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The act of traveling 14,000 miles is a long tunnel inside the machinery of the age - we are grateful that both ways were uneventful and safe. We watched dawn come up over Ireland, landed in London, and spent the day of December 6th traveling out to southwest England, the heart of Devon, and making our way to Hazelwood House. The next day we were joined by nine other staff from From the Four Directions, including Margaret Wheatley who articulated this idea and has been its driving force, and 23 participants from 20 countries in Europe and Africa.

The purpose of the practicum was to teach circle to twenty-three participants who are all leaders in their countries and invite them to host circle-based conversations on life-affirming leadership. The project is designed to support local circles of committed conversations that are linked globally into a network of people who are dreaming large dreams for themselves and our planet. (For more information see http://www.fromthefourdirections.org.)

Meg Wheatley provided the inspirational framework, and we provided the circle structure, reworking PeerSpirit concepts into a more visual--less word dependent form. They took it all in: welcome, check-in, agreements, intention, guardian, council, check-out, farewell, and by the end of the first afternoon had had their first conversation in circle. It was amazing to watch people claim the form as their own, work through cultural differences, ring the guardian bells, facilitate the conversation, pass the talking piece, and all the while dealing with the need to do it in an acquired language, helping each other with understanding and translating terms.

The sub-title of Christina's book is "the First and Future Culture," and that is what we learned. The circle IS universal. The circle is world work, and we are world workers. We have 20 homes from the Ukraine to South Africa. We have communities waiting to welcome us and who will bring us into the rims of their ongoing conversations.

It is impossible to describe what happened in a linear way, but with permission, here are a few examples of the learning expressed in our councils.

On the first morning, Cire from Senegal passed the talking piece. After the piece had gone around the room, he said he would do his check-in in French with a friend translating. He then explained that he had not spoken earlier because it would have been disrespectful to speak before the elders. Cire came into circle on day three speaking his own accented English and said, "Excuse me, today I speak before some elders. I speak that I now know my purpose in this world."

Sany from Cameroon said his family meets in circle every December 24th to discuss family issues. On this day, his father states he is not to be considered the elder so others may speak more freely. But using circle for other purposes is very foreign. Then came Sany's realization that circles are family, family is relationships, and relationships are what must come into the world again!

Marianne from Zimbabwe and Denmark said, "It (circle) feels like coming into harbor, though I know I must set to sea again."

Nathalie (black) from Gabon, to Pam (white) as she departed the session a day early for her master's degree graduation in South Africa, "I offer my ancestors to protect you and keep you safe as you return to your home."

This healing statement says it all for us. Something is launched in the world that has its own life and power. We are participants and stewards, and the circle is rolling into the 21st century! We send you this message on January 17th, a month to the day from returning home to Whidbey Island.

Happy New Year! Happy new possibilities! We hope to see you in circle someday soon.

Blessings, Ann and Christina