We all agree that Focusing is a natural process. It is a capacity of every human being. Making an analogy with reading and writing, focusing is something everyone should be enabled to discover and develop. To view it along the lines of “literacy” places Focusing at the most basic level. It is something everyone can naturally have.
Felt Sense Literacy: Marion Hendricks-Gendlin, Ph.D
http://previous.focusing.org/literacy/index.htm
This was written some years ago. I remember it sounded to me a bit of wishful thinking on Mary’s part.
And then things happen. The unexpected change of life as we know…
I don’t think that anybody in the world expected what everybody is going through now.
There is an unprecedented global new “…” demanding on us. Soooo much unknown surrounded by limitations of “this” can’t be done anymore – for now.
Many Focusing practitioners surged immediately to offer help – personal, one on one, groups, zoom meetings – everywhere. And TIFI rolled in… domino effect began to widen.
The first “open to anyone” Zoom meetings in English proved to be filled hungrily. Two initial meetings for different time zones were filled by focusers from around the world. Asia and Europe and Americas found their way to get the feel and hear and see others equally needing to share disastrous reality. Even a person from Wuhan had the opportunity to share moving description of isolation.
As a participant of the TIFI Membership Committee, we took the issue of how to reach out and organize overwhelming buzz for Focusing hope and help. The gift we carry forward and know so well, seemed to have an uncommon opportunity to find it’s beneficiaries.
Small subcommittee began to explore how, where, for whom and when;
Mary Jennings, (Ireland) Susan Lennox, Catherine Torpey, Elizabeth Cantor (USA) François Roussel (France), Monika Lindler (Germany) met and discussed the best way to go forward in organized and clear manner.
A very large number responded to TIFI’s announcement looking for volunteers to host these meetings in their own language. The organizing team explained that these meetings will be in different languages, run by local groups.
In other words, the event will not be run by this sub-committee, Some ideas on a possible program were provided, but the overall sense was, “but you facilitate your own version”. Two co-hosts were designated for each of these events.
I began to imagine Mary Gendlin’s smile saying – that’s what I meant read, write and focus.’
International – multi lingual and multi cultural and globally findable.
TIFI’s contribution was in providing technical support on Zoom at the event, publishing advance notice of the event on the TIFII web, sending out promotion from their own data base to local groups, taking registrations and in general, keeping in touch with the hosts to support them to run a successful local event.
The response was immediate and almost overwhelming. Some groups are repeating their meetings, some are taking on their own, mass meetings in their own languages. There was a great sense of a world-wide network, made up of many languages who could communicate through the common language of Focusing.
Words of wisdom emerged: “When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear”
Gene’s wisdom resonates: The teacher occurs into student’s implying.