcome.
The program will run from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm with a break for lunch and two snack breaks (one mid morning and one mid afternoon) Lunch is a potluck
We will not be dealing directly with recent upsets within the community, but rather taking a more abstract approach.
Saturday, March 4th 2023
9:00 -- 9:03 Moment of silence. Group centering.
9:05 — 9:10 Share the 3 sharing ground rules (1. no talking over other people, 2. speak to the group not to another person, and 3. allow a moment of silence after someone speaks to create space for listening)
9:05 -- 10:00 Invite people to share who they are and what brought them to the event.
10 -- 10:05 Go ‘Round #1 warm up exercise: Super fast laser share — (Explain what a laser share is) — share one thing you are grateful for. We are going to take 5 minutes for this share.
10:10 — 10:20 Ask people to pair up into groups of two. Share with your partner what you noticed while you were sharing and while you were listening to your partner share.
10:25 — 10:30 Ask one or two people to share with the group what they got out of the exercise.
A little game led by Sarah French here
10:30 -- 11 Inquiry #1 With a partner (preferably someone you feel comfortable with) share how you deal with conflict.
11:00 — 11:15 Debrief each other in a very particular way: 1. reproduce for the other person what you heard them say ... AND ... 2. Any emotion you detected behind the words. If you “hear an emotion” just check in with that person and see if they experienced what you “heard.”
Snack Break (coffee, tea, and something to snack on)
11:30 — 12:00 Feeling Into The Other. A stick Exercise — Sarah French will facilitate the exercise with two sticks to assist people in getting connected to each other.
12 — 12:15 Share and debrief
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12:15 — 1: 15 LUNCH BREAK (Potluck)
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1:15 — 1:45 Different Exercise led by Sarah French — The intention here is to deepen the feeling of connectedness
1:45 -- 2 pm Debrief the exercise.
2 pm - 3 pm Have people to pull out the handout from the book High Conflict by Amanda Ripley sent to them prior to the event. Invite them to remember a recent conflict and notice different aspects of the conflict.
3:05 — 3:15 Debrief: Looking at the list of questions from Amanda Ripley – share what you noticed doing the exercise.
Snack Break (coffee, tea, and something to snack on)
3:15 — 4 pm Shift gears back into gratitude:
Mind Map Exercise: Invite people to make a mind map of the communities they are are a part of (family, extended family, work, religious, friends, clubs, etc.) and then add a bubble of what you appreciate about each of those communities.
4 pm — 4:30 Ask people to share their Mind Maps -- what was revealed by doing this exercise?
Closing group Exercise led by Sarah French
4:30 - 5:15 Closing Remarks – Start with closing declaration “I am a stand that peace is possible right here right now.” (give people an open opportunity to share their own declaration or anything they need to share to be complete with the workshop)
5:15 - 5:30 pm Good byes & departure
This is a one day program to provide a forum outside of the Tuesday night group to notice what we appreciate and a chance to learn conflict resolution skills. All are welcome.
The program will run from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm with a break for lunch and two snack breaks (one mid morning and one mid afternoon) Lunch is a potluck
We will not be dealing directly with recent upsets within the community, but rather taking a more abstract approach.
Saturday, March 4th 2023
9:00 -- 9:03 Moment of silence. Group centering.
9:05 — 9:10 Share the 3 sharing ground rules (1. no talking over other people, 2. speak to the group not to another person, and 3. allow a moment of silence after someone speaks to create space for listening)
9:05 -- 10:00 Invite people to share who they are and what brought them to the event.
10 -- 10:05 Go ‘Round #1 warm up exercise: Super fast laser share — (Explain what a laser share is) — share one thing you are grateful for. We are going to take 5 minutes for this share.
10:10 — 10:20 Ask people to pair up into groups of two. Share with your partner what you noticed while you were sharing and while you were listening to your partner share.
10:25 — 10:30 Ask one or two people to share with the group what they got out of the exercise.
A little game led by Sarah French here
10:30 -- 11 Inquiry #1 With a partner (preferably someone you feel comfortable with) share how you deal with conflict.
11:00 — 11:15 Debrief each other in a very particular way: 1. reproduce for the other person what you heard them say ... AND ... 2. Any emotion you detected behind the words. If you “hear an emotion” just check in with that person and see if they experienced what you “heard.”
Snack Break (coffee, tea, and something to snack on)
11:30 — 12:00 Feeling Into The Other. A stick Exercise — Sarah French will facilitate the exercise with two sticks to assist people in getting connected to each other.
12 — 12:15 Share and debrief
===============================
12:15 — 1: 15 LUNCH BREAK (Potluck)
===============================
1:15 — 1:45 Different Exercise led by Sarah French — The intention here is to deepen the feeling of connectedness
1:45 -- 2 pm Debrief the exercise.
2 pm - 3 pm Have people to pull out the handout from the book High Conflict by Amanda Ripley sent to them prior to the event. Invite them to remember a recent conflict and notice different aspects of the conflict.
3:05 — 3:15 Debrief: Looking at the list of questions from Amanda Ripley – share what you noticed doing the exercise.
Snack Break (coffee, tea, and something to snack on)
3:15 — 4 pm Shift gears back into gratitude:
Mind Map Exercise: Invite people to make a mind map of the communities they are are a part of (family, extended family, work, religious, friends, clubs, etc.) and then add a bubble of what you appreciate about each of those communities.
4 pm — 4:30 Ask people to share their Mind Maps -- what was revealed by doing this exercise?
Closing group Exercise led by Sarah French
4:30 - 5:15 Closing Remarks – Start with closing declaration “I am a stand that peace is possible right here right now.” (give people an open opportunity to share their own declaration or anything they need to share to be complete with the workshop)
5:15 - 5:30 pm Good byes & departure
Mary Linda McKinney Presentation on Faithful Meetings
Mary Linda McKinney Presentation on Faithful Meetings
March 19 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Online and OCMM Meetinghouse
Would you like to explore how Spirit is present in your life? Do you want to know more about other OCMM members and their spiritualities? Would you like to find common ground between your spirituality and other, very different spiritualities?
If you answer, “Yes,” to any of these questions, you may be interested in participating in Faithful Meetings, which OCMM recommends and supports. A nine-month program, Faithful Meetings consists of workshops, small and larger discussion groups, videos, podcasts, and readings. While it’s possible to spend a lot of time in these activities, even five minutes a month can be enough, according to Mary Linda McKinney, the originator of Faithful Meetings.
Mary Linda is a former board member of School of the Spirit in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a spiritual director, member of Nashville Meeting, and the author of two recent articles in Friends Journal. She is certainly qualified to guide us on a spiritual journey.
Mary Linda will describe Faithful Meetings in a learning meeting via Zoom on March 19 after the rise of worship. Put the event on your calendar!
March 19 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Online and OCMM Meetinghouse
Would you like to explore how Spirit is present in your life? Do you want to know more about other OCMM members and their spiritualities? Would you like to find common ground between your spirituality and other, very different spiritualities?
If you answer, “Yes,” to any of these questions, you may be interested in participating in Faithful Meetings, which OCMM recommends and supports. A nine-month program, Faithful Meetings consists of workshops, small and larger discussion groups, videos, podcasts, and readings. While it’s possible to spend a lot of time in these activities, even five minutes a month can be enough, according to Mary Linda McKinney, the originator of Faithful Meetings.
Mary Linda is a former board member of School of the Spirit in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a spiritual director, member of Nashville Meeting, and the author of two recent articles in Friends Journal. She is certainly qualified to guide us on a spiritual journey.
Mary Linda will describe Faithful Meetings in a learning meeting via Zoom on March 19 after the rise of worship. Put the event on your calendar!
OPJ Movie Night - Storming Caesar's Palace
Watch the trailer for Storming Caesar's Palace here.