In the Circle

photo by Clay Kessack

The campfire is a perfect example of sitting in a circle with each other.  My first memory of sitting in the circle is around the kitchen table as a child.  As an adult, I've sat in the circle in meditation classes I've taken, massage classes I've taught, and women's groups I've participated in.  In the circle, there's a connectednesss that acknowledges everyone in the group.  It seems to foster a sense of equality in value even if someone's quieter than the rest.  Energy flows freely from one person to another in the circle.  Last week in yoga class, the teacher started us off in a circle and it was a lovely experience.  It got me thinking about the healing, supportive, and inclusive wonderfulness of it all. 

Here's a diagram of what a social network looks like according to Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, authors of Connected: 



by Tasha Bock from the work of Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler

This is a book I am excited to read!  (I'm sure I will be able to more intelligently post on my ideas of the circle after I do, but ha, why let that stop me??)  What I'm wondering is if our ages old tradition of sitting round the campfire or circling up in whatever form it takes, is a way to overlay a conscious structure upon this sprawling social network topography.  Is the circle a piece of sacred geometry we can invoke to be more aware of the meaning of our relatedness?   

With this--my first post of my new blog--I want to acknowledge the impact of the crawling form of the social network (that allows my thoughts and ideas to be read across the web), but also pay homage to the contained, inclusive structure of the circle (that supported me in developing and expressing those very ideas).  May the participants in this new blog and I be inspired by both!