Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

by Adrienne Maree Brown

Talking/Peace Circle This might be one of the earliest tools ever developed by humans for deepening relationship and resolving conflict. I have participated in circles that overtly traced their methods to Indigenous peoples around the world, using a talking item to hold the sacred intention of the circle, passing it around to indicate whose turn it was to speak. I have also been a part of circles that came together organically out of a need for people to listen to each other and be heard. I think this one is in us, and the simple act of forming a circle, a wholeness, together, then putting our truths in the center of that circle, is strengthening, clarifying, and can be healing. The basic form is to sit in a circle with as little as possible between you (if you have a circle without a table in the middle, or without a bunch of technology and personal belongings, that helps. Clear space, a clear circle to hold whatever is spoken). Imbue an item with the power of words—the item can be an object of meaning for the group (a stone from the community garden you started), or something the group gives meaning to for the circle (in my facilitation bag, I keep a few stones and crystals—mostly turquoise and rose quartz—which have their own qualities for calming or energizing a conversation).