The Weekend Exploration – March 2012 Workshop
Posted on February 17, 2012 by Ade
The emerging community of gay men who have been on the Exploration Workshop continues to grow.
The Workshop, inspired by ‘The Velvet Rage‘ (Alan Downs) will be running for the 4th time next month. It feels just like yesterday (June 2011) that we ran the first workshop. The initial workshop ran over a 6-week period in the evenings, in the upper lounge space of Barcode in Vaxhaull, with a group of 10 gay men; we have since changed location and the format of the sessions.
Since October 2011, the sessions now run as a weekend, with the aim of creating a space where participants can go deeper with the issues being brought to the exploration.
We never saw the workshop as a ‘quick fix’ to the lives of the people coming on the exploration. For those coming, it can be a challenging and insightful journey, full of the whole range of emotions. At the end of which, they get a glimpse of the authentic version of themselves that they would like to take into their day-today life. And whilst it is indeed possible to embed that glimpse into day-to-day living, everyone in their own way comes to understand that it takes commitment and courage to stay true to the intentions set at the end of the weekend. This is where the emerging community comes in, for no one person can do it alone. We all need benevolent witnesses who will support and encourage us, when we fall, and celebrate us, when we triumph.
As this new community of gay men continues to unfold, it has been wonderful to see the blossoming of other offerings that have emerged, since that first workshop series last June. A number of the offerings have been initiated by participants who have been on that journey with us – offerings like the performance storytelling, the confidential blog site for previous participants and the ‘First Tuesday socials‘ which is launched on the 6th March.
Darren & myself continue to be committed to this work and are indeed looking forward to the ongoing unfoldment of this emerging community.
For further information of the March Weekend Exploration – click here
I have just read the reviews of ‘The Velvet Rage’ on Amazon. I quote: “It assumed that all gay men are obsessive careerists, with perfect bodies, or the desire to have perfect bodies. Where I wondered was the advice for the less than perfectionist gay,…” AND “There is a distinct cultural difference between American gay men and European ones, even though there are global similarities obviously. And this is a very American book, which is directed towards American gay men.” AND “A previous commenter rightfully pointed out that the stories within this book are very limited in their scope (all seemingly about beautiful rich successful West-Coast American men).” Sooo – my question to you guys is how on earth have you adapted the American slant of the book to the needs of gay men in the UK? One thing is certain – I do NOT fit the profile and targeted audience of the book. And I certainly do NOT want to become American in attitude or outlook – I’m ENGLISH!!
Hi there,
Yes, this is a comment that people used to make when we first starting running the sessions last year; less so now as we send out comprehensive guidance material to those attending, which puts the workshop in context.
Our weekend workshop is inspired by the book, but it does not view it as ‘the Gospel’; so for instance we also now reference other books on the session and we bring our experience as Life Coaches and gay men to the frame. We do apply the essence of the book – so for example the 3 stages: Overwhelmed by shame, Compensation for shame and Cultivating Authenticity – to sessions and participants bring their own lives to that framework.In terms of our workshop it is geared towards the outcomes that you see at the top of this page; also each person attending is tasked with identifying what they would most like to leave the workshop with – this combination works really well….. So people always leave with an deeper sense of connection with their own authentic self (however they choose to define authenticity)…. its certainly not about leaving feeling more American in attitude..:-)
Not sure if you are based in London, but we have First Tuesday socials, where you can come along and find out more and speak to people who have participated in previous workshop and ourselves – http://www.meetup.com/The-Quest-First-Tuesday-Socials/. Otherwise, happy for us to have a chat to discuss further. You can email me – ade@thequestawaitsyou.com