Summing up the Quartet
By Simon Bell
The need for Mindful Stories
I really hope you have enjoyed reading the Mindful Stories. Maybe you found them challenging too?
You may be asking yourself; “What are the stories for and what are they intended to do?”
Well, in my experience there are lots of triggers which can lead people to want to make use of the stories but at a general level, if you have difficult issues in your personal, professional or group/ team lives, working with the Mindful Stories can help you by providing you with creative thinking spaces to reflect back upon your actual experiences.
This process of assisted meditation can open up all kinds of new avenues of opportunity. Just by working by yourself with a story.
If you would like facilitation with reflective learning processes, the Bayswater Institute has Mindful Story Master Classes, Workshops, Open Readings and personal coaching that can help you navigate your way from difficult places to greater clarity.
But this blog began by querying what the Mindful Stories are and what do they do?
For my suggestions, read on…
Over the past four weeks I have been sharing a quartet of stories, one a week. Prior to this I had been distributing stories on LinkedIn but, over the last month the stories have been presented in the pattern intended by my method. Less random and more an intended sequence.
To understand the pattern, you will have been very persistent and patient and read the blogs of the two weeks prior to the last quartet. Just in case you have not done that, or you have forgotten, let’s recap.
Six weeks ago, I described the primary method for interpreting the Mindful Stories, the MRVIA method. About this I said:
“Meaning, Relevance, Value, Insight and Action or MRVIA.
This is a learning cycle of sorts with action feeding back into the review of meaning. … The idea is that the five stages provide a journey into depth and out again”.
Then, five weeks ago I set out the quartet cycle for the stories. I said:
“MRVIA is intended to be a relevant approach for considering any Mindful Stories but the stories themselves are specifically intended to attend to the subliminal issues contained in four realities, The Quartet, which we all find ourselves in. The Quartet refers to:
- Me and Myself
- Me and My World
- My Group and My World
- My Group and Me
I have written stories which attend to issues in for each of the domains of The Quartet.
The stories are stories and can be used for any purpose which a story is appropriate for but, the specific intention behind them is to resonate with one of the four realities set out in The Quartet.”
For the last four weeks, I have been presenting you with a story a week. The stories were: Look, Point, Seek and New Normal.
- Look was intended for you to ponder Me and Myself
- Point was more about Me and My World
- Seek really focused on the issues and potentials of My Group and My World
- New Normal related to My Group and Me
Each story is written to be read addressing tasks. Some stories address many tasks, but all have at least two.
- Task One, the presenting task, is all about a thing that can be done, is done or has been done.
- The second Task is about the subliminal behind Task One and the doing it usually involves and requires.
Most people and organisations spend almost all their time dealing with Task 1. I like to think of Task 1 as being synonymous with the weather. Most of us focus on the weather. It is important to be weather-wise, but Task 2 is more like Climate. Dealing with the weather without thinking about the deep climatic issues which govern and control it can be thought of as being a little short sighted.
You can read any of the stories at face value, as Task 1 or, you can read them and look for the Second Task. Looking for the Task 2 may well help you to deal with an issue or potential in your life (or the life of your group) which is deeper, more complicated, more important but hidden by the bustle of Task 1. Task 2 is often subliminal.
The seeking for Task 2 is a major intention behind the Mindful Stories and an intention for you to carry forward into your daily life.
I very much welcome your thoughts and correspondence about the Stories and would love to talk to you about how they might be used in your situation.
Not convinced? Well, hearing is believing maybe.
Starting next week, I will be presenting another quartet, but as audio files for you to listen to. All you have to do is click on the post on LinkedIn. This will take you to the Bayswater Institute news feed. From here you can access the audio file of the story, listen to it and then review it with the MRVIA process.
So, from the 10th June 2019, an audio recording of a Mindful Story will be appearing weekly on the Bayswater Institute homepage under our ‘News’ feed. I hope you find them interesting.
I am intrigued to hear from you. Your reflections about each of the stories. I look forward to your thoughtful comments and questions.
Simon Bell, CEO of the Bayswater Institute – simon.bell@bayswaterinst.org
All Artwork © Rachel Furze