It is the third day of the Metafari. Life is good.The morning starts with a walk through the mangrove swamps to the local fishing village. We are escorted by our Maasai askari (watchmen), of which two are young warriors with spears. The swamp is dry during low tide but in the morning high tide water is halfway up to your knee.
The group was tired and wanted to be here and now. We agreed to spend some time on our own looking for images or stories.
At gathering we searched for ways to re-connect and Sonja suggested we’ll to do it as a reflecting team.
We had some wonderful moments of sharing and reflecting around the small stories we had written, or pictures we had taken. We felt that we started to connect to the real meaning of this Metafari. Why this journey was becoming so important to our lives.The focus of today was the town market in Tanga. It was definitely an exciting experience. Day ended at the Yatch Club and for some a sunset swim in the Indian Ocean.
Inspiration Focus: The Tanga Town Main Market
Lessons Learned: The very powerful metaphor we found “here and now” in the morning, just where we were. The market did not serve too well as an inspiration for reflections and will probably not be in the program next time.
As a facilitator it is sometimes more important to focus on what you want to achieve in a group than force it to use the method you had planned
The importance of managing your assumptions when trying to establish a true dialogue, even when doing an interview just to get information.
Method Toolbox Contributions: Here and now – stories combined with Reflecting Teams as a way to find meaningful metaphors. You spend time with yourself, trying to peel of all intellectual thoughts. Just be here and now. Write what you see. In the group we read our little story just as it is, after which the rest of the group has a reflection, followed by a final reflection from the writer. This was extremely powerful and gave a lot.
Metaphor Treasure Chest Additions: The tide as a way of accepting troubles, bad moods, depression. The shadow as a part of an organisation. Or the shadow of yourself
Creative Expressions: (Example of a here and now story)
Is the opposite of Serendipity, Dupidipity?
Our driver just came by, asking how it is. I have rigged all the technical equipment I brought, and it does not work the way I expected and then I wonder what the purpose of all this is.
Is it enough just to be here. My stomach gets nervous when all the ideas that seemed so good in writing and when retold, suddenly are just words that have passed away.
The tide is going out. Soon it will be low tide. The only thing I know is that the low tide will reveal al lot that will be hard to imagine when the tide is high again.
High tide: You are closely connected to the ocean. Water is calm and friendly. The sea invites you to join.
Low tide: All the things that would look lovely through the diving mask while snorkling at high tide look desolated, wet and ugly. Going out to participate with the sea seems like a depressingly impossible task.
I decide to actually go down to sit by the bank.
[MOVE TO THE RIVERBANK]
Sitting here at the riverbank I see a totally new scenery. It's as if I have never been here before.
I see a white sand bank.
I see mangrove trees growing on the sandbank. They now look like almost ordinary trees except from the rooth that are above the ground rather than under it.
The tide is still slowly on it's way out, but the current has stopped. Soon the tide will be on it's way in again.
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