Across the country, people are joining simplicity circles. The simplicity circle is a small group, peer-led egalitarian form of self education and social change. It’s a form of social innovation used extensively in Sweden where simplicity circles are referred to as “education by the people, for the people, and of the people". Sweden has been called a “simplicity circle democracy,” and indeed research has found that people who participate in a simplicity circle are apt to be more involved in the common good, regardless of the topic of the simplicity circle.

Simplicity circles are designed to help people discuss the idea of Simplicity and to make concrete changes in their lives. Simplicity circles are at once a support group, a discussion group, and a method of behavioral change. They focus on building community, creating support for personal change, and engaging in critical thinking for societal change.

Topics addressed include Finding More Time, Creating Community, Finding Your Passion, Transforming the Workplace, Reducing Your Consumerism, Creating Healthier Life Styles, Linking Simplicity to Social Justice, Exploring and Defining One’s Spirituality.

Simplicity circles are designed for maximum participation and a minimum of competitiveness within an ethos of acceptance and caring.

All through my teaching career I found myself using the small group as the basis of my teaching. Instinctively I knew that if you let three or four people talk together on important matters, something important would emerge.

Then I discovered that someone had given a name to this idea - simplicity circles, a form of learning used in the Nineteenth century American Chautauqua movement and a staple of education today in Sweden where the circles are called “education by the people for the people and of the people.”

Ultimately, when you use the small circle in learning experiences, it means that people experience equality and caring and community. Being in a small circle automatically helps people feel equal. When you sit face-to-face, it’s harder to act like you’re more important than someone else. In a circle you get to know the real person because it’s hard to pretend when people are right there.

And so, people begin to feel equal and real, and they feel comfortable about expressing their true feelings. When you hear someone’s true feelings, it’s hard not to begin caring for them. When you have a safe, caring group of people you begin to experience community and connectedness, and you begin to understand that we are all part of an interdependent web of existence and the well-being of each of us affects the well-being of all.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

--Margaret Mead

Each of us should be the change we want to see in the world.

--Gandhi

One person usually will initiate the simplicity circle, but having a few people working together can make it more dynamic and fun. Usually the person who initiates the simplicity circle will take on the role of the coordinator.

Typically, the coordinator will initiate and coordinate the following four activities:

Extend invitations to prospective participants. Invite family members, friends, or colleagues to participate in the group. Be bold enough to begin. You will learn what you need to know as the group matures.

Decide when, how often, and where you will meet. Choose a time and date(s) that are most convenient for the participants, and a convenient location. Some groups meet in private homes, while others reserve meeting space in libraries, churches, community centers, or other public facilities.

Distribute the Global Consciousness Change report before the first simplicity circle. Invite participants to help identify other materials, such as books or articles on global consciousness change, and use these materials to enrich the simplicity circle.

Convene the first simplicity circle until the facilitator is chosen.

Let people know the benefits of participating, such as:

Developing community--They will have the opportunity to be part of a creative, thoughtful group exploring meaningful issues together.

Creating a new future--They will help bring new conversation into the world, and be at the core of those who are creating the future.

Becoming informed--They will learn about the direction our civilization is taking and choices we have for living in the twenty-first century.

Having fun--They will meet people who are interested in the profound changes occurring in our time, and explore problems and possibilities in a hopeful and creative way.

Be creative and develop a format that works for your group. Here are some suggestions:

Create quiet space. Take a minute or more for silence to give people an opportunity to become fully present.

Begin with a 1-2 minute "check-in." Invite participants to describe briefly how the simplicity circle is impacting their lives. What insights have they had related to the material or your conversations? What observations have they made?

Get clear on the session flow. Review and clarify the questions that will be covered during the session. Make changes if the group desires. It can be helpful to record the questions for the session on large paper so everyone can refer to them during the meeting.

Answer the simplicity circle questions. Have a conversation. Encourage participants to tell their own stories, and draw on personal experience in exploring the implications of the report.

Create closure. Reflect on the conversation and summarize what was learned. What new questions came up?

Provide time for socializing and networking. People yearn for community. You can help make that happen by providing time to talk informally at the end (perhaps with refreshments).

Spend some time getting acquainted. Go around the circle and answer Questions 1 and 2 in the first section in Questions to Consider, or other questions that are appropriate to the group.

Agree on a conversation format. Invite the group members to participate in creating a satisfying format. (See the suggestions above.)

Choose the process the group will follow. Three areas to consider are: 1) How will the group proceed with the questions? Will you move through questions spontaneously, or first confer to see whether everyone is ready to move on before considering the next question? 2) How much time will be allocated for each part of the format? 3) What guidelines will you use for group dialogue? (See the guidelines below.)

Decide who will facilitate. Select someone who has good group-process skills to serve as facilitator. The facilitator ensures that no one dominates the conversation, encourages deeper questioning of ideas and assumptions, and models the kind of presence that supports speaking and listening from the heart.

The following guidelines for dialogue were adapted from the Community Groups Handbook, by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (see Resources for Learning and Networking).

Speak truthfully, from the heart.

Listen respectfully, with care, and without judgment.

Be attentive to the underlying assumptions and deeper truths being expressed.

Engage in friendly disagreement when appropriate, and strive to understand the positions of those who disagree with you.

Allow silences.

Love the questions, and let the answers emerge.

Be brief.

We developed Questions to Consider, in the next section, as a possible basis for group dialogue. The questions are divided into seven groups, and each group can be used as the basis for one session. These questions are only suggestions. As your group gets acquainted, you may want to create your own questions and your own format.

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.

--José Ortega y Gasset

The following questions are intended to give groups a starting point for creating dialogue around the themes of this report. Individuals may also find it useful to reflect on these questions.

1. Who are you from a reflective/living-systems point of view? What do you care about deeply?

2. What values are most important to you? For your family? For the human family?

3. What supports you in living those values? What blocks you?

4. How did you come to hold the core values in your life? Have your core values changed?

5. In your experience, what enables core values to change?

1. In what ways is the communications revolution impacting your life?

2. Do you see a new level of communication emerging in the world? If so, what differences will that make for you personally? For your community? For the world?

3. What possibilities do you see for the communications revolution supporting a new level of human awareness--of ourselves as a human family? Of our impact upon the Earth?

4. What dangers, if any, do you see in the communications revolution?

5. Does the communications revolution support the expression of our deepest values? How does it support or not support our values?

1. What is your sense of public attitudes toward the health of the planet? Do you share the view that citizens worldwide are aware that the planet is in poor health and have great concern for its future well-being?

2. What changes are occurring in your own life or community that suggest that ecological concerns are being given a higher priority?

3. What influences your day-to-day decisions about how you live in relation to the environment?

4. How are your ecological values reflected in your day-to-day, moment-to-moment existence?

1. What images and feelings did the idea of more compassionate social values evoke?

2. What has been your experience with evolving gender roles--do you see a shift from power to partnership in gender relations in your life? In the workplace? In the culture?

3. Do you see greater or less tolerance for ethnic, racial, and sexual differences in your life? In the workplace? In the culture? In your experience, what facilitates greater tolerance?

4. What are your feelings about the highly unequal distribution of wealth in this country and throughou the world? How do these feelings show up in your day-to-day life?

1. In what ways do you cultivate your inner or soulful experience of life?

2. What supports you in being more awake and present as you move through daily life?

3. Imagine yourself looking back at the Earth and seeing it hanging in deep space. What do you see and feel?

4. What are your present relationships with the Earth and other life forms? How have they changed during your life? Have you ever had experiences of profound interconnectedness with the Earth or other life forms?

5. What role do you see for spiritual awakening in the future of the human family? How best can this be cultivated?

1. What changes have you made in recent years to live more sustainably?

2. How does "sustainable living" fit into your goals for having meaning and purpose in your life?

3. What deeply held beliefs and assumptions distract you from choosing to live in more sustainable ways?

4. What does "conscious living" mean to you?

5. What is your greatest longing when it comes to the way you live your life? What is your greatest fear?

*****