Connection Reflection

Yesterday I took part in Connection Exploration — An adventure with Amy Churchouse During the 90 min experience, us 7 participants connected via a Zoom call on our phones and went on an interactive journey to learn more about connecting with other humans. The brief was to go somewhere with people.

So, I went to Princess Park and found myself a bench. We explored when and why we needed connection and then started observing people around us and reflected back with the others on the call. I found it interesting that most people in the park were really engulfed in activities like running, having conversations or going somewhere. Few people seemed to be there just to relax.

We then went on to imagine why people are doing what they are doing and sharing our thoughts on the call. Finally, we reflected on things to consider when connecting with others. Some great things were shared like:
- trying to get on a similar emotional state as others,
- being gentle and using humour,
- finding something to relate to as ice breakers like a joined activity, perspective or even an object
- compliment on something the other person wears,
- asking someone twice how they are to find out how they really are
- connecting with someone on their terms and from their perspective and reflecting on if you are engaging because they want to connect or because you want to connect.

It reminded me a lot of the engagement process described in Tyson Yunkaporta’s Sand Talk: first Respect, then Connect, then Reflect, and then Direct.

I really enjoyed the experience and I learned quite a bit. For me, it was more a Connection Reflection than a Connection Exploration. I’m looking forward to the next events Amy Churchouse will be putting on with her venture Doing Things Differently. #connection