Gregory B Flynn Coaching & Facilitation

Happy New Year, friends.

If you're anything like me, you're probably feeling the weight of this year. It feels heavy. It feels scary. It feels *uncertain*.

I decided I wanted to create a space to be with that uncertainty.

Not a space for answers, necessarily (that'd just be a grasp as *certainty*); a space for becoming more comfortable in the discomfort of that uncertainty.

If you're in the Seattle area, I'd love it if you'd join me for this event—a Navigating Uncertainty Intro Circle.

January 14th, 6p - 8p, Phinney Ridge, Seattle, WA.

You can learn more at the link in the first comment.

Ping me if you've any questions.

In the meantime, sending you all the best vibes as we head into 2025! (Did *not* mean for that to rhyme! 🤣)

It feels like a common thread that I hear in conversations these days—be they with clients, friends, colleagues, family—is that there is a sense that this coming year is feeling deeply, wildly uncertain.

Feeling into this, I can't help but wonder if a lot of the ways that we tend to navigate our lives are going to be less useful. If maybe we need to experiment with what it really means to navigate uncertainty.

For my Seattle area friends, I'm hosting an evening on January 14th from 6p to 8p in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood to explore exactly this (exact location provided with registration). It's an intro circle meant to support us all as we step into this new year.

After 4+ years of largely virtual programs and circles, I'm excited to host this one in person. If there's enough interest (comment below and let me know!), I'll offer an online version too.

You can learn more at the link in the first comment.

How do we live as an archipelago?

Not as isolated islands, but as connected? In community?

Well, the quality of listening that we experience impacts the things we may or may not say.

Our capacity for vulnerability, empathy, understanding is related to the space between us - the relational space.

What is it to slow down and tend to the experience that is emerging *between* us?

Not simply our own, unique experience (though that's important too), but the shared experience.

The experience unfolding in that mysterious *third* thing.

This is the field of relating with others. It is a field that we share. A field that comprises so much more of our lives than we realize.

This is living not as islands, but as an archipelago. Recognizing the connection and the inevitability of our relating.

This is tending to that field.

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We'll explore relating to ourselves and more at our annual retreat at the Whidbey Institute this October 6th - 9th.⁠
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Registration is open!

Here's the link: https://whidbeyinstitute.org/.../1171/relate-reflect-renew/
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Join us!

How we relate to ourselves matters.⁠
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The quality of our relating. The level of care. ⁠
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The willingness to accept where we are for what it is - without judgement or criticism. Without overlaying shame.⁠
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Taking the time to check in with the one person who is guaranteed to be with us in every situation.⁠
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That matters.⁠
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How I relate to myself matters.⁠
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How you relate to yourself matters.⁠
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Indeed, if that's the *only* thing we end up tending to today, well, that's probably pretty good.⁠
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And . . . there's more, isn't there?⁠
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After all no *person* is an island. ⁠
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No, we're a freakin' archipelago.⁠
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* * *⁠
⁠
We'll explore relating to ourselves and more at our annual retreat at the Whidbey Institute this October 6th - 9th.⁠
⁠
Registration is open!

Here's the link: https://whidbeyinstitute.org/event/1171/relate-reflect-renew/

Took this pic on a beach on Whidbey Island.

It was gorgeous out there.

That is all.

So. I launched a thing. Here's what I said about it on the 'gram:

I've been there.

Feeling . . .

🚫 Stuck
🧔🏻‍♂️ Isolated
🤷🏻‍♂️ Unsure

And when someone suggested joining a men's group I was like. . .

⁉️ Maybe?

That's why I created Step Zero - a free 10-day email program for men who want to move from isolated and stuck toward reaching and connecting.

It's not the whole journey, it's just a place to start. A place where you can take care of you, on your terms.

What it looks like:

📆 10 days
📪 5 emails
🕺 Your terms

No commitment. No cost.

But what's the cost of *not* stepping into the work? *Your* work?

Ready to take this step? Sign up now!

Diving into the Lensa craze, this AI generated avatar of me is one of my favorites.

(There are, for sure, lots of reasons to be skeptical about this technology. That said, this is kind of amazing).

It's how I'm feeling right now. In some ways, it feels like it's how I'm moving through the world.

Many who know me would probably be surprised by that.

And I have to say, it's because of this work. It's because of the circles of men—and others—that I've been in. It's because of the experience I've had looking within in order to express who I am.

I'm not done. None of us is.

As Richard Bach wrote: “Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you´re alive it isn't.”

Interested in some of this? Hit the link in my bio to sign up for my newsletter and learn more about how to plug in.

It's been a minute since I've posted here.

Partly because, well, I'm not a huge fan of the socials (*you're* great. it's the platform).

Partly because I've been busy as f&%k. I'll post more about what I've been busy about, hopefully.

One of the things I've been busy with is turning 50. I took this photo at 2:36pm on 11/11/22. That's exactly 50 years after I popped out.

There wasn't a photo of my birth. If there had been, I'd've done one of those 'how it started, how it's going things'.

On this side of my 50th, I'm more committed than ever to the work I'm doing. Every day I get more committed.

Want to learn more about it? Hit the link in my bio to sign up for my newsletter. There's a bunch of stuff coming.

I'd love to connect with you there!

It's been a long time in the making, and I *finally* have the space to get this up here on Facebook.

The long and the short: My good friend and colleague Shannon and I have launched our new podcast – Disrupting our Practice. It's made for white-bodied organization development coaches, facilitators, consultants, trainers, etc. who are interested in exploring the ways that we unwittingly perpetrate racism and oppression in our work.

It's also probably good for leaders and others who are used to holding, facilitating, and controlling space.

New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Links to each of the various podcast platforms are below.

We're trying to make this a very personal journey, as neither of us see ourselves as experts in this. It's our goal to normalize the conversations we don't see happening a whole lot, and to wrestle with some intense questions. We share our experiences and stories and the learnings we've had (and continue to have). Pretty soon we'll be releasing our first discussion with a guest. Stay tuned!

Please give it a listen and let us know how it lands for you. We *love* your feedback (we even have a Google form in the show notes you can use to send us feedback directly).

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disrupting-our-practice/id1648221075

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ZS3WnfDhSivHdv43A7mo5

Google Podcasts: shorturl.at/swRZ4

Stitcher: shorturl.at/bhtD8

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1648221075

What heading out for retreat looks like. Maybe you can join us next year?

Autumn's here.

(Well, in the Northern Hemisphere)

I find the pivots of the season to be a good time to stop and reflect.

Sitting at the base of a tree isn't a bad place to do it.

How about for you?