I’ve been living in London for almost 4 years. Each time I go back to Bilbao, my hometown, I juggle to try to meet as many of my friends and family as I can, so my “holidays” become a stressful time, full of joy though. This time I decided to organize a Street Wisdom event and invite all my friends, this way I could meet them all at once and we could catch up in a different way.
I didn’t realise I organised it on a long weekend (I had lost track of bank holidays in my hometown) and just a few of my friends were staying in the city. Anyway, it was a good opportunity for me to facilitate Street Wisdom in my hometown and in my mother language. It was very interesting to observe the cultural differences in the behaviours of the participants. The time reference is one of them, 10 minutes in London are around 15 in Bilbao or even 20 or more if, as you wander, you meet a friend you haven’t seen for a while.
What doesn’t change though is the questions posed to the streets, formulated in different ways they all come to ask: how can I do more of what I like? The insights received from the streets are also similar: have a positive attitude, an actress as a reference of self-confidence, give ourselves permission to enjoy work, find the hidden question or fear of the consequences of taking a risk.
As a facilitator, I am always amazed at how much participants reflect my own concerns and insights.
Streets always whisper the right answer if you are willing to hear it.
What you do afterwards with the answer, is what makes the real difference.
Ines Alonso