Flocks of Canada geese often pass honking over our neighborhood. They inspire me to think about effort and mutual support.
Their V-shaped flight formation is a miracle of natural technology. Each goose takes a turn leading the formation. Each wingtip creates a vortex of air upon which the next goose can ride, like a glider on an updraft.
The benefit to the flock is dramatic. Two dozen geese together can travel 71% further then one goose flying solo. (Thanks to Maria de Bruyn for this photo.)
My companions help me travel further
Without company, I tend to fly around in circles. I lose my sense of direction and my world starts to shrink and close in on itself. Being sensitive, I do need a lot of time alone. But I can’t get where I want to go without other people.
My fellow Focusers are my flock. We’re a worldwide community, found on every non-frozen continent, helping each other stay aloft and on track. Everyone needs support, but sensitive people especially need this kind of support. Here are three reasons why.
1. HSP’s (highly sensitive people) are hardwired to seek meaning and depth
If we get disconnected from our sense of meaning, we find it intolerable. We will do a lot to avoid that. We’ll seek alternative forms of employment or unconventional life paths. We need strength and support to do this.
Hence Reason #11 from the list we’ve been exploring in depth these last four weeks, 12 reasons sensitive people love Focusing:
When you Focus, you reconnect to the pull of your “true north” so you can live with depth, meaning, and authenticity.
So true. And we need company to do this.
2. We are a minority in our culture
The prevailing cultural standard for work hours, stimulation, and sociability does not work for us. If we impose it on ourselves, we end up feeling like the Ugly Duckling. We need strength and ongoing support to validate the self-care we need, because most people don’t understand it. Focusing partnership provides that support.
One Focuser put it this way: “I have had two weekly focusing partners for a number of years now…having a partner and an agreement to focus every week brings consistency, continuity, and constancy to my focusing practice. I think those three “C’s” provide a foundation for comfort and safety, to grow week after week.”
That’s how it feels to find your flock.
3. We need company, but in ways that aren’t draining, overstimulating, or exhausting
When solitude is our main strategy to avoid overstimulation, we are in danger of becoming isolated. Yet it doesn’t have to be that way. Focusing partnerships can give us the support, connection, and depth we crave–without the overstimulation. That’s Reason #12 sensitive people love Focusing:
Focusing is an elegant and economical way to meet your needs for support and connection. Once you’ve learn the skills, Focusing and Focusing partnership are free for life.
Focusing partnerships are economical. They are accessible. And they are flexible, synergistic, and creative.Some of my Focusing companions are close friends, yet I can Focus with another Focuser I’ve only just met.
I’m a grateful member of the Focusing flock. We support each other as wild geese do, stretching our limits together.
