Meeting Two – Awareness
This meeting will again focus on communication skills and will begin to bring together some of the structure, or rituals, that me future meetings will include.
Opening Round
Keep the Opening Round short. If desired, the leader can add an element to the opening round called “The Query.” The Query is a question that could introduce the theme of the meeting, start a topic, or just be fun.
First Exercise: The Name Game
This is a simple memory game that results in every man learning the names of all the other men.
Second Exercise: Awareness
Awareness occurs in four forms, they are:
1. Sensation
We experience our surroundings through our physical senses, - sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. While visual observation and hearing are most often used, we will utilize the word sensation because it is more inclusive. Sensation can only make us aware of our physical experience.
2. Intuitive Intelligence
We have insight, an inner perception, a moral compass, and an understanding of consistency that, we bring to our awareness. We may see something, and know that it is good, or that there is danger. I believe this intuitive ability is in our genetic code. We are born with it for survival. Many top security experts teach that trusting these instincts can save our life.
3. Intellect
We are thinking beings. As René Descartes said "Cogito, ergo sum." ("I think, therefore I am.") Thinking is the process of interpreting our awareness based on our experience. Sometimes this can create a false awareness. We might interpret someone telling us that our socks don’t match as an attempt to injure us by insulting our ability to dress properly, when in fact the man was attempting to be of assistance to us by making us aware.
4. Emotion
These are our body’s responses to events. They are our feelings; sad, mad, glad, scared. Again, using the above matching socks example, I would react with anger if I concluded that I was being insulted. Conversely, I would react with joy if I felt that I was being helped.
After a discussion, the men participate in a five part exercise designed to make the men aware of how they perceive, interpret and experience their world though Sensation, Intuitive Intelligence, and Intellect. This awareness is critical for understanding their reactions. Without such understanding, it is impossible for a man to be his authentic self.
Third Exercise: Reflection
In this exercise the men begin considering what their Goals for the group are, and what they want to get from this experience.
Closing the Meeting
The meetings typically end with a short round in which each man says how he is feeling and takes care of any unfinished business. The manual also contains various rituals that groups use to close a meeting.