Soho London April 23rd

Saw things about this street (Greek St) that I hadn’t seen before. Opened up very quickly to the innate beauty that is always present but often hidden. Amazing to see myself and others “slow down” so quickly amongst the bustle of Soho and begin to tap into our own wisdom.

For me I was suprised that as soon as I started asking my question answers appeared from everywhere. Sometime quite directly (Be at One – Open Till 3AM) told me I need to make it easier for people to contact each other outside of normal hours, a beautifully crafted conductors baton opened up a meaningful analogy about conducting an orchestra and the art of direction.

I noticed things I hadn’t seen were here before, and that in itself told me that there was more to this street than often meets the eye. Open to that truth, I was quickly able to get answers to my questions. The process was not only eye opening, but satisfying and enjoyable.

Thank you David for opening me up to the Wisdom of the Street, I look forward to sharing this with others.

Gavin Presman    inspire-ing.co.uk

Gavin Presman

A Street Wisdom Adventure – ‘squared’ in Soho

Our session last week in Soho Square involved a group of 5 lovely people Charlotte,Annette, Keiko, Jamie and Ian.

Despite the rain at the start, everyone was keen to get involved and really embraced the introduction and ‘street tuning’ exercises. The sun came out ( as if on order ) as the group headed off on their Street Quests, before we met at a local coffee house to discuss what they had all discovered.

There were some really interesting themes. One of my favourite lines was – ‘the importance getting lost before you can find what you are looking for’. One of the group, looking for a possible change of direction in life, saw a number of resonant signs and notices, whilst another literally bumped into an old acquaintance who works in a field that she is looking to move into ( coincidence….?). One member of the group loved the ‘permission just to wander’ and find new and interesting passageways that lead off, oft travelled thoroughfares.

Everybody felt the Street listening to them and their questions, and although not all received specific responses to their questions; the Street gave everybody plenty to ponder, the chance to look at the world in a different way and a relaxed and soulful start to the day.

Nick Hammond @digital_filter

Ian Cooper – Soho Square 26th March 2015

I’d have to put myself forward as one of those people who is somewhat sceptical about some (most) of those ‘out there’ concepts and techniques. My wife’s best friend had been a Bowen Therapist for quite some years before I would let her near me despite a catalogue of niggles, aches and pains. I eventually relented under protest and in severe pain from a back injury which was rendering me immobile and in agony. A poke here and a poke there (well, a few more than that) and I hobbled away full of doubt. A couple of days later, whilst not exactly leaping about the place, I was able to do up my own shoelaces without fainting with the pain… so, maybe, there was more to this mumbo jumbo than met my doubting eye.

Since then I’ve tried to be more open minded about such things, so a damp grey Thursday morning saw me joining 4 other explorers and our guide Nick in Soho Square to see what this was all about.

We started with a brief explanation of Street Wisdom and then went into a few tuning exercises each of about 5 minutes in order to prepare for our longer walk and exploration of our question.

I was surprised at how easily we all (yup, including me) seemed to drop into the technique and really gain unexpected insights and observations.

The BIG question session was, effectively, an extension of each of the shorter ones allowing us time to follow thoughts and patterns. I’ve been pondering accepting a voluntary trusteeship in a charity but to do so would mean taking up time that I could be doing other more fun or profitable things.

I noticed 2 buildings in the square… upon one were painted the words ‘House of Charity’ the other was a former Hospital for Women, supported by voluntary contributions. Further down the street was a sign for free wifi then, later, another for free hair consultations at a salon… suggesting it was OK not to charge for things? The sign for the restaurant L’Escargot with its picture of snails led me to question whether I had to rush into a decision or, possibly, that I was behaving like a snail… so get on with it.

Ian CooperLater in the cafe, talking about our walks, it came to me that an analogy I used to use in business could be applied to our learning. It’s like when you do a jigsaw puzzle. You start with all the edges to create a framework into which you drop the remaining pieces.

What I’d experienced in Street Wisdom was the tuning of my mind and a framework to recognise clues and to collect my observations. Whether I put them together in the right order or I discard some pieces is up to me but, maybe, the street does have the answers or, at least a route to them.

Not bad for an old sceptic, eh?

Ian Cooper