Heart
Within the dark cave of our emotions exist feelings that need to be expressed and stories that need to be told. Only then can we gain the understanding of ourselves and others that we need for reconciliation or for wise decision-making. Nevertheless, we do not usually expose our vulnerability, until we feel safe to do so. And we usually do not feel safe without someone else having in some way made themselves vulnerable first.
Description
Cutting through this “who goes first” dilemma to get dialogue to the more vulnerable places where real movement can occur calls for ways that people can make small ventures into such matters, in relative safety and simultaneously, thus opening up a space for deeper exploration. The “cave entrance” occurs when some exposure is invited from everyone, at once or in close proximity, through jointly revealing bits of personal information without much detail, until all have tipped their hand at least a little. Techniques that follow this pattern often invite move from safe to more threatening invitations in some predetermined way or as the facilitator senses readiness.
Examples
EXAMPLES
· Stepping Up People are invited to respond to a collective question with a body movement (stepping onto or back from a line on the floor, standing or sitting, raising or lower their hands, clicking keypads, the game “Big Wind Blows”.) Early questions are safe, “How many of you used an alarm to wake up this morning”. Questions move to deeper, harder questions. “How many of you were ever hungry as a child?”, “How many ever have lost a loved one to violence?” A famous, and moving instance of this method is portrayed in the film, and even in the trailer, “Freedom Writers.”
· Trigger words Words are put up that are a trigger for people on different sides of a polarized issue or of a hostile or mistrustful relationship. Participants are invited to tell stories about what the word brings up for them. Malka & Aziza, two young women facilitating Palestinian and Israeli Dialogues use this method.
· Playback Theatre Individual stories, briefly told, and powerfully enacted in a dance that amplifies the feelings that accompany the story can allow an entire audience to connect with a vulnerable moment of one of their number, and open them up to sharing at a similar level with each other.
· Keypads David Campt uses individual keypads to do something similar, but anonymously. In response to demographic and humorous queries, people press one or more choices, and in a minute all get instant feedback of everyone’s responses via bar graphs projected on a screen. Thus all can see “who’s in the room”—ages, colors, backgrounds, beliefs, interests, with no person having to reveal themselves initially. Tougher questions can then be slipped in, opening up the space for talking.
“(1) Have you experienced rejection because of your religion? (2) Because of your lack of religion? (3) Have you found yourself in the political minority and said nothing? (4) “Feared abuse if you spoke up”? (5) Do you consider yourself the “political” outsider in most situations? (6) Do you hesitate to question the views of those whose ideas are usually closest to your own?
Related patterns (what this pattern points to)
How related
Cave Entrance requires a safe container to have already been established. It is not a way of creating a container, but of deepening the sense of safety within it. Cave Entrance is a further way of bringing forth the "silent voices" around especially sensitive areas.
Other patterns that mention or point to Cave Entrance
Resources
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Other
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Stage
Stories
In each of these cards is a story about group dynamics that relates to "Patterns+*tform" (add your own stories on Anonymous+Stories):
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